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What forks are the plus sized boys using?

2K views 25 replies 24 participants last post by  jaewannabe 
#1 ·
im 6 foot 280 pounds and my 08 hardrock comp disc has the crappy stock suntour forks that clank to the bottom every time i pedal hard. i think air is the way to go but what is everyone using?
 
#2 ·
I'm 315lbs and I've got a Tora 318 Air fork. You can adjust the air pressure, rebound, and has a lockout. Good solid, stiff fork. Any of the Tora air's are good clyde forks. ($200-$300)

Never ridden one, but forget about any of the Darts. Flexy.

The past reba's are know to be pretty flexy also (2006??-2008). They have supposedly been stiffened up in 2009 for clyde use. ($400-$700)
 
#5 ·
6'5" & 270lbs:

Hardtail: Tora 318 Solo Air - surprisingly good "plushness" in an XC fork with air spring, 32mm stanchions, motion control compression cart and adjustable rebound.

6" travel FS: Marzocchi All Mountain 1 w/RC2 upgrade - air/coil hybrid that easily handles my weight. With the RC2 upgrade, in addition to the coil spring, it actually has 2 air springs that each need about 15-20psi for me to run 20% to 25% sag. Quite satisfied with this one too.
 
#13 ·
White Brothers is about the only Mfg I can think of that makes a coil fork with a stiff enough spring for clydes. I ran a Fluid 135mm last year and liked it a lot. For a Hardrock you would want to limit travel to 100-110mm though.

I am a fan of the Rockshox air forks. Even in stock form they can be tuned fairly well for big guys. I have owned Recon, Revelation, and Pike forks in various models over the last 4 years without any issues.

My current Hardtail, a Rockhopper, is donned with a Rockshox Revelation Dual Air. I dropped the travel to 110mm via all-travel spacers.
 

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#15 ·
:D :D :D OhioMTB, that is a very hard fork to bottom out. The valving in it spikes to prevent bottoming and it has a progressive air chamber. I used to use one on my urban bike for doing 5-8ft drops to flat down staircases. It never bottomed. But at high speed on the trail it was kinda abusive since it didn't move fast enough. All in all a good clyde fork if you are worried more about bottoming out than about ride quality. On most trails it is fine but those rock gardens definitely are jarring :p
 
#16 ·
Lots of choices of course. If you are using quick-release, then any of the 32mm forks from Rockshox, Fox, or Marzocchi should be OK. I use a Reba (air), and have used older 32mm Fox Vanillas (coils), and they all worked well. Only bottomed out occasionally, which is what should happen. But if you are open to getting a different wheel, then 20mm (or 15mm I guess) is the way to go for us big guys. You usually can notice a difference in stiffness. I am 280 lbs using a Reba, Pike and Lyrik (and sometimes a Marz 66), and all of them work well for their purpose, but stiffness is different of course.

That Revelation sounds interesting. I think you can get it as an air with qr? But I see those Toras on sale quite often too.
 
#20 ·
on my 29ers i've used... a rigid surly karate monkey fork (great for for a fatty like me ;-)... and a tora 318 soloair... both have done great for me...

when you get to the higher end of a clyd weight spring forks aren't a great option as most of the companies don't have spring rates that are made for us... and thankfuly these days air forks are strong enough for us fatties... I know not long back air forks would blow under our girth... but today you can pump it to where you need to and roll on :)
 
#21 ·
im 230 and use a 06' Marz Z1 sport....its a freeride fork and almost impossible to bottom out.....ive done some rough things with it and to this day have not bottomed it out once.......although the RS Tora's people are mentioning are a much better fork that what i run....i just bought mine because it was affordable...
 
#23 ·
The cheapest good fork is a Tora 318, the ultimate probably the Fox 36.

You will appreciate a 20mm axle if you can afford.

I personally ride a White Brothers Fluid 150mm with 6 custom springs, two air chambers, custom seals and the offer of 6 more springs from WB if I want them!!
 
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