What is the best all round Retro suspension front fork.

[Benandemu]

I spent many, many years worshipping the 'Gods of Pace', finding my one true love in RC36's. Back in the day, I think that the Manitou 1,2, and 3 used to get very similar reviews and ratings as the Pace. I've come to love the Manitou's looks and simplicity as much as the Pace's pre 2000 range.
If we forward our cut off time to 1998, then I would have to be Rockshox SID fan. Their plushness is beyond Pace, and their weight is unreal. Even now, they're still one of the lightest forks (that actually work) out there at 1150g!! I'm not heavy enough or brutal enough to find their performance limitations, so they sit firmly at the top of my list (even if they're only a day too young to miss the time cut off).

 

[Matthews]

Why the paranoia with the time cut off , I recon probably 90>95% of the bikes on here have newer than 97 parts on them , chains, BB's , Tyres, tubes, brakes, brakepads and large parts of the transmission assembly are probably post 97 so just fit the forks that you like and they work, after all a bike is for riding and enjoying otherwise it's a pointless pile of mechanical bits of metal and plastic . If inginuity and improvements weren't made we'd all still be falling off klunkers . :shock:

 

[Elev12k]

I have my share in the 5%