Forks mm travel?

[andyoxon]

IM(limited)E most forks on the sub-£700 hard tail MTBs (my price range) seem to be 100mm travel.  I was looking at a Kona Caldera review comment which said that 100mm travel barely cuts it on an all mountain bike... can limit the potential of a good frame etc etc.

What's the trick to getting better forks on a reasonably priced HT MTB?  Any examples out there?  Or is 100mm actually not bad (depending on make e.g. RS Tora)

Andy

[PhilO]

Ignore those that say 100mm is not enough. 

(Says the person with 150mm  )

Seriously, though, as long as the frame is designed for that fork length, it'll be fine. Fork quality is far more important than travel...

[fuaran]

What sort of riding will you be doing?

Also, I think for most models of Rock Shox, you can replace the spacers in them, to increase or decrease the travel by 20mm.

[MartinGT]

100mm is fine. I do a lot of MTBing in the Dales & Peaks and ride my HT with 100mm travel and have NO worries at all.

[spesh]

Ignore those that say 100mm is not enough. 

(Says the person with 150mm  )

Seriously, though, as long as the frame is designed for that fork length, it'll be fine. Fork quality Bike handling madskilz and being able to pick a smooth line is far more important than travel...

Fixed that... 

For the record, the most travel I ever had on a hardtail was 90mm - and although I wouldn't say I had the best handling skills, I was still able to smoke the odd rider who tried to substitute travel for talent. 

[PhilO]

Ignore those that say 100mm is not enough. 

(Says the person with 150mm  )

Seriously, though, as long as the frame is designed for that fork length, it'll be fine. Fork quality Bike handling madskilz and being able to pick a smooth line is far more important than travel...

Fixed that... 

I can't argue with that refinement! 

There's a lot to be said for a fully-rigid apprenticeship, of course!

[richie]

Ignore those that say 100mm is not enough. 

(Says the person with 150mm  )

Seriously, though, as long as the frame is designed for that fork length, it'll be fine. Fork quality is far more important than travel...

In my experience, all that happens when i get a bike with more travel, is that i crash at a faster speed..

[PaulF]

100mm on a frame like that is fine, any more and you'll slacken the head angle too much. Besides it looks like the frame was designed for that length fork. Think the comment on 100mm being too little for an all mountain bike's a red herring. Not sure I'd describe teh Caldera as All Mountain

[spesh]

100mm on a frame like that is fine, any more and you'll slacken the head angle too much.

Been there, done that... fitted 90mm travel RST Mozo Pro forks to a '95-vintage Trek 970. With hindsight, I suspect the frame was "corrected" for something nearer 65-70mm because the handling sucked on anything remotely twisty. 

Mind you, it made for a pretty stable platform on very fast, open descents. 

Think the comment on 100mm being too little for an all mountain bike's a red herring. Not sure I'd describe teh Caldera as All Mountain

<retro-grouch mode ON>

Unless you're into downhill racing, there's very little terrain in this country that warrants suspension travel in excess of 100mm.

I think a lot of people have been gulled by certain MTB magazines into thinking that they can substitute 120-150mm of travel and hydraulic disk brakes for proper skills and anticipation of the terrain. Instead of picking their lines, they can just plough through stuff at higher speeds. Yeah, suspension and disks may get you out of trouble, but they can also get you into trouble a lot faster, when your ego writes a cheque that your handling skills can't cash.

<retro-grouch mode OFF>

 

[PaulF]

Think the comment on 100mm being too little for an all mountain bike's a red herring. Not sure I'd describe teh Caldera as All Mountain

<retro-grouch mode ON>

Unless you're into downhill racing, there's very little terrain in this country that warrants suspension travel in excess of 100mm.

Agree, I think it's the all mountain tag that I was commenting on.

But to the OP's question having a decent fork will make a difference. I've got a set of Tora's on my Swift which give a far better ride than the Dart 3s on my previous mtb.