My first ride in 7 years -- many lessons learned

[reanimation]

Great isn't it, i've rediscovered my riding and how great it is, riding, that is not my riding! relearning some old and new lessons on teh way just like you.

The marzocchis, are they a lot longer in the prongy are than the originals? Axle to crown I'm talking about. We've had a few OMG Chopper bikes on here recently and nearl fell into that trap myself too. Have you considered getting some nice period correct, or even old skool styled new rigid forks for it? like suspension short to meduim length corrected project 2's or carbon fibre bad boys?

Riding rigid really does bring back the notalgia and gets the skills back off their asses like a Sergent Major! fun too, bingo wings are less pleased though.

 

[orange71]

Those Marzocchis look pretty old school to me with a canti mount and the frame clearly says dedicated suspension geometry, so I think they'll be fine, at least to start with.

 

[stevek]

Why not replace the elastomers in the original forks?

 

[JohnH]

Bad news.

Marzocchis = 1 inch threadless. Saracen = 1 & 1/8 inch threaded.

Where do I go now??? :?

 

[JohnH]

Great isn't it, i've rediscovered my riding and how great it is, riding, that is not my riding! relearning some old and new lessons on teh way just like you.

No matter how much I've been kidding myself, I found out yesterday that being 37 isn't the same as being 27... :cry:

The marzocchis, are they a lot longer in the prongy are than the originals? Axle to crown I'm talking about. We've had a few OMG Chopper bikes on here recently and nearl fell into that trap myself too.

Yes, I was worried about this. The A-to-C distance is slightly longer on the Marzocchis, but the pistons would compress more than the Saracens, so that might have compensated for it.

Have you considered getting some nice period correct, or even old skool styled new rigid forks for it? like suspension short to meduim length corrected project 2's or carbon fibre bad boys?

I'm open to suggestions now, reanimation. I don't think that I'll find replacement elastomers for the Saracen forks, and to be honest, I'm not sure that I want them. So I'm looking for alternatives.

Riding rigid really does bring back the notalgia and gets the skills back off their asses like a Sergent Major! fun too, bingo wings are less pleased though.

Very true! Thanks to my forks collapsing, I started yesterday's ride on a hardtail and finished it on a fully-rigid! :roll:

 

[JohnH]

Why not replace the elastomers in the original forks?

I'm open to suggestions Steve, but I don't know where I'd find some replacements. IIRC, the forks weren't that great even when the elastomers were new...

 

[Inigo Montoya]

go rigid. it doesn't make sense to put a susfork on that bike. enjoy it as a rigid retro steed and get yourself a new fully suspended one if you feel ready to rock the trails at lightspeed.

 

[orange71]

if you go down the rigid route it should be easy enough to secure a set of 1 1/8" threaded forks. You could start as a cheap option to get you going with some of those 'bankrupt' forks on ebay all the time until you fancy spending a bit more having done some research.

Here are some for example:

http://sports.shop.ebay.co.uk/items/_W0 ... sacat=7294

 

[reanimation]

Fitness will come back and do you favours long term. And this ray of sunshine wisdom came from someone whos near back of the pack on RB rides and sometimes needs a dramatic recovery! I'm not even 37, yet.

Orange71 took a better look at the forks than I , yep they do look retro so length wise should fit, you could consider getting a different crown/steerer, or sell yours since 1" is rare (or keep for your 'next build' ) or look for others. 1 1/8 is common at least.

retro look at Kona forks and loads of others

new check out On-One, Pace RC31, Nuke Proof? DMR, Identiti,

bloody loads, so long as you are careful with sizes you shoudl do well.

 

[orange71]

I'm 38 now and at least as fit as I was 10 years ago, if not more, and I was reasonably fit then. In between times I was very unfit. It'll come back - just persevere and go out as often as time allows even if it's for a short 40 min blast around the neighbourhood!