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Looking to upgrade the 10 year olds Islabike Beinn 26 with suspension forks.
Only looking at 63mm or so travel or maybe 80mm- not sure what geometry would take?
SIDS- Best bet???
looking for
lightweight
Lockout
and actual useful tuning(pressure) range to actually work for kids!
SIDS over the top?
Looking for an old pair as budget isnt big- so any other alternatives?
not a bad idea, any of the older, simpler forks would do. I had some rock shox judy xc's from about 1996, actually quite nice forks, picked them up for £60 BNIB. Obviously geometry will slacken, but given kids penchant for messing around in the woods rather than epic moorland rides i'm not sure that it would matter all that much. Air fork would certainly keep the weight down and old SID's can be had for less that £100 I'm sure?
an old 2003ish marzocchi air mxc? If they are 100mm they can be reduced by spacers down to 80mm ( ukbikestore) Would be more robust than an old sid. Seen people using them on dirt jump bikes.
I got some cheap Air Recons for my nephew (new whilst on offer). At his weight he was not getting any travel out of his coil forks at all. They were also pretty light which was a bonus. There are often some 80mm Fox forks around as well which go fairly cheap.
Are you looking at air forks because you want to make the bike light or because they are more tuneable for very light riders? My nephew was only 6st when he got them and it transformed the bike for him.
She is on rigids at moment and CX season is over so MTB will be the way forward for now and Air forks for light weight addition to bike and also for setting them up correctly!
instantly thought of SIDS but the MZ could be good too.
Budget is cheapo so older is fine as long as they work- lock out would be nice.
MXC NOT mz. MXC are basic but decent forks built in marzocchis good days in italy. MXZ are cheap tiawan made by Suntour.
My mxc's are still going still @ 80mm.
think mxc's are iirc mx comps. same thing.
sids would probably be fine for xc riding over mxc's which are pretty weighty.Sorry just re read OP.
As above, An older set of fox f80 rl's or rlc's, can be had for £100ish off fleabay
They go cheap cos the 80mm ones can't be spaced up to 100mm (but the 100's can be reduced to 80)
I've got a pair of sid airs for sale. Not sure of year, but work well. Had them on my son's bike. I reduced the travel with spacers so they didn't rake the head angle too much. 60 quid posted. Mail me if interested and i'll sort pics and spec.
I got a pair of Recons for my little un, work great.
Wouldn't bother with lock-out, a bit pointless as kids weigh nothing.
Marzocchi MX comp air circa 2006 were good - maybe manitou minutes?
old zocchi, just remove the spring inside
I was amazed in the summer when i was at a race in belgium, all the 8- 10 year olds with sids and xtr Kit on their custom bikes. Also noticed they had hope team edition kit... BLING!
Made my SS rigid and put my reba's on the boys bike so I can move back when I want them, stock rotation is a good thing
80mm (ish) Marzocchi Marathons worked very well on both of my kids bikes - a bit of a fiddle to set up but great when sorted.
When James was 10l he had an extra small Klein Attitude with Sid WCs, bit flexy (he did not notice) but all up around 20lbs and he flew on it - probably what got him really into his mountain biking.
Older SIDs for sure, the 28mm stantion ones, going cheap on eBay all the time, and nice and light.
Cheers guys, appreciated. DEEW have mailed you re forks.
Ta
i got some marzocchi z4s air, which would be good. lightweight. they are cheap at £27 posted. do need a oil seal, but they work fine still. 80mm travel
Cheers guys, appreciated. DEEW have mailed you re forks.
Ta