# New Suntour 20-inch fork



## RMCDan (Feb 28, 2008)

Looks like Suntour has a new 20 inch air fork out for this year: https://www.srsuntour.com/products/xcm-air-sl-20?variant=5280456572959

I wonder how it compares to Spinner. Might be a good option for anyone looking for a 20 inch fork and doesn't want to break the bank on a Brood.


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## Kingfisher2011 (Nov 1, 2011)

$150. Not too shabby. Their 24" is a solid product. Too late in the game for us to be doing changes on my youngest sons 20 but if he was just starting out, I'd probably give it a serious look. Thanks for the find.


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## NYrr496 (Sep 10, 2008)

Again, why wasn't this stuff available when my son was small???

He had a really crappy fork on his first bike.


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## Crashtestdummee (Sep 14, 2015)

Nice find, looks nicer then the Spinner Air 50 mm travel fork on my kids bike. 80mm travel with 28mm stanchions, and lockout for $150. The quality is probably way better. My new Spinner is a month old and already needs a new air seal.


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## skyak (Sep 21, 2008)

How would these compare to the forks on my son's riprock 20? Worth the upgrade?

Thanks for sharing.


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## Crashtestdummee (Sep 14, 2015)

You would add 20 mm of travel and drop about 200 grams(about a 1/2 pound) in weight. The Riprock is a very heavy rig so that 1/2 pound will be very noticeable. Especially in lightening up the steering feel on the bike.


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## GSJ1973 (May 8, 2011)

Crashtestdummee said:


> You would add 20 mm of travel and drop about 200 grams(about a 1/2 pound) in weight. The Riprock is a very heavy rig so that 1/2 pound will be very noticeable. Especially in lightening up the steering feel on the bike.


This 20" Suntour fork is likely 100mm spacing though. Riprock uses a 110mm boost spacing as I recall.


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## dookie (Sep 6, 2005)

Disc only was a poor choice...will prevent a lot of retrofits (mine included).


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## svinyard (Aug 14, 2017)

> How would these compare to the forks on my son's riprock 20? Worth the upgrade?


First and foremost it would make the fork actually useful. Right now the existing spring fork is just dead weight but looks the part. I'd do this in a heartbeat or at the very least find something rigid (maybe the best option since it's already heavy plus setup). That being said, I think Suntour provides a trade in where they give you 50$ off of another fork or something like that. If you could get a real airfork on that bike for 100$ (even 150$ is great) that would really cool!


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## skyak (Sep 21, 2008)

I am guessing this is the case. I have sent an email to Suntour to confirm.


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## Ötzi (Sep 20, 2004)

I ordered the XCM shortly after this was originally posted and the shock came in today. Uncut, out of the box it weighed 3.72 pounds. 

It shipped with 40 pounds of air and at that level I can cycle it a limited amount using just my hands. The owners manual is for a generic Suntour fork and there is not a star nut included. 

I’ll mount it up this weekend and take some pics.


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## RMCDan (Feb 28, 2008)

Cool! I'm really interested to hear about this thing. No star nut is standard for NIB forks.


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## Ötzi (Sep 20, 2004)

RMCDan said:


> Cool! I'm really interested to hear about this thing. No star nut is standard for NIB forks.


I thought Rockshox and Fox included them in the box but either way I've got a drawer full of them.

Here is a pic with the suntour compared to the stock Spawn Savage 1.0 fork. The rigid fork weighed 2.35 pounds on the fish scale.


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## Steve-XtC (Feb 7, 2016)

> I thought Rockshox and Fox included them in the box but either way I've got a drawer full of them.


The two forks I bought new both came with star nuts... 
However 2 of my own headsets are marginally cheaper to buy new headsets than bearings ... so my drawer is getting fuller


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## Ötzi (Sep 20, 2004)

I mounted it up and my son rode it around the neighborhood for awhile. I did not adjust anything about the fork yet. He was amazed by its ability to soak up hits.

From just watching him it seemed to travel about a third of the way through its exposed stanchion as he hit and dropped off curbs. Again, the measured air pressure out of the box was 50 pounds.

I will empty the air out and measure the full available travel as well as what air pressure my son needs to bottom it out under normal riding. I haven't weighed him lately but from today's preride the 40 pounds will be close to optimal.


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## CeUnit (Jul 9, 2014)

Looks good! @GrapeNutsRobot Can you please measure the leg diameter roughly where V brakes posts would typically be? Hoping it's about 34mm (1-3/8").



dookie said:


> Disc only was a poor choice...will prevent a lot of retrofits (mine included).


Thinking of using these clamp on V brake posts to retrofit this onto our Spawn 16" Banshee. I've done this already with a Spinner Grind Air, but would like to upgrade.


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## Crashtestdummee (Sep 14, 2015)

Looks great, I would love to take that thing apart to see the internal build quality. I wish this fork was out a couple of months sooner.


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## Ötzi (Sep 20, 2004)

I don’t have calipers but eyeballing with my metal ruler shows it over 36mm.


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## spartan_msu (May 8, 2008)

Could you take a photo from the front showing the tire clearance? I am wondering how it would work on some of the kids plus (2.6" tires) bikes.


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## Ötzi (Sep 20, 2004)

Here's a pic from the front with the stock 29x1.95 tires. Sorry, I should have taken a pic before mounting the fender. At the narrowest point of the leg casting bit appears to be just under 3 inchs.


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## CeUnit (Jul 9, 2014)

GrapeNutsRobot said:


> I don't have calipers but eyeballing with my metal ruler shows it over 36mm.


Many thanks! Should work for meeeee


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## stevelim (Jul 23, 2008)

Thinking about doing the same thing for my daughter's Spawn Savage 1.0. Did it change head angle replacing the stock rigid fork? Any further ride reports? Thanks!


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## Ötzi (Sep 20, 2004)

stevelim said:


> Thinking about doing the same thing for my daughter's Spawn Savage 1.0. Did it change head angle replacing the stock rigid fork? Any further ride reports? Thanks!


It slackened it up a little due to the longer axle to crown measurement but with 25% sag it's not really noticeable.

It's rained here pretty much daily since I installed them so the only riding has been hopping curbs around the neighborhood.

The fork cycles through it travel well. There is little to no stiction with the fork set at forty pounds of air. I have no idea what my son weighs but it can't be more than fifty pounds soaking wet.


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## stevelim (Jul 23, 2008)

Thanks, just pulled the trigger on one.

BTW, Suntour sent me a 15% coupon after I left the fork in the cart for too long and they sent me a reminder email (sometimes it pays to procrastinate). The code is TBE0NF83FE77 looks like it still might work.


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## CeUnit (Jul 9, 2014)

Curious how this fork is performing for those who bought it. I have the Spinner Grind Air which has a claimed 50mm of travel, and it really is 50 mm if I release all the air and measure how much it can compress/extend. But even with as little air in it as possible so that it extends to full length, we get about 25mm of travel since it's a single air chamber so once you start compressing it, there's no where else for the air to go and hence you'll never get full travel out of it.

How about for this Suntour 20?


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## TimTucker (Nov 9, 2011)

Also curious how these held up under a summer of riding.

CeUnit, did you wind up trying this on your 16" Banshee with vbrake adapters?


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## TimTucker (Nov 9, 2011)

For anyone who's looking, this is on sale direct from Suntour for $105 shipped in the US with the coupon HOLIDAYS

Note that the XCR LO Air 24 is also on sale and works with the coupon, bringing it down to $110 shipped.

Not sure when the coupon expires.
https://www.srsuntour.com/products/xcm-air-sl-20?variant=5280456572959


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## CeUnit (Jul 9, 2014)

TimTucker said:


> CeUnit, did you wind up trying this on your 16" Banshee with vbrake adapters?


Negative... Fork was out of stock when I decided to upgrade in late spring and was only restocked in Sept. Really could have used it - too late now cuz my small 5 yr old should be able to ride a Yama Jama this summer.


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## TimTucker (Nov 9, 2011)

So, it looks like the carver clamps aren't going to work. The legs are both tapered and too large to fit the clamps.

Measuring with calipers, it's about 36mm down by the disc mounts, with the taper going up to around 39mm further up.


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## CeUnit (Jul 9, 2014)

TimTucker said:


> So, it looks like the carver clamps aren't going to work. The legs are both tapered and too large to fit the clamps. Measuring with calipers, it's about 36mm down by the disc mounts, with the taper going up to around 39mm further up.


In hopes that it just barely works, here's some info from my Banshee with Spinner Grind air and Carver clamps using stock Tektro brakes.

This will help you locate the precise placement of clamps:
* 9.8cm from center of axle to bottom of Carver clamp
* 34mm diameter leg at bottom of Carver clamp
* 36mm diameter leg at top of Carver clamp

At 39mm diameter, i don't think it'll work, but if it's closer to 38 or 37, then it just might. For sure at 36mm it's fine based on my setup. Hope this helps!


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## TimTucker (Nov 9, 2011)

Measuring it at 9.8cm it is about 37-38ish, but the clamp just isn't big enough to wrap around at that point. The specs for the carver clamp say ~34mm, so I'm not too surprised at this point that it's not working (I am kicking myself for not measuring the fork before ordering, though).


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## eyeballs (Sep 16, 2016)

TimTucker said:


> For anyone who's looking, this is on sale direct from Suntour for $105 shipped in the US with the coupon HOLIDAYS
> 
> Note that the XCR LO Air 24 is also on sale and works with the coupon, bringing it down to $110 shipped.
> 
> ...


I was planning to get the eldorado fork for my older daughter's savage 1.0, but the suntour seems like a no brainer for $100 so I ordered one.

Does anyone know if the travel can be adjusted on these? The pello rover my youngest is getting next month comes with a spinner air 40mm, but once standover height allows I think 60mm will be much more useful as she gets used to the bigger and heavier bike (coming from a banshee).


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## End_User (Mar 29, 2004)

Any deals on this fork? Website does not seem to have any new coupon codes.


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## Floyd1715 (Apr 20, 2019)

FALL2019  Should get you down to $158


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