The suspension of mountain bikes is often touted in sales talks. However, when salespeople start talking about rebound and compression damping, beginners often no longer understand anything. We explain the most important terms about MTB suspension here.
In general, all good forks and shocks can always be adjusted to the rider's weight via the air pressure and have at least one adjustable rebound stage (rebound speed). Steel spring elements are niche products in the enduro sector. The higher the quality of the suspension elements, the more adjustment options there are. In addition, more expensive suspensions usually respond better and are lighter than their cheaper counterparts. Products from the US companies Fox and Rockshox currently dominate the market and are fitted to almost every mountain bike. With the overview (model year 2018) below, you can assess the value of the suspension fork installed and compare different bikes with each other. For the Model year 2020 Rockshox has has renewed its designations, which indicate the quality of the respective spring element. Products with the byname Select are always the cheapest entry-level model, Ultimatesuspension elements mark the upper, high-quality end of the respective products. Forks and dampers of the type Select Plus are positioned between Select and Ultimate in the hierarchy, but will only be found on complete bikes and not on the aftermarket.
*These models are not available in the aftermarket, but are only fitted to new mountain bikes ex works. All prices are manufacturer's recommendations for the retail trade.
The BIKE test winner suspension forks 2019
Cross Country - Marathon / 100 mm: Fox 32 Float Factory Fit4 SC
No fork in the cross-country test field handles medium to large impacts as perfectly as the Fox 32 SC. At the same time, it is the lightest 100 mm suspension fork in the test. The low torsional stiffness measured in the lab is not noticeable in practice for riders up to 75kg. The braking stiffness is sufficiently high.
1199 Euro / 1494 gram / Here's the 2020 version at Rosebikes
Trail / 120 mm: Fox 34 Float Factory Fit4 SC
On the test bench, the fork offers 127 millimetres of travel, but you can't get that in practice. This is because the 34 mm Fox Step Cast is high in its travel and handles all impacts efficiently. Even larger rocks or roots don't push the Fox fork to its limits. Attention when retrofitting: long installation length!
1299 Euro / 1667 gram / from 1081 Euro on offer at Evans Cycles
All Mountain / 140 mm: Marzocchi Bomber Z2
If you buy the Marzocchi, you get the favourable technology from the market leader Fox. The Bomber Z2 fork impresses with its sensationally good response behaviour. Some compression is missing in the centre of the travel. The adjustment knob has little effect. The Z2 is a comfort-orientated, very good MTB suspension fork for little money.
699 Euro / 2015 gram / www.marzocchi.com
All Mountain / 140 mm: Rockshox Pike Ultimate
The compression cartridge of the Rockshox Pike perfectly manages to dissipate the energy of fast-impacting bumps while at the same time providing the rider with gentle, pleasant feedback on the ground. No fork in the 140 mm test field manages the balancing act between weight, stiffness and function as well as the Pike Ultimate.
1030 Euro / 1871 gram / from 659 Euro at Chainreactioncycles
Enduro / 160 mm: Fox 36 Float Factory Fit4
Test rider Tim describes the fork in one word: "Grip monster". And that sums it up perfectly. No matter how hard you accelerate, the front wheel seems to stick to the ground. Whether small or big, fast or slow hits - the Fox 36 with the Fit4 cartridge eats it all up.
1299 Euro / 1973 gram / from 1189 Euro at Rosebikes
Fork lexicon: How an MTB suspension fork is constructed
The pressure stage
controls the compression speed of the fork. It is usually set using a rotary knob on the right-hand fork leg (from the rider's perspective). Some forks even offer the option of setting the high and low-speed compression separately.
Lockout/platform
Some forks can be completely locked for long climbs. Some models also have a platform that makes them significantly firmer than in open mode. The modes can be engaged with a flick of the wrist.
The rebound
regulates how quickly the fork rebounds via the oil flow in the damping cartridge. It is often set using a red rotary knob on the lower right fork leg (from the rider's perspective).
The air chamber
The pressure in the air chamber is used to adjust the spring stiffness to the rider's weight. As a rule, forks equalise the pressure between the positive and negative air chambers themselves. Only a few models have two chambers that can be filled separately.
Volume spacer/token
The air chamber can be reduced in size using spacers/tokens. This makes the suspension fork work more progressively. The characteristic curves in the test boxes on the following pages show how progressive or linear the air chambers work in the original setup.
Stiffness
At BIKE, we differentiate between braking and torsional rigidity. These laboratory values indicate how much the fork twists under load.
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