Bouncy bouncy rather than rattle rattle.

[David Martin]

The oem forks on my Talon 2 are in need of replacement (as is the headset, any direction you like as long as it is straight ahead). I have modest requirements:

100-120mm travel equivalent.
able to lock out.
Corrosion resistant stanchions.
Disk compatible.

The LBS have suggested a pair of RockShox something or other (Recon) which start to push the budget[1] a bit. The bike is mostly used for commuting on road, with a spare set of wheels for playing in the mud. This was after taking a glance at the bike[2] and first suggesting I think about a new bike. When I pointed out the hope wheels, the upgraded cranks etc and that for what I could spend, I's end up with the same quality of crappy forks he took my drift.

Any comments on the relative merits on coil vs air, aluminium vs steel stanchions and whether £400 forks are worth it over £250 forks?

Not being a particularly experienced off road gear junky any advice is welcome.

[1] some sort of paperwork shuffle vaguely related to a government tax incentive.
[2] Or rather a bike shaped mud sculpture at present.

[Paul D]

£400 forks are worth it over £250 ones if you're doing serious offroad trails. For the riding you are describing they probably aren't necessary. For fit-and-forget, rigid forks are fashionable at the moment, in a MTFU kind of way.

If you're not in a hurry there are two other options than buying new; wait until a sale comes along (I got a pair of Rockshox Reba forks half price in a end of year On One sale last November), or keep an eye on SingleTrackWorld (my current favourite) classifieds for a lightly used £400 fork 2nd hand.

If you buy into the cliche, MTBers are all Audi-driving fashion followers with enough cash to replace their forks/bikes etc yearly and the rest of us can benefit.

[bikenrrd]

Two things happen when you spend more money on suspension forks: they get lighter and the damping gets better.

I'd go for Paul's suggestion of looking at the STW classifieds.  If you don't want to take the risk of buying 2nd hand (the forks might need a service) then Merlin Cycles usually have good deals on new ones, like these:
Rockshow Recon Gold at Merlin

[PaulF]

Definitely go air over coil spring for what you want, you'll also get better damping/lighter forks as you go up the price band. If you can get a set of Rebas at a good price they should suit you well.

[David Martin]

There is the issue of some bike to work finagling. I'll see what sort of a deal the LBS can do on them. 

[David Martin]

Recon Silver now fitted. Very nice indeed, super smooth and feel great both on and off road.