Forks Buying Guide
There are a few things to consider when purchasing a fork for your mountain bike. The most important thing is to decide how much travel you need. Some bikes will let you run more travel than the manufacturer's stock fork, but unless they say it is ok, oftentimes it is best to with the stock travel on your fork. Another thing to consider is the type of terrain you will be riding on. If you plan on doing a lot of downhill riding, you will want a fork with more travel. For cross-country riding, a lighter weight, shorter travel fork will be a better option.
You will also want to make sure that your fork has the correct hub spacing for your bike. Most mountain bikes have boost hub spacing, which is the industry standard. If you are unsure, it is always best to check with the manufacturer or call us before making a purchase.
Road bikes will have rigid forks, and something to consider for road biking is the material of the fork.
Guide to Our Brands
When it comes to mountain bike suspension, Fox is one of the industry leaders. They have experience in off-road, car, and motocross suspension, and they spare no ounce of performance when it comes to MTB. Their forks are some of the best in the business, offering incredible stiffness and damping performance to help you take on the toughest trails.
The Fox 36 is often considered the "king of all mountain" forks. It's tried and true damper and air chamber designs make it one of the best trail forks on the market. The Fox 34 is another great option from Fox. It offers similar stiffness and damping performance as the 36, but in a slightly lighter and less heavy-hitting package for light trail riding.
There are three also different levels of forks offered by Fox Suspension - Factory, Performance Elite, and Performance.
Factory level forks are the top of the line, usually featuring a Grip2 damper and Kashima coated stanchions. Performance Elite level forks forego the Kashima coating, but otherwise feature identical components. Finally, Performance level forks say goodbye to Grip2 and feature the Grip damper instead.
Rockshox is one of the leading manufacturers of mountain bike suspension. Their Lyrik model competes directly with the Fox 36 as the all-mountain fork of choice, but where Rockshox excels is in their cross-country fork, the SID.
For cross-country and marathon riders looking for a lightweight suspension fork, the Rockshox SID is the perfect choice. The SID features the Charger damper from Rockshox, which provides excellent small bump sensitivity and control. The SID is also available in a variety of travel options to suit your needs.
Ritchey is known for their steel rigid forks for road and gravel bikes. Steel is a great material for its strength, however it is quite heavy. Good news is we have the ritchey WCS carbon road fork for sale which offers carbon levels of stiffness and weight savings. The WCS carbon road fork features Ritchey's renowned Logic II steerer technology, meaning that it is strong yet lightweight.