Hi everyone,
looking to get our collective oppinion on what are some good value for money (XC) forks that I would not regret buying and replace within a few months.
Some background:
While I had an MTB in the past for commuting 5-10 years ago (Cube Analog), I wasn’t really into bikes back then. Since then things have escalated, but I’ve ridden mostly road and gravel and own several bikes in both categories. However, I will be a dad in a few days and we are planning on using the new shotgun seat next year, for which the position on my dropbar bikes will not allow. My wife already bought a Chisel HT and I have stumbled upon a great deal on a Trek Procaliber frame (2nd gen model), which I plan to build up over the winter time.
I know the Procaliber is probably overkill for my use case, but I know myself well enough that if I go for the “sensible” option now, this will just lead to me buying a nicer bike within the next 1-2 years (as it has happened with my road and gravel bikes). Since the deal for the Procaliber was so good and the frame looks fantastic, I’ve decided to just skip that step this time around (and of course that will work really well, as we all know 
).
Since this is quite a nice frame, I am now looking for forks that skip the cheap/basic /stock spec level and which I would actually have fun with - basically the 105/Rival of forks, if you get what I mean. Good enough that I don’t need anything better, as long as I don’t start going all in on trails, etc..
While I consider myself quite tech-savy on the road/gravel side, I am completely new to MTB tech. Therefore, I have no idea what to look for and the choice seems to be quite overwhelming with lots of models with slightly varying names, etc..
What I want:
- 1 1/8 - 1.5” tapered
- 29” wheel compatible
- Remote lock-out possible
- 100 - 120 mm travel (acc. to Trek manual)
What would be nice:
- Not too heavy
- Ideally not too expensive (<500€) / often on sale or readily available to buy used
What I will ride:
- For now: mostly asphalt, gravel, muddy fields and maybe a few forest paths, but nothing super technical (all ridden on my gravel before)
- Maybe some (easy) MTB trails in the future
Therefore, I would grateful for any recommendations of either specific models and/or what I need to take into consideration (offset? modes of adjustment? … like I said, this is all new to me).
Looking forward to your input!