Fork Advice Needed

[DesertRat]

Greets,

I Find myself in a situation. I have a 2008 Mongoose Canaan Elite that has a Rock Shock Recon Race which I have now blown up twice. The first time was an easy fix...Call Sram they send a 70 dollar rebuild kit and viola...fixed fork. The problem, among the fact that I now feel the fork is junk, is that now Sram has apparently changed their policy and instead of just sending the rebuild kit, they "May" (according to my bike shop) want me to send the fork into them for repair. Perhaps not a big deal but they "Will" require me to pay for "to-and-from" shipping even though it is still under warranty.
So you can imagine the realm of P!ssed-off I am in at the moment.
I do have options (This is where you the reader comes in). I can buy another fork and just trash the Recon however I wouldn't really know what to buy.
I have a chance to buy a Reba Race (Recommended by a Mechanic there) on clearance for 400 but another mechanic there says that I'm gonna pay 400 to get into the same problems the Recon has. I believe his words were..."It's friggin air" just like the Recon. By the way...he says the choice is simple..."By the friggin Marzochi Bomber...it uses an oil bath, has lock-out, it's only 300, and it's friggin 'Italian'". Another note....I have an earlier version of the Bomber (No lock-out) on another bike and it seems to function flawlessly...very soft. Then there is the Manager that seems I should buy a Fox F100. He says he has two and once I ride one of those, I will never ride anything else again. He also says he can get me one with his discount for around 600. He says that is about 300 off retail which sounds good.

Now it is your turn...I'd rather hear from you...the ones that have ridden these forks day in and day out...the pros and cons...issues that may not have entered my mind....any suggestions are appreciated.

Oh...the use will be mostly CC with light DH...My other bike is set up for the heavy DH stuff.

Thanks in advance,

Peace

[TreeSaw]

For XC riding I would also recommend the FOX F100RLC if you can get one for a good price. If you're going to use it for Light DHing you might want to look at one of the longer models (120-140) and they're not much heavier. I personally have an F100RLC on my Orbea hardtail and a Talas on my 575 and LOVE them both!!!

[Al-F]

Okay, I went to Mongooses web page and I think I'm looking at a 5in travel trail bike. My thoughts, Fox Talas and here's why.

The Rock Shox Recon offers travel settingsbetween 85mm - 130mm of travel. low for climbing hi for descending.

The Fox Talas has 3 settings of 100mm - 120mm - 140mm of travel great fork for trail riding whether XC or all mountain you have it covered and goes well with the bike design. drop the fork all the way down for lng climbs up, raise it all the way for descents and middle for all purpose trail.

The other thing is to be careful if you do choose the Fox suspension. its very smooth, feels great, performs very well. and it is more expensive. So why be careful? Because once you own a bike with Fox Suspension you won't want anything else, you become spoiled and your standards for a bike have just become more expensive.

See if your LBS will wheel and deal. Ask how much they will charge and see if they will Price match internet deals like this. http://www.pricepoint.com/detail/178...las-R-2009.htm