Fork - ERA or 36 w Smashpot?

That's a fair number of shortcomings given the Era's price.

The only thing I’d view as a potential shortcoming is the axle. The performance lives up to the hype so far.

Sounds like it lives up to its Italian design and build. 

Likely an entire thread of fan boyism on mtbr suspension

Thought I’d give this a wee update.

My Era was pretty disappointing. Harsh, sticky, Top out so bad you’d swear your headset was loose. Also a cracking / creaking noise on break away if it had sat for a few days.

It went back, and has since come back with completely new V2 internals. The lowers were already the v1.2 which would indicate that Ext knew the fork needed work almost as soon as releasing it.

I was told by service centre that all of the forks have the cracking/creaking noise and it’s likely an IFP in the spring side. Can’t be fixed, and surely is indicative of friction?

While it was away I put my 36 with Smashpot back on the bike and it’s just so much better I can’t really be bothered putting the Era back on to test. Especially after swapping the torque caps off my hub to run the 36.

Damn @Heinous, I feel for you. It sucks so much to buy the highest-end product on the market and still have that many issues. Maybe you're just like me and end up having to send 4 forks out of 5 on warranty. My Helm had to go to SuspensionWerx to get warrantied and they found out that it had a broken check valve spring and deformed bladder... that explains why I didn't gel with it haha! 

At least the timing is good to sell the Era back. I'd do that if I were you, until they release Era v2.0!

I’m not a destroyer, but have had bad runs with RS (100% warranty rate) and one helm with a factory build defect.

I’m not too sad about it. The Smashpot is so good I forget about the Era pretty quickly.

Posted by: Endur-Bro

Sounds like it lives up to its Italian design and build. 

Likely an entire thread of fan boyism on mtbr suspension

Hilarious. Most of those guys live deep in Flatbuttistan. Their trails would barely qualify as park paths here.

Posted by: Heinous

I’m not a destroyer, but have had bad runs with RS (100% warranty rate) and one helm with a factory build defect.

I’m not too sad about it. The Smashpot is so good I forget about the Era pretty quickly.

Another happy 29er smashpot customer here as well. Twinned with a CCDBCoil at the back, my Fugitive is a little heavier but a lot more enjoyable. I've had a blast riding trails all over again. Vorsprung did it whilst I waited, then I climbed into Less and rode Chipmunk Rebellion->Industrial Waste->Danimal South. A good day to start. I don't think about my suspension at all any more.

To be fair, I have a riding buddy who is enjoying his ERA very much. He is critical and a competent rider and not blind to performance/shortcomings. His is holding up to a lot of riding so far (and it better be for that price). 

The fork feels strange at first, but it opens up and looks pretty active on the trail. I am however incredibly happy with my Lyrik Ultimate 2021, which was half the price and is quite a bit lighter…

I have heard from a couple of people selling their ERAs though.

If someone wants a good deal on an EXT Era, they are on sale at Bicicletta.cc until the 27th at 2000$-20% (reg 2500$).

https://bicicletta.cc/products/ext-era-fork-29

That is an insane amount of coin for a fork. I am really not that familiar with them as they seem to be rare as hens teeth. 

I am not opposed to spending g exorbitant amounts on bike parts but if I'm spending top dollar, I want something that will last a long time, work well for a long time and be supported by the manufacturer. Like my ck hubs, best $ I have spent on bike parts. 

Anyone know if EXT has that type of reputation as a suspension manufacturer? If you buy one, will you be able to get parts 5 years, 10 years down the road?

Hi,

that would be my reasoning as well. I bought two sets of Trickstuff Direttissimas. They were expensive, but they are the first brakes which have zero compromise performance, durability and you can get any single smallpart and the company vows to have spareparts for the next fifteen years. (true for their Cleg brakes which I have lusted over since around 2004).

They make my riding experience noticeably more enjoyable and safer. That said, all of the following companies make brakes I enjoyed and had fun with in the past.

I rode Shimano for a long time, they work, but some niggles and non servicable calipers. 

Sram I don‘t like for the DOT hassle.

Maguras have weak lever assemblies.

Hayes are hard to source in Europe.

Formula would be a contender since the Cura, availability is soso, reliability 95%.

So I feel there is a reason to shell out for the Direttissima and if I keep the same brakes for 5+ seasons they won‘t be expensive in comparison. 

Suspension forks though? Over here buying a Fox compared to a Lyrik is hardly justifiable for performance reasons. A Lyrik Ultimate is around 700€ brand new online, a 36 Factory is about 1200€ online. The Era is 1499€ msrp and the V1 can be found for 1399€.

The Lyriks got a lot better since 2019/2020. In my experience there is negligible performance difference between the 36, 38(!) and the Lyrik, if you are in a common weight bracket. 

EXT seems to offer exceptional customization options through their german service partner, so there might be riders who benefit. 

It is an interesting fork, but I have no interest in setting up a couple of interdependent air chambers. I find setting air pressure for changing temperatures a nuisance even without. I had an AWK (like a Runt) double chamber in a 36 once. Great when set up perfect, but not worth the hassle for 90% of my riding.

I would however shell out for a fork if I knew I could ride it for 5+ years.

Posted by: Znarf

Hi,

that would be my reasoning as well. I bought two sets of Trickstuff Direttissimas. They were expensive, but they are the first brakes which have zero compromise performance, durability and you can get any single smallpart and the company vows to have spareparts for the next fifteen years. (true for their Cleg brakes which I have lusted over since around 2004).

Will this still hold true now that DT Swiss has acquired trickstuff?

We‘ll see. They claim that Trickstuff will stay independent. But I absolutely agree that a healthy skepticism is in order ;-)

DT Swiss is a big company which offers decent spare part support in my experience and I’ve had satisfying experiences with their products so far.

Worst case would have been an aquisition by Crank Brothers or Avid :D