What Forks?

T

t-robb

Likes Bikes
Hey Guys,
I just bought a 06 Kona Cowan DS. I'm planing to build it up into a free-ride and light downhill bike, as I'm not really into dirt jumping and 4X that much. The forks that are on there at the moment are 2010 Marzocchi DJ2's and with just 100mm travel, its just not enough for what i ride.

So I was wondering on which forks would be the best to replace them?
 
J

jackall

Likes Bikes
forks

ummm, yeah 100mm isn't really enough for FR.

i recon maybe depending on how much you want to spend really i'd be looking at either pikes with adjustable travel up (90mm - 140mm correct me if im wrong) which are pretty expensive new or you could go marzocchi 55's but pikes are pretty hard to beat

pikes if you've got the means :)
 
AngoXC

AngoXC

Wheel size expert
t-robb said:

I just bought a 06 Kona Cowan DS. I'm planing to build it up into a free-ride and light downhill bike, as I'm not really into dirt jumping and 4X that much.
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I'm sorry but I think you bought the wrong bike.
 
mxwill63

mxwill63

Likes Dirt
AngoXC said:
I'm sorry but I think you bought the wrong bike.
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Who cares its his decision,

Mate i recon some Pikes would be the way too go, as they are very adjustable and adjust from 95mm of travel to 140mm, perfect for anything. So if u do decide too get back into DJ riding, there will be no fuss and u can cut the shit and start riding;);););)
 
AngoXC

AngoXC

Wheel size expert
mxwill63 said:
Who cares its his decision
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mxwill63, that may very well be the case I think he deserves to know that using a DJ bike for downhill/FR isn't ideal.

The biggest limiting factor I see is the lack of travel. 100mm rear wheel travel isn't all that much, especially with DH/FR in mind. You will find that you'll be knocked around a fair bit more on the trail. Going back to the bikes initial designation, the suspension was designed to be quite firm but still give enough squish for harder landings. In addition to this, the concentric BB set up, (whilst great in that it eliminates chain growth making SS possible), isn't all that efficient so pedaling will be poorer. The Cowan however does feature a straight seat tube so he'll be able to use a longer seat post that can be raised for climbing etc.

The addition of longer forks will result in a slacker HA meaning handling for such applications will be less than ideal. Fortunately the Pike at a touch shy of 6" isn't going to affect handling too much and as stated earlier, features variable travel so that one can lower/raise them as they see fit. Probably be the most suitable fork given the intentions I think.

If one is looking at getting into freeride/downhill, they purchase a bike built for the said application.

My $0.02.
 
T

t-robb

Likes Bikes
thanks for all your advise! its really helpful. i'm thinking pikes is the way to go, but i'm really keen on getting some marzocchi 55 ata's with its ajustable travel and keep it at about 140-145mm (as im hopefully buying a roco air for the rear so i have marzocchi at the front and rear). I'm not guna be hucking up massive as stuff, mostly just into riding single track downhill, bike is perfect for my needs at the moment, as i am just starting out, but hopefully move onto a proper downhill/freeride bike with more travel later on down the track
 
J

jackall

Likes Bikes
55s

55s are prety bad mate one of my mates has a pair and has been through 3 compresion chambers and his fourth is leaking

also he doesn't do anything massive

pikes bro FTW
 
T

t-robb

Likes Bikes
far out thats bad as! I was contemplating between both it was basically what i could get my hands on first, pikes looks like the winner, thanks for the advise mate
 
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