# How should upgrade from my suntour xct fork?



## jake ninehouse (Aug 19, 2013)

Alright so I bought the talon 27.5 5 in July. I ride it a lot and I love the bike however the suntour xct fork is really slowing me down. It is an unservicable fork so all you can do is clean and grease it. It sucks. I'm willing to spend 500 total on a fork upgrade but I'm looking to do it in the smartest way possible. 

First: my current wheel is set upfor a 9mm QR. I could get a decent fork with a QR but I kinda want the stiffness that you can only get with a thru axle

Next: if i had to upgrade my wheel too, what should I get? 

Also: my fork is straight 1 & 1/8 and I can put 120mm travel max on my bike


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## JAvendan (Jan 27, 2013)

maybe you can start here...

http://forums.mtbr.com/beginners-corner/if-you-want-upgrade-your-suntour-fork-830657.html

joel


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## abelfonseca (Dec 26, 2011)

Although I experienced air leaking issues with it on the first few rides, I find the Rock Shox reba to be a pretty good value for money. I got mine off bikewagon for 400 bucks.
The issue was easily fixed by changing the orings on the air spring.


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## watts888 (Oct 2, 2012)

One problem with the 27.5 setup, too new for stuff to be on sale. It looks like you'll have a difficult time getting out under $6-700 for a front wheel/fork. If you're willing to try it, a 29" fork will change your headtube angle about 1/2 degree (less if you go 100mm travel), and will be much cheaper. If all else, you can get a used one and sell it if it doesn't work. I would recommend the 15mm thru-axle if you can find a wheel, just because they are the future. No getting around that. Going to get much more difficult to find quality QR forks/wheels.

I'd also check you're fork again. I think the Giant has used a tapered fork for the last 2-3 years. I'd make a bet that that if it can't take a tapered fork now, a canecreek headset is available to allow tapered forks. My concern, I think Giant actually used a different size top headset diameter (1 1/4"???) instead of the standard 1 1/8". Giant makes great bikes, but I think they make them so you are pretty much forced to get replacement stuff through Giant.

The following fork is a really good price for what you get, but it's in the 29er size. Might be worth grabbing a tape measure to check you're bike and e-mailing price point to see if you can get axle-to-crown lengths for these. 
Manitou Tower Pro 29er Fork | Manitou | Brand | www.PricePoint.com


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## jake ninehouse (Aug 19, 2013)

New Magura TS8 R 27 5 650B 120 1 1 8&apos; Fork Black | eBay

What about that? Or the xfusion velvet rl2. The velvet is 324 brand new


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## rangeriderdave (Aug 29, 2008)

It might be cheeper to sell that bike and use the money that you were going to spend on the fork and wheel for something else.


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## slapheadmofo (Jun 9, 2006)

I wouldn't get too hung up on needing to have 15mm myself. Upgrading to a decent fork is going to gain you 'stiffness' as it is (so will giving your wheels a good true and tensioning, a beefier stem and bars, etc), but on a 100-120mm 'sport' level XC HT, I'd wager against 99% of riders out there being able to actually tell the difference in a blind trail test. I know for a fact I couldn't. Maybe in a longer travel application when ridden really hard, but on your bike, I think it would be mainly a placebo 'upgrade'. You'd likely feel more difference going to a fork with larger diameter stanchions, which won't just increase stiffness torsionally but also laterally.


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## jake ninehouse (Aug 19, 2013)

Thanks a lot for the advice guys. I'm really stuck still. I was also thinking that I might want to get better rims down the road that have 15mm and or 20mm axle and also tubeless ready. It just sucks that this one upgrade speeds up my other upgrade lol.


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## Adam Enggasser (Dec 28, 2013)

Don't worry; I'm in the same boat!


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