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Recon vs 35


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flag WildfireS3
Posted: Jun 8, 2020 at 14:58 Quote
I’m getting back into biking after a 20 year gap and have a Bird Zero 29 on order.

The wife has come out round the park with me a bit, and on some very light trails, but she’s on an old Hard rock with 80mm of ineffective travel and dubious functionality overall.

As a bit of a project I have decided to build the wife a bike / have a small framed bike to mess about on (I’m borderline S / M frame). I have acquired a Bird Zero AM Boost frame, Sun Ringle Wheels, Avid Code R brakes and some Race Face bars and stem.

But forks seem to be a bit harder. As neither of us are particularly skilled or fast I’ve been looking at entry level forks.

The Recon Golds Solos and the 35 Golds are a good price new at the moment.

Will I (Really me) / we notice the difference? 32 Vs 35? 140mm travel.

The Recons seem a bit lighter And are £50 cheaper.

Also any advice on drive train on a budget?
flag bernan11
Posted: Jun 8, 2020 at 16:34 Quote
WildfireS3 wrote:
I’m getting back into biking after a 20 year gap and have a Bird Zero 29 on order.

The wife has come out round the park with me a bit, and on some very light trails, but she’s on an old Hard rock with 80mm of ineffective travel and dubious functionality overall.

As a bit of a project I have decided to build the wife a bike / have a small framed bike to mess about on (I’m borderline S / M frame). I have acquired a Bird Zero AM Boost frame, Sun Ringle Wheels, Avid Code R brakes and some Race Face bars and stem.

But forks seem to be a bit harder. As neither of us are particularly skilled or fast I’ve been looking at entry level forks.

The Recon Golds Solos and the 35 Golds are a good price new at the moment.

Will I (Really me) / we notice the difference? 32 Vs 35? 140mm travel.

The Recons seem a bit lighter And are £50 cheaper.

Also any advice on drive train on a budget?

You will feel a difference between the 35 and the Recon depending on how large or how aggressive a rider you are. If you are larger or ride hard, the 35 will feel stiffer and won't flex in big bumps. If you want to branch out from Rockshox, I recommend you looking at a fork called the Marzocchi Bomber Z2 for $500 USD. Marzocchi is a sub-brand of Fox which means it has the quality control and technology of them. I have heard many great things about it. Pinkbike made an article on it right here https://www.pinkbike.com/news/review-marzocchi-bomber-z2-fork-is-impressive.html. What would your budget be for the drivetrain?
flag ski-n-bike-da-east
Posted: Jun 8, 2020 at 17:08 Quote
You can get a Rockshox Revelation or Yari on Jenson for $499, which is ideal because as you get better, you can buy a new damper and make it into a Pike or Lyrik, respectively.
flag WildfireS3
Posted: Jun 9, 2020 at 4:08 Quote
Cheers Guys

Neither the wife nor I are particularly heavy, 70kg and if she's riding then I would be surprised if she did more than drop off a large kerb.

I have Pike Ultimate's coming on my 29er, so maybe the Recon's will be ok as a mess about, until one of us gets better, in which case I'd probably look at trading up to a FS anyhow.

Now just to find a drive train.

And tyres, definitely need tyres...
flag bernan11
Posted: Jun 9, 2020 at 7:25 Quote
WildfireS3 wrote:
Cheers Guys

Neither the wife nor I are particularly heavy, 70kg and if she's riding then I would be surprised if she did more than drop off a large kerb.

I have Pike Ultimate's coming on my 29er, so maybe the Recon's will be ok as a mess about, until one of us gets better, in which case I'd probably look at trading up to a FS anyhow.

Now just to find a drive train.

And tyres, definitely need tyres...

For the drivetrain, it really depends on what freehub you have. If you have a shimano drivetrain with anything but 12 speeds, you have an HG freehub. A shimano 12 speed requires a micro spline freehub body. A SRAM GX Eagle, XO1, or XX1 Eagle cassette all require an XD driver. The SRAM NX Eagle cassette requires an HG body. Since the HG body is the most common, I'm going to say that you have that. If that is the case, the NX Eagle will probably be the best for you at $375 bucks for the full groupset.

For tires, it's hard to tell because it depends on your terrain. For my dry, rocky terrain, I run a WTB Vigilante up front and a WTB Trail Boss in the back. Sometimes I ride a Maxxis Minion DHR2 up front and a Dissector out back.
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