When did front suspension start not being crap??

[dirttorpedo]

I vote for late 90's Bombers as well - my first suspension fork (specialized future shock) left me regretting not buying the fully rigid KHS Montana Team that was my second choice.

 

[swos]

The Rock Shocks on my 1997 Ground Control A1 Aim Pro are original and great fun and really good

 

[taffy]

I agree with the above, it's to relative to answer. I think modern day forks are better suspensionwise, but I do prefer 50 or 60 mm travel in a hardtail, instead of the 80/100 mm travel you see on every modern bike.
I'm riding a 93 mag 21 at the moment on my stump. I love everything about it (even the damping), except the fact that it's too flexy. But then again, al the SID forks up untill 2006 (is that the year of the complete new SID?) are too flexy in my opinion.

Word

it's all relative.

in clear cut back and white al suspension is rubbish on the release of next years models (the marketing department says so!)

IMHO around 96 - 97 was the watershed when all the mix was staring to come together (suspension medium, travel, damping and build) and then it's evolved to what we have today.

Though tbh for my needs in most case the forks I have do fine (2 pairs of judy 60 mm travel, pair of 50 mm XC 500's, Manitou three's, and some 94 Pace RC35's)

 

[Rumble]

Without a doubt it's the introduction of bombers for me. A huge step up from anything that came before and although they're flexier and shorter travel, I think the actual suspension action compares favourably with modern forks.

 

[peguinpower]

I ride a Mag 20 aggressive on trails. Its not bad. Tuned correctly and compensating for the fact that I'm riding a hardtail and have limited travel, it performs to my satisfaction.

The only real downside is when cornering at speed and on fairly rough terrain. But on a hard tail, its best to take it easy then anyway.

 

[mattbrown]

deffo Bombers, they just upped the stakes so much compared with what was out there already, still love the feel of them now

 

[peguinpower]

Wish I could find a 1" threaded Bomber

 

[makster]

Wish I could find a 1" threaded Bomber

Marzocchi made a 1" Bomber in 2010, but not threaded. They even had canti mounts!
Brilliant forks, and I ran them on my 93 Rock Lobster

 

[dirttorpedo]

I ride a Mag 20 aggressive on trails. Its not bad. Tuned correctly and compensating for the fact that I'm riding a hardtail and have limited travel, it performs to my satisfaction.

The only real downside is when cornering at speed and on fairly rough terrain. But on a hard tail, its best to take it easy then anyway.

I slapped a brake booster on the front to reduce that tendancy on my old FS. Made a huge difference.

My local trails are very rooty and rocky so the 80mm front fork combined with rear suspension was a Godsend. I could definitely see going with less if the trails were more buffed.

 

[highlandsflyer]

I don't think it was ever crap.

We didn't have anything better to compare it to.

The good stuff was always good, at the time.

Give it another ten years and we will be looking back at the current crop as 'crap', it is the way!