Despite the discount price, this 100mm fork is impressively light and smooth. It also has all the adjustments you need to get it reacting the way you want.
The 30mm-legged structure is seriously light at 1,543g once you’ve cut down the steerer. That’s almost as light as 100mm forks from RockShox, Magura or Fox that are more than double or even triple the price.
There isn’t a tapered steerer or 15mm axle option, but that’s not an issue on the straight headtube, QR-wheeled bikes they’re likely to be plugged in to. You do get a Fox-style hose clip, easy-adjust post-mount brake fixtures and a choice of white or black finish.
There’s a bit of stiction (it’s unwilling to start moving) when the fork’s new, but the stroke gets acceptably smooth after a few hours of riding – the point where many similarly-priced forks start to seize up and/or cough their guts up. Keep its garter seals clean and your Fury fork should last as well as ours has: impressively well, given our awful summer and autumn rains.
The air spring makes setting it up for your weight or aggression levels simple, and the rebound damping adjusts from soup slow to totally pogo without any obvious hiccups even on multiple hits. Don’t run it too fast though, or it can top out with a clunk if you drop or lift it suddenly.
The fake-carbon compression damper dial really works too, starting with full height lockout and easing incrementally, with resistance seemingly starting deeper in the stroke with each click until it’s switched off entirely. The short travel obviously has its limits, but there’s no obvious spiking even when working hard.
You can get it to twist noticeably if you really drive it through corners, but that’s true of most lightweight QR dropout forks at any price. This fork really is impressive for the cash.
This article was originally published in What Mountain Bike magazine, available on Apple Newsstand and Zinio.
