OEM Suspension Fork Quality ?

Quoted message said:

I am looking for a suspension fork for my trail bike. I see many on
ebay some of which are listed as OEM takeoffs from new bikes. My
question is if the quality of an OEM Fox or Marzocchi is the same as an
in the box non OEM fork ? Would they be the same fork internally and of
equal quality. TIA for any information on this.

WRT rockshox, from everything I can tell an aftermarket version of a
fork is the same as a takeoff, except for possibly custom paint for the
lowers. However, there are major differences in year to year quality
within models. If someone is selling, say, a Judy XC without telling
you what year it is, you know almost nothing about it. If they know the
year (and they probably don't know or if they think they know, they are
wrong), you are a little better off if you are able to come up with a
reference source that describes it. It's pretty much a [censored] shoot- you
could be getting anything between a worthless worn out eslastomer shock
and a perfectly good air shock, all masquerading under the same model
name.

If you take the time to do the research and ask questions of the buyer,
you can probably get a pretty good idea what you're getting but if you
just go out and buy a model name, there's no telling.

Sorry I can't say anything about Fox or Marzocchi; rockshox is all I
know about. I hope for your sake the subject is less complicated for
those brands.

Uzytkownik said:

I am looking for a suspension fork for my trail bike. I see many on
ebay some of which are listed as OEM takeoffs from new bikes. My
question is if the quality of an OEM Fox or Marzocchi is the same as
an in the box non OEM fork ? Would they be the same fork internally
and of equal quality. TIA for any information on this.

Some differences in specification are possible. For instance - I've found an
OEM AM1 equipped with two coil springs (and no air) instead of coil/air.
Always ask the seller about exact spec. and any differences between OEM and
aftermarket version.
Quality may be varying as well. Many people believe that cheap and OEM
Marzocchi's are produced in Taiwan by SunTour. I'm not sure how it
influences their quality but personally I prefer "made in Italy" ones.

--
Cheers
marcin

Quoted message said:

I am looking for a suspension fork for my trail bike. I see many on
ebay some of which are listed as OEM takeoffs from new bikes. My
question is if the quality of an OEM Fox or Marzocchi is the same as an
in the box non OEM fork ? Would they be the same fork internally and of
equal quality. TIA for any information on this.

Most OEM takeoff forks are low-end units that were removed when
upgrading to a better type for a customer that wanted some upgraded
capability in their bike. The suspension forks fitted to a lot of
mountain bikes are relatively cheap units, but if an OEM-level
RockShox (or whatever) is what you want, then a take-off can offer a
good value...but beware, as many of these have no manufacturer
warranty. OEM units are often warranted via the bike manufacturer
rather than the fork maker, and once the fork is separated from the
bike purchase, the warranty is history.

Also, be aware that there was an eBay seller pumping out some "Zokes"
forks that were unutterably awful [censored] from a Taiwainese maker who
either was pirating the Zokes name or got their license yanked; if you
end up with one of those, make a table lamp out of it or use it as a
tomato stake, but don't expect to get any parts to fix it when it goes
south.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.