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Fox Forks Float
Talas R's
I'm sure many of you avid mountain bikers out there will be familiar with the name Fox Forx and the quality and price that goes with it.
In my opinion you cannot beat Fox Forks for both build and ride quality. I just do not think anything exists that can match the superb ride that comes with Fox.
Now if you've never heard of Fox Forx, shame on you, no I'm only joking... Fox are an American brand who specialize in Front and Rear suspension platforms. If you own a high end mountain bike there is a good chance you will have Fox fitted either on the front or back, or both if your running a full bouncer. Otherwise if you look at any high end performance mountain bike on the market whether it be a complete bike or frameset your likely to find on the majority Fox Suspension Products. Anyway back to the review...
I have been running these Fox Talas forks for the past few years, and although in the last year or so the fox range has seen many new improvements and the creation of new freeride and downhill fox forks the talas range is still one of the best selling. The talas range fits mainly in the XC and Enduro Category, but the latest versions don't look out of place on any light freeride play bike.
Im still running 2004 Fox Talas R's - the R standing for rebound. Other models in the Talas range were the RL and RLC models - RL featuring rebound adjust and lockout and RLC featuring rebound adjust, lockout and compression adjustments. The Talas range's trick is the adjustable travel - similar to Rockshoxs U-Turn feature you are able to on the move without tools adjust the travel of the work via a winding mechanism on the top left hand crown of the fork. For my 2004 forks this was between 80 and 125mm of travel. The 2006 versions of the Talas fork feature 90-130mm of travel with the same travel adjust feature and the latest 2007 Talas forks have got a slightly different travel adjust feature and more travel.
Since i bought the forks they have been fit and forget. No maintenance required, ok so occasionally i fiddle with the settings for different tracks but they basically stay the same all year round. Yes as with all things they will require a service, but normally this means an oil change every couple of years. The parts on Fox forks are built to last. Once you've got the air pressure, sag and rebound sorted your done, and you can pretty much forget about them...
Many of the mid to top spec bikes from the past years have featured Talas forks for the on the fly adjustability of travel. The simple adjusting of travel meant they were suited to XC and Enduro bikes so they can be easily adjusted for certain tracks or locked out for say road riding stints. The tool-less travel adjustability must be one of the best inventions on mountain bike forks for years - simple (relatively) and means so many options for setting up for tracks if racing, or for customizing personal preferences for your local tracks. If you ride XC with say 80mm of travel at the front on a hardtail but like to have 100mm+ for all day riding on the same hardtail then Talas's sort your problems for you. On the fly adjustment anywhere any time on the same fork... Brilliant.
The slight downside
to such marvelous forks is that the Fox range is quite large including
many different versions of similar forks, but these all come at a
price. If your not into spending large amounts of money on your bikes
then look away now.... Back two years ago my Talas forks retailed for
just over £300. Present day 2007 models are priced up as follows...
Fox Shox 36 TALAS RC2 2007 Fork
- RRP £679.99
Fox Shox 32 TALAS XTT 2007 Fork
- RRP £579.99
Fox Shox 32 TALAS RLC 2007 Fork - RRP £539.99
Scott
bucksmtb.co.uk
Total price :
Probably best not to ask. 2007 fork model
range pricelist in text <<<
Rating:
The
best money can buy, but were not all millionnaires ;-) . Fit and forget
and superb quality. They'll give you the best ride you'll ever have on a
mountain bike.
5 out of 5 for quality 4 out of 5 due to the cost...
From:
Any Fox Forx Dealer.