-1
votes

Are these forks any good considering the price? You can find them extremely cheap on aliexpress. There aren't many reviews on youtube so what would be your opinion on it?

Is it too good to be true?

AliExpress link

Screenshot:

enter image description here

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  • 2
    Do you really want to be trusting something that takes heavy hits to aliexpress retailers?
    – Batman
    Jul 10, 2017 at 15:06
  • I don't plan on using it for actual downhill. Rather something like casual riding through woods with lots of bumps or bumpy roads and occasional jumps. Would a low-end Suntour (or rockshox, fox or any of the brand names) be better for this? I mostly like this one because it has a lot of travel (180mm)
    – Aiden P
    Jul 10, 2017 at 19:28
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    180mm is way to much for what you say you'll be doing, and on a cheaper fork such as that, a lot of your energy will be wasted bouncing that fork every time you pedal. A Suntour would more than likely suit you just fine ( minus any large jumps or hard landings, a rockshox or fox fork will be better quality overall but quite a bit more expensive as well. The option to lock out the front fork is always nice when on streets and smooth terrain as well.
    – Nate W
    Jul 10, 2017 at 19:55
  • 2
    "casual riding though woods and bumpy roads" ? You'd be perfectly happy with the normal front suspension you probably have on your bike now, and I'd do all that on a rigid bike. If you want to ride a souped up-looking bike and not use it, that's called "posing/poseuring" or "ricing" Honestly? Ride your bike and let actions speak louder than appearance.
    – Criggie ♦
    Jul 11, 2017 at 1:18
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    Rigid forks work fine on bumpy roads. Big tires, low tire pressure absorb bumps really well. And for the occasional jump, rigid is fine (in fact, might be better than the cheaper suntours and stuff).
    – Batman
    Jul 11, 2017 at 14:36

5 Answers 5

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3
votes

Short answer - maybe.

The only advantage is the cheap price.

Downsides

  • No warranty
  • No idea if the build quality will duplicate what you see on the website
  • if your fork fails, there is nothing to stop you face-planting.

Teeth don't grow back

Depending on your location, something like this fork might be better. At least if it fails you have someone more local to provide backup and support.

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    That looks like the same one I linked only on amazon. But anyways I saw it's a coil spring. I like air more because it's easier to adjust it (how soft/rigid it is, am I wrong?). I'm gonna go with suntour I read somewhere it's more cheaper than rockshox or fox but bit lower quality. It's still better than zoom, I already got a zoom fork just not this one and it's awful. Probably something like this or this
    – Aiden P
    Jul 11, 2017 at 9:25
3
votes

well, don't buy it.

  • I'm Chinese, I wouldn't buy stuff there.
  • unless you know the supplier
  • a lot cheaper models from named brand are made in China, with decent quality, but they will not sell on this website normally.
  • from my point view, zoom is garbage
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    Ok. I decided to go with suntour forks.
    – Aiden P
    Jul 11, 2017 at 18:28
  • There are also lots of counterfeit products on that website, so even buying something that claims to be a named brand is no guarantee of quality
    – John M
    Mar 4, 2019 at 11:23
0
votes

I don't know for sure about those exact ones, but I've seen a guy in the city with Zooms, he's happy. Not sure why, since they're crap, but certainly better than low end suntours (which are the equivalent of strapping an extra 2kg to your bike and getting worse performance than rigid) note that some of the nicer suntours, when you go past the 3 letter XCR XCM etc which are all useless, are actually great value forks which I would happily ride.

Also: you want 180mm double crown forks? Is your frame even compatible? Do you understand how it's going to change the geometry of your bike?

-1
votes

I think that this video explains it quite clearly...

Cheers

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    While it looks like a relevant link, its in German and has no subtitles. While its unlikely that youtube will vanish from the internet, its always possible for links to expire. So to get around that, we like for answers to contain a summary of the link so the answer remains useful if the link does die.
    – Criggie ♦
    May 9, 2018 at 8:11
  • 1
    Suspected translation: "We bought a cheap double crown fork and fitted it to a bike. Then tested it outside in the carpark. It survived that so went for a ride with jumps." The text at the end says "Conclusion: For the price okay Unfortunately, the heavy downhill use is extremely heavy and very easy to break through. The tension regulator works as well as not at all, if you are not careful, the landing can very rudely go forward. Among other things, she had extremely fallen after a few departures." Roughly means its okay for poseuring but any real use will not survive.
    – Criggie ♦
    May 9, 2018 at 8:19
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    Yes of course, I apologise...In the video the guy buys the fork just for laughs and later abuses it as it were the fox 40. In the beggining it shows as the fork has little or no rebound damping and the fork is loud and clicky from the start. By linking the video here I meant to say that do not buy this fork even if it seems as a good deal, you’re better off gettinga used rockshox domain dual crown or something similar.
    – user37640
    May 9, 2018 at 8:21
  • Welcome to Bicycles SE. We prefer answers on this site to be self-contained. That way, the answer is still valid if the link dies. Please use the edit button to summarize the information is contained in the video within the body of your answer. Otherwise, it is likely to be downvoted, flagged for moderator intervention, and possibly deleted.
    – jimchristie ♦
    May 11, 2018 at 13:03
-3
votes

I don't know about this fork, but I bought a SRAM nx 1x11 setup from them about a year ago - it looks like the real thing, it works amazingly well, and it was very inexpensive.

I imagine this fork is a bit of more a gamble, but it's not an expensive one. If you got spare money that you can afford to lose, try it out. Have fun with it.

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    It's not an expensive gamble if the fork breaks. The problem is that, when forks break, parts of the rider tend to break, too...
    – David Richerby
    Feb 24, 2019 at 19:39
  • What's a benjamin? Is it jargon for risking your teeth in a crash ?
    – Criggie ♦
    Feb 25, 2019 at 6:32
  • 1
    @Criggie en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_one_hundred-dollar_bill#/…. And yes, I would save gambling on bike parts with something that fails more gracefully.
    – ojs
    Mar 3, 2019 at 16:28

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