# Rock Shox Recon/Reba, clyde worthy?



## Knight511 (Nov 26, 2010)

So I am getting hyped up on buying a new bike in October or so.... as such, I have been spending way too much time looking at bikes on websites.

I am really interested in the Trek Stache and/or the Spec Carve series, but I am not so sure about the front fork. Fox's line up is much easier to tell what fork is what and where it lays in the product line. 

Rock Shox seems to like making things a little more difficult. I know the Reba is above the Recon, but why? Is the Recon a bad fork? Would it hold up to a superclyde? Both the Carve Comp and the Stache 7 use the Recon, so I am looking for some input. The wife is buying me a bike for my birthday/wedding anniversary, so I want to make the most of this opportunity.


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## Knight511 (Nov 26, 2010)

I should add that the Stache 7 is promising because I should be able to add a Fox 34 and swap the brakes out down the road for not much more than the Stache 8. I don't race, I am a casual rider, so long as the bike is spec'd with SLX/X7 or higher, I don't care so much about components...


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## GTscoob (Apr 27, 2009)

I would say yes they're both clydeworthy but you mention superclyde in your post. Most air forks will max out with the pressure to suspend a 300lb individual. Much more than that and you should be looking at rigid forks until you can get the weight down. 

That being said, RS doesnt differentiate the same way because there is so much overlap in their lineup. Lower end Recons are the same as higher end Toras and are basically lighter duty Argyles. Higher end Recons are the same as lower end Rebas and Sektors. 

Similar chassis on most of their forks with material (alu/steel/magnesium/cf), spring (coil, solo air, dual air, travel adjust), and damper differences (turnkey, lockout, motion control, moco with threshold, blackbox moco). 

Be sure to get something with a thru-axle. Even with a 20mm thru axle and 260lbs, I can still flex my Sektor (and Pike before it, almost identical to a Reba) enough to rub the front rotor in the turns. With a QR Tora, I could flex the fork enough to make the tire rub the lowers in turns.


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## GOTA (Apr 21, 2011)

The Reba is lighter and uses better technology than the Recon, especially the Recon Silver which seems to be standard on a ton of bikes. How big are you? There does come a point where every suspension fork has trouble.

The Stache does look very interesting on paper. They seem to have really loaded it up for bear with a lot of good features. I'm really curious to see how it rides.


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## Knight511 (Nov 26, 2010)

The through axle front and rear is one of the things I like on the Stache. As for size, I am right at 300... and I know just about any fork is going to be a PITA, but any of them would be a step up from the one I use now. So it is 300 and losing.... I will eventually shrink into a fork. 

Edit: Waiting patiently to get a new bike.... SUCKS!


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## GOTA (Apr 21, 2011)

At that weight the Reba should be fine and the Recon Gold will be okay. I'd stay away from the Recon Silver.


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## giantone (Dec 18, 2011)

I have a recon silver on my carve expert. I am 6'5" and was 330 when i started riding this bike (285 now). The recon silver is fine for someone like me who is hard equipment. My next upgrades will be wheels and fork with 15mm TA.


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## Sasquatch1413 (Nov 6, 2008)

I've been running a Reba at 330 lbs for about a year. Works great. Not sure about Recon as I don't know nuttin bout it. If they are coil forks, stay away. Any air fork should work fine for you and will work better when you get lighter.


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## Knight511 (Nov 26, 2010)

I have a coil fork now... an old Judy Race... it isn't too bad because I have it built with two of the stiffest springs RS ever made.... LoL. I still get ~35-40% sag though... too much, but I get to ride. It looks like either of the Stache bikes would be fine for me........ I cannot wait for the 2013s to really hit the floor!

Squatch: Good to hear from you again.  How's the bike holding up in general?


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## bishop29er (Aug 9, 2012)

I'm 240 and I've been running the Reba rl for about 3 months now with no troubles at all. I'm running much lower pressures in the fork then the company says for my size and still not bottoming it out through some rocks and roots. Definitely happy with it.


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## zx1421 (Jul 31, 2012)

I have recon gold on my carve pro, I started out at 300# with 250# of air in the forks(MAX). I am now 275# and run 210# in the forks. nothing broke yet!


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## mtdawg (Jun 6, 2012)

May I ask which Spec Carve you're considering? I'm also looking at both the Carve and the Stache.


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## Knight511 (Nov 26, 2010)

mtdawg said:


> May I ask which Spec Carve you're considering? I'm also looking at both the Carve and the Stache.


Not so much the Comp. It really depends on what we decide my "budget" is at the time... more and I will compare the Carve Pro to the Stache 8.... less and it will be the Carve Expert vs Stache 7. I really want to see the 7 in person since they call the color orange and I am a sucker for orange.... the~$700 difference could be "wisely" spent to bring the 7 more up to where I want to be.


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## tamasd (Aug 10, 2010)

GOTA said:


> At that weight the Reba should be fine and the Recon Gold will be okay. I'd stay away from the Recon Silver.


As I understand, the difference between Recon Gold and Silver is that Gold uses aluminum where there is steel in the Silver, thus Gold is lighter, Silver is stiffer. Logic says to me that for clydish people Silver would be the better choice. Am I wrong?


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## giantone (Dec 18, 2011)

tamasd said:


> As I understand, the difference between Recon Gold and Silver is that Gold uses aluminum where there is steel in the Silver, thus Gold is lighter, Silver is stiffer. Logic says to me that for clydish people Silver would be the better choice. Am I wrong?


The gold uses magnesium lowers (compared to the silvers steel lowers). They both have aluminum crown/steer tube and are equally stiff. The gold is lighter and includes a remote.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


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## switchie (Aug 28, 2012)

I have about 150 miles on the Salsa EM3 with a RS Recon Gold front shock.
Run about 150 PSI in it, works absolutely fabulous.
I am currrently playing the waiting game to see how durable it is, so will not speak to that just yet.


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## chadmeeh (Jan 2, 2005)

I've been running a Recon silver TK this year, and besides one bad air cartridge (from the moment I bought the bike), it's been good for me. I'm at 265 (down from 309 a year ago), and haven't had any problems with flex or anything. The air cartridge was bad from the get-go I believe. Was having to run 175 psi, constantly having to add air, and kept popping the wiper out of place. Now that it's been replaced under warranty, I'm running 160 psi, which may still be too much, and the wiper stays in place. Max for the Recons is 225 psi, from what I've read. I would like to upgrade, though, eventually. It's a 9mm quick release, and I haven't noticed any flex, but I also don't ride very hard. A 15 or 20 mm thru-axle is calling my name!


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