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Rock Shox Revelation vs Fox Talas
NB: Originally posted elsewhere on the Global Riders Network and appears via syndication.
OK, lets open this worm can..
The revelation has been recommended to me by quite a few people and I prefer the plushness of a coil(?) over air. I know they need a little bit more setting up, but I don't mind that. The might be a bit heavier but not much, and are 10m shorter on max. travel. They might be all I need though and I prefer the price. I would be thinking of putting them on a 2008 Yeti 575.
Has anyone got a set here that can comment?
Cheers,
Dylan
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Building a new 575? Very nice.
Hmm, the 2008's i know that have been build up so far have not gone shorter than a 5.5"/140mm fork. One guy on Farkin i know has recently put a 160mm Talas 36RC2 on his '08 575 and is yet to regret the decision. Perhaps contact him for his honest opinion (his handle is "piker").
Personally i wouldn't go under 140mm at the front of the 575 (i believe its designed for 160mm, so a 130mm Revelation is 30mm under what Yeti spec). It won't just reduce your travel but would more importantly change the intended geometry of the bike. Lowering the front of the bike even fractionally steepens the head-angle and lowers the bottom bracket. This can result in a less confident feel, more twitchy steering, less high-speed stability & reduce the BB clearance of the bike, meaning you may hit your pedals or large chainring/bashguard more often.
Regarding the Fox, the only thing that would hold me off the Talas (which Talas were you looking at?) is that this system has not had its best history from a reliability point of view. Some batches are great, no question, but many have had problems. Check out the reviews on MTBR.com for more details. The new 2008 Talas's might be fine in this area (perhaps someone can speak from experience?) but when your dropping some serious coin on the Fox i'd want to be confident it will work as it was intended!
What front hub were you going to use? Quick release or 20mm thru axle?
(The RS Revelation is quick release, but for aggressive trail riding i'd advice a through axle, unless your light or smooth).
Have you thought about a RS Pike Air? They are decently light (2113g for the 110mm-140mm U-Turn), are very stiff (20mm Maxle, stiff stantions), have the super reliable U-Turn system, and although they are air they are very plush. I run coil Pikes on my trail bike and love them to bits, and if i had the extra cash, would upgrate to Air Pikes in a jiffy.
There is also the 160mm RS Lyrik which is basically a taller version of the Pike and comes in a U-Turn version as well, tho I don't know of their quality or reliability sorry, and the U-Turn version is a bit porky at 2600g.
(wow, thats a long reply..)
Anyway good luck with the build. Be sure to show us once its finished!
Cheers,
_____________________________
my Intense 5.5 ~ my NS Suburban
Thanks for your info starship303, appreciate the long reply, you are clearly as obsessed as I am.
The shorter 130 length had crossed my mind and was aware of the steering angle (rake?) being quicker with the shorter fork, but as I intend to do things like the Angry Doctor thought adjustable would be the way to go. I know the revelation is well regarded in XC circles, but then I guess this isn't really a XC bike. I didn't know the ideal travel fork was 160 though, good to know.
I too have heard the stories about the failing Talas function and in fact I went for a ride over the weekend with Mick who was on a demo bike with a broken Talas so that wasn't a good sign. I think it was a 2008 RLC but could be wrong.
I will look at the Pike, I seem to remember them being a lot more coin though, and I'm trying to get the money down. Perhaps I should opt for the 2007 frame and spend a bit extra on the forks....
any opinions on that?
I was planning on keeping my quick release hope hubs and hope M4 brakes as I really rate them. I'm not a super hard rider I don't think, I've not had a failure on my Trek Fuel which is a XC bike, but who knows, perhaps a Yeti would force me to do silly things
Cheers again,
Dylan
one word: totems
totally inappropriate for what you want, but they are sooo sweet 
Haha, well Totems are awesome but, yeah, may be slightly too much fork for the Yeti.
I would advise you stick with a 2008 575. There are a number of advancements between the old and new design and i'm sure you'll want the new model in the near future if you go the "out-of-date" model - not to say the outgoing 575 wasn't/isn't a brilliant bike, it is. The heart of the build, and the basis for everything else, is the frame, so try not and skimp on that. You can always upgrade brakes, wheels, even forks, but the frame in the end is what 'makes' the bike.
You will also find a good frame will develop your riding pretty fast and you may start hitting things a lot harder & faster than you thought you would, especially if its got a bit more travel, which is another good argument to not go 130mm forks.
If you are looking at keeping your QR front hub then that does narrow your options down in the current market (the current trend is moving to thru axles for trail/AM forks between 140-160mm).
How much is too much for a fork? Yeah the Pike's can be pricey but are very good... and have you considered looking at second hand? Check out Farkin's 4sale Forks Section and see whats out there. I just had a quick look and found these 140mm 2008 Fox 32 Floats. Look pretty good, currently asking $550, and are quick release, tho they aren't full adjustable like the Talas/U-Turn.
Anyway have a look around there if you've not already. I've bought a lot off Farkin with great success. Its a great way to keep your build in or under budget.
Cheers,
_____________________________
my Intense 5.5 ~ my NS Suburban
I upgraded my Revelations that my Reign came with, and upgraded them to the Pike (air) 454
the pre U-turn model.
The change to the Pikes 20mm "quick release" axel is f%$#@g unreal, especially if you like the occasional slow technical trails were a firm steering front gets you through the hard rocky roll overs then you can do no wrong with the Pikes. As for barrelling down any trail know to real men including Thredbo , Ourimbah or Red Hill then this is the ultimate fork in my opinion. I also use a 35 mm front rim which made the whole front end so stiff you could iron your undies on it!
The Pikes are also light enough for the occasional 100 km XC.
Pikey (go figure)
Hey There,
I had exactly the same decision to make in the last two weeks. I was getting a 08 yeti also.
I tried a practice bike with a broken Talas. That put me off the talas.
Im a big heavy bloke, I was advised to go a Pike for the 20mm axle for extra stiffness.
I was also advised that the Revelation is stronger than the Fox.
In the end I went the Revelation. I figured that light was good..and if it broke in a years time I can get an upgrade shock next year..and enjoy the lightness for now
Also looking at a possible upgrade for my Yeti 575.
The new 2010 Revelation Air UTurn 120 - 150mm travel coming in at 1727g seems hard to pass by.
The other option is the Fox 36 TALAS RC2, but at 2260g for an extra 10mm of travel it seems a little on the heavey side.
The Rock Shox Pike Air / UTurn are also around the same weight but topping out at 140mm of travel.
Hss anyone given the new revelations a go / test ride etc. Not sure where the Pike's now fit into this picture, but just on specs the Revelations look like the way to go. Not sure if the 500g less weight on the front end is a good thing for bombing down trails, but can definitely see the advantages on the climbs.
Most of my riding is the Enduro / XC type stuff. No major hits or drops. I do like some of the technical stuff though.
Decisions, decisions - any help appreciated.
D
Just found this review - RS Revs seem to be comming out on top
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=539544
Paul J advised me on Friday that he picked up a set of the new 2010 Revs with the BlackBox dampener which should be going on his Reign in the near future so he might be a person to talk to.
Dylan I'm glad you started this thread as I managed to put a crack in my 2006 Revs in Canberra recently (hence I was the guy riding his 21kg Giant Faith around the Dam this morning). I have been looking at either the 150MM Revs, or the Pikes or one of the Foxs. I've been thinking about some longer forks (160MM) for a while but wasn't sure how they might affect the handling (I'm on a 2009 Mongoose Teocali which like the Yeti has 5.75" of rear travel).
I'm a big rider (120kg in my birthday suit) and tend to ride aggressively so I have been told that 160mm forks to me would like 140mm forks to someone of a "normal" weight.
Sorry for the slight tangent but does anyone know if changing from the current 140mm to a 160mm version would badly affect handling on technical rides such as Red Hill and Menai? I wouldn't want to lose the ability to be able to pop up rock ledges easily such as the Staircase section at the Dam.
Oh and maybe don't tell Lisa about the buggered forks
As far as I understand the 2010 Revelations are a combo of both the Revelation and the Pike. I.E there will be no more Pikes.
I’m keen to get a set of these forks as I currently have the 2008 Revelation 426 dual air and I’ve wanted to get a Pike with U-turn. This new Revelation seems like the perfect fork.
Hi Matt
I can't really comment on riding 160m forks as I haven't even done it, on a bicycle anyway. I know that my 575 frame is optimised for 160mm forks though, so I would imagine it would ride well if you are doing more all mountain stuff.
Does body weight have an effect on what forks you use though? I would be choosing forks based on the type of riding I do, can't you just set the sag on the 140mm forks?
p.s. your secret is safe with me
My current Revs run about 180 PSI (+ & -) which I believe is pretty high. However this is fine for the riding that I do (in terms of soaking up drops of up to 3ft).
However the small bump sensitivity is rubbish at this pressure. I've tried lower pressure with the compression almost closed but slow, jarring roll downs become a little less predictable
I believe that an addition 1" in travel on the forks will yield a 1 degree slacker head angle. Therefore as the travel difference would be less than 1", would a less than 1 degree change in head angle create that much difference?