turtledove

I've been on the hunt for a 1 inch threaded Manitou or Marzocchi locally (not trusting online sales for this stuff), but I'm having second thoughts about the whole thing. Should I keep my retro bike rigid, or keep looking for a 1 inch threaded fork? If you still have one, what's the experience like, as in maintenance, durability, etc?

wesmamyke

Marzocchi for sure for reliability, maybe change the oil every couple years. Also the older Marzocchi forks can usually swap steerer tubes, easily converted to 1". Not a big fan of trying to deal with the guy, but if you google Marzocchi Mark you'll find a guy that rebuilds and sells forks.

My experience is just assume whatever you buy needs to be rebuilt, unless it comes rebuilt from above mentioned dude. I would source seals/bushings, and whatever oil/grease is needed before even buying the fork. Or new elastomer kit if it's a Manitou or something like that.

What length 1" steerer do you need? I have a bunch of older forks, including 1" stuff.

2cam16

I do on my '94 Stumpy but threadless. Rocking a Rockshox Indy SL that's just about dead. lol

tashi

If you're being practical, stick with rigid. Good for anything up to high-performance mountain biking. Then it's modern bike time.

If you want a period piece, there's no safety reason or anything to not run a decent-shape suspension fork. Parts may be hard to find, knowledge could be sparse, and I wouldn't trust anything from the 90's that's been ridden hard, but if you want to put together a sweet vintage rig an appropriate fork will really make the build, and do a good job on mellow terrain.

dddd

The Mag21 forks were made in 1" and quite a few were made. You have to find the right steerer length though or shorten and re-thread a longer one.

The Mag21 with rubber fork boots could give very long service, I have one still in use, never rebuilt and still holds air perfectly.

Not sure what is available new any more in 1" suspension, since they were superceded by 1-1/8" and threadless all of 25 years ago.

I try to keep a 1" crown/steerer around for any good Mag21 forks that I might find.

cheffyjay

I think that rigid might be the way to go--the forks that are out there were not all that great, and they are heavy. I have a 1" threadless manitou mach 5 sx with a speedspring conversion on my Klein and it is ok. the elastomers would have been long dead.

roccobike

Finding a good 1" suspension fork is like finding gold. I have 1" threaded forks on my 88 Nishiki Ariel, a 92 Nishiki Ariel and a 93 Stumpy. The 88 Ariel has a Duo Track with elasotmers so hard it might as well be rigid. The Stumpy has a vintage Judy that's holding up quite well. The best of the group is the Scott, Clark Kent spring fork on the 92 Nishiki. I had it rebuilt a number of years ago and it was well worth it. If you can find one of those in working condition, you ought to pursue it.

mixteup

Did you know about this place? New elastomers for old shocks, as well as rebuild instructions, manuals :

https://www.suspensionforkparts.net/eshop/index.php

Weresquatch

...I've still got a 1" Mag-21. It's not suspension but I've also got a 1" Tange Switchblade that I think is cooler.

2cam16

Yup sure do. Not on my priority list since my Stumpy is only one of my many bikes. Plus I have the original fork that I can easily switch to anyway.

Pompiere

I have a Univega Alpina S7.3 with threadless 1 inch air suspension fork. There are no markings on it. If there were decals, there is no sign of them. Both legs have schreader valves. It seems to work okay, but I would like to know how to rebuild it. Does anyone know what kind of fork might have been on the bike originally? From pictures, it looks like it could be a Rock Shox.