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I have one of these (my fork's black, but still RS Pilot XC). I've had it since new but had an accident a few years ago, and with job, kids etc haven't really ridden it since then apart from commuting.
Our kids are just getting into biking so I'm looking to resurrect it for general trail/park use. Don't want to spend a ton of money - it's not going to be used for anything too technical and every £400 bike these days has a better spec. I'd rather save my coin and buy something nicer in a few years when it'll actually get used.
I'm thinking a new 100mm fork; never much liked the Pilot XC which is only 80mm, feels like less, and made from spaghetti. A RockShox Recon Silver TK looks like it might work for a reasonable cost (needs V brakes - I could upgrade to disks but doesn't seem worth it).
I'll also need new tyres. Back in the day the bike's handling was a bit squirrelly on loose stuff (hence accident) so I'm thinking something as fat as possible with good edge grip. The original tyres are Mythos XC 2.1s, though they look thinner. There's about 55mm between the rear stays - any recommendations for tyres I could look at?
I did look at upgrading to disk brakes but I'd need new wheels and that starts to get into the price range of "just buy a new bike". I don't think I need disks for the sort of stuff I'll be doing - when I do need them I'll buy something better and retire this to a full time commuter.
Does this seem reasonable? Anyone got any recommendations for forks, tyres etc?
I'd be hesitant to spend anything past tyres on it and not expensive ones at that. Plenty of decent second hand bikes with discs that would be a better use of the cash. If you hate the forks I'd be tempted to go rigid.
I've decided to eventually go FS, but I have a budget of about £100 (give or take) to give the ol' Gary Fisher a bit of an update until I get the cash together for a new bike (I'm also holding off for the rumoured new Bossnut...).
I'm going to put the fattest rubber in that the frame will take (with an emphasis on cost) and I've found a couple of fairly cheap "new old stock" 26er v brake forks online.
One is a 2016-era Suntour XCM for about £65. The other is a 2013-era Rockshox XC32 for £95. I know neither of these forks is going to set the world on fire, but if you had a choice what would you choose? Normally I'd say Rockshox every time, but I rode a low-end Trek a while ago that had a Suntour coil fork and it wasn't too bad. Also it's cheaper.
Looking at it in more detail, the Rockshox XC32 fork has a tapered steerer which I don't think is going to work for a 16yr old hardtail. So I'll be buying a cheap Suntour XCM I guess.
Don't expect too from those forks, there's a pair on one of my kids bikes and they are very basic. As suggested above, probably better to get a rigid fork. Look at On One for some cheap tyres, quite a few to choose from
I had some 100mm Toras on an old Kona Lava Dome that was designed for 80mm forks and they were fine for simple trails. Remote lockout too. Now I have some 130mm Toras on an old P7 and they are fine too! Would really prefer some Revs or something tho...
Embrace rigid. Very little choice of suspension ones and what options you do have are likely to be not very good.
Decisions, decisions. I think if I do replace the fork I might go full retro & put something like an early-mid 2000s Zocchi Bomber on. Surprising number of them showing up used at reasonable prices and I could make it into the bike I always wish I'd had at the time 😀
Definitely getting hard to find things that work with v brakes though. So it'll either be a decent spec retro fork or, yeah, probably rigid. Similar price either way it seems.