Over the years I've updated my Bontrager MTB to keep it as current as I could afford. It is a conglomeration of both old school and new fangled components. Today, I want to look at the changes made to the front suspension. As those in the retro-know know, a Bontrager frame "requires" the use of a specific crown that tweaked the rake of the fork to obtain a livlier, quick-responding bike.
When new, the bike came stock with a RockShox Judy XC with the special black crown desinated for the Bontragers. Not a few weeks passed before I obtained a red brake arch from a DH model Judy. I thought it would help tie in the gold fork with the red frame. Mission accomplished! Now, the original fork utilizes an elastomer stack and oil-dampener cartrage. The only way to tweak the ride was to swap different colored/durometer elastomer. A month or two passed and I decided to upgrade... already. I swapped in a medium pair of MountainSpeed Speed Springs and a RockShox Long Travel Kit. A little more weight due to the steel springs but well worth its weight in gold. I added a 0.5" of travel from 63mm to 75mm. But the best thing, at least at that time, was the plush and progressive ride of the springs. My fork stayed this way for 8 years (you can see it in my pic to the right).
About a year ago, I got the itch to keep moving forward and again upgrade the front suspension. I found someone selling a RockShox Judy XC from a year newer model than my fork and with a press-fit Bontrager-specific crown. What this meant was that it possessed the one-piece slider and brake arch combo. This added stiffness and reduced the weight of the shock. The problem? It had the elastomer stack and oil dampener. I though about swapping internals from the older to the newer fork but deemed that as a not-worth-the-effort upgrade. So, to update the newer fork, I had a Englund Total Air ordered up with 80mm of travel. This would shed quite a bit of weight while bringing travel above that of my old set-up. I also had an oil-bath kit installed to try and keep everything in as tip-top condition as possible.
What I found with this new arrangement was that the air kit was very lively and smooth. The bonus was that I could tweak the pressure in the chambers to adjust the action for the terrain I planned to ride. I was stuck with the rebound speed unless I tore down the fork and switched a few parts around. Not likely. A problem that surfaced quickly was the fact that I had to check the air pressure in the forks before each ride, every ride. They lost very miniscule amounts of pressure that I could feel while out on the trails. Another little hiccup was the fact that the oil-bath system did not work well. Originally, these forks were not maid to hold loose oil since it used a cartrage. So the little bolt and ring was not an effective solution. Most of the oil has made its way out of the fork.
What I found was that I like the fact that the newest fork was fairly light but it's higher level of maintenance left something to be desired. The previous set-up with the Speed Springs, despite the weight, was nearly zero effort to keep functional. So, in retrospect, the tried and true 8 years of trouble-free maintenance outweighs the most recent light-weight, high-maintenance jobbies. Such is the woe I currently have with my new-ish dual boinger, full-suspension bike... but more on that another time.
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