What were the first suspension forks that actually worked?

[messiah]

When you think back to what we used and raved about back when the answer is not so simple.

I worked in a shop and got to try quite a few at the time. As someone above stated most of the first forks only took the edge off the hits which at the time was enough of a reason to buy them when your used to fully rigid forks.

Manitou 3's were the first forks I tried that impressed me enough to make me buy them. Despite being elastomer they actually had some travel that felt reasonably composed compared to other forks from the time.
Judys were the next big leap with springs and a damper cartridge (as where the White brothers forks) Manitou EFC was also okay

Leaders where nice but expensive and topped out with an annoying clunk.
I never got on with Girvins - they seemed to dive and felt like the front wheel was tucking under the frame, I felt like I was going to fly over the handlebars on any descent.

Pace RC35's - I really wanted to like these at the time but never got on with them. With less than an inch of travel they only just took the edge off bumps.

When I built the Lloyd up I started with RC35's but after they were to soft and I ended up hating them, and subsequntly breaking them. I then decided to try Z2 Bombers
Even compared with modern forks the bombers feel pretty good and have real travel and control, although the limited amount of travel can feel a bit overwhelmed on anything really rough.

Once you've tried modern forks the bouncy old ones are never going to cut it for real riding - I would much rather ride rigid than put up with bouncy unpredicatable elastomers or crazy topping out clunky air systems.

 

[dyna-ti]

Opening a further can of worms, what was the shortest travel on the early Bombers - 63mm? What adjustments did they have?

On the Z2's the travel was 80mm on the Z1 it was 130mm but you could wind them down to 100mm
Z2's had preload on both legs with a rebound adjuster on one leg
Z1 had the same only with two rebound adjusters
You need both rebound and preload for a good adjustable fork
Everything you need to service the bombers is still available from hope-Seals ,bushings,steerers etc[although im not sure about the steerers ,but you can get them from CRC and the like.

 

[Tallpaul]

Since I started building old bikes again, I've had the following shocks:

- RS Mag 21 (Dodgy Seals, but OK for one ride at a time)
- RS Mag 20 (Great Condition, never rode them :roll
- RS Mag 21 SL/Ti (Awfull Condition, didn't even bother)
- RS Judy XC (Dampers shot, elastomers replaced with springs)
- RS Judy DH (Dampers fine, mixture of springs/elastomers)
- Manitou Sport (Almost as new, elastomers in great shape)
- Manitou Three (Replaced elastomers and worked just fine)
- Pace RC-35 (Fully serviced by Tim)
- Pace RC-36 (Fully serviced by Tim)
- Marzocchi Z2 BAM's (As new condition, all rebound and damping adjuster working)

Of all these, only two were better than rigid forks on the same bike - The Judy DH's and and Marzocchi's.

The Manitou's and RC-35's didn't actually offer anything in the way of usefull suspension. Old Mag's are mostly in awful condition. The Judy XC's were all over the place, just rubbish, and the flex in the RC-36's wasn't much better.

The 'best' are the 1998 Marzocchi's. But that's no suprise is it?

There's plenty of nostalgia in old suspension forks, but on the whole they were rubbish.

 

[utahdog2003]

I'll support the 1997 Bomber nod too. In my eyes, the Bombers were the first forks where the benefits of suspension completely outweighed the negatives. Up until Bomber, I pretty much was a rigid fork guy, as most other forks were too design limited; either flexy noodles (Rock Shox), leaky messes Marzocchi XC), or barely afforded any travel (Manitou); to make me want to give up my rigid.

Bombers made me want suspension, and my 1999 Z1 was one of the best forks I've ever owned.

I'v had a few AMPs too, and I'll give the AMP F1 an 'almost' award....but it needs to be mentioned as it predates the Bomber by quite a few years.

 

[velomaniac]

Marzocchi's are certainly up there, afterall one of the few bicycle fork makers to have been involved in motorbike forks as well so they new a thing or two to start with.

Tange however, trully horrid, nicely made but horrid !

 

[nimbus]

There's plenty of nostalgia in old suspension forks, but on the whole they were rubbish.

I fear there may be a lot of truth in that statement.

Still interested to hear any other suggestions, positive or negative. What's good about the F1 over other AMP forks? Has anyone had good results with SID lowers and a Judy crown?

The frame I have in mind is this one: http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=50694 which is currently wearing Halson Inversions (inverted fork with elastomers).

While the Halsons are (IMO) cool, reasonably stiff and low maintenance, it's debatable if they give any more suspension than the air in the front tyre. Since the geometry is pre-suspension corrected, I don't think I could fit worthwhile forks without adversely affecting the handling and the looks (also important).

Long term I will probably commission a Yo/BOI copy from Rody or Waltworks (depending on order backlog) and look out for those elusive 2.5" Ground Controls...

 

[messiah]

Your welcome to try the Bombers on my Lloyd of a lunchtime

 

[andrewl]

Opening a further can of worms, what was the shortest travel on the early Bombers - 63mm? What adjustments did they have?

Pondering the age old question of period correctness vs. useful parts...

Shortest travel Bombers are MY97 - MY99 inclusive Z2 and Z3 which were 63mm or 65mm depending on which Marzocchi catalog or manual you read.

Adjustment is nominally as follows:

Z1: preload and rebound on both legs
Z2: preload on both legs, rebound on right leg
Z3: preload on both legs

If you like playing, changing oil weights and height can makes them very tunable and to be honest I find my 90s Z1s to be far better in damping performance than the Fox forks I own.

Anyway for me the MY97 Z1 in Tangerine Dream was the first great fork that worked the way a fork should, and if you go to any race today with one on a bike they always pull an admiring crowd - which says something in itself