A Cyclist's Life in Tenerife (Canary Islands)

This budget model fork can be had for as little as €120, so it is not intended for downhill or competition use. The model we tested boasted 120mm of travel, although at the softest setting, only about half of that was effectively utilised (even after a substantial break-in period).

SR Suntour claims that the lower legs (sliders) and brake arch of these forks are made of one piece magnesium. The stanchion tubes are aluminium with a hard-wearing black-anodised coating, while the steerer tube is made of steel with a standard 1 1/8″ diameter. The fork crown is constructed of

There is a handy progressive lockout feature on the right hand side of the fork crown. In theory, this locks out the suspension mechanism completely enabling the fork to behave like a rigid one. In practise, it works very well, although it does make a single well-defined ‘clunk’ noise whenever you hit any bumps at speed, such as the little dip when riding into a driveway. This most likely does not do the fork’s lockout mechanism any good.

Like all budget forks, the preload knob is made of cheap plastic, and doesn’t work too well. Lightweight riders might not find the range of adjustment sufficent for their needs. On a fork of this caliber, rebound adjustment is not a standard feature either, although I found the default rebound setting (rebound speed) to be adequate. This fork is plenty stiff enough & light enough for it’s intended purpose, cross country mountainbiking.

I’m not sure why this fork uses the International Standard (IS) brake disc mount since the superior post mount system introduced by manitou has taken over. Even though disc brakes have become standard equipment on mountain bikes, this fork comes equipped with brake bosses which are also V-brake compatible. My only guess is that this fork is aimed at the lower end of the market, where the issue of component compatibility remains paramount.

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