XCish Fork Questions

[seldon]

I'm currently riding on a stock Trek 4500 and it has some judy pos that acts like a rigid fork while being heavier than hell. Would this (http://www.bikesmart.com/index.cfm?m...rtRow=1&afid=3) be a good upgrade? Is that a good deal (Marzocchi EXR Pro 105mm AIR) for $150? What else should I look at?

[mntlion]

if the rest of the bike works OK and you like it then OK, but if you are thinking about other upgrades. DON'T DO IT and sell this bike (or town bike) and buy what you want. upgrades on parts are usually not worth it

[seldon]

The problem being that the bike I think I'll want next seems to be hovering in the way-the-fuck-out-of-my-price range area of ~$1500-2000. I know this sounds like a travesty, parts wise, but....

if I bought a frame and a fork, say a Transition Preston FR or something like that.
and took the crappy parts (driveline, stem, bars, seat, hopefully not the v-brakes, cranks, you know what i'm getting at) and put them on the oh-so-nice frame. and then upgraded as i could afford it/shit got trashed. would this be dangerous? More expensive in the long-run (probably)? Should I just wait till I can spring for full squish?

[chaka]

Fox Float 100RLC... brought a lot of life back into my rig, replacing an early generation pos SID. Worth every penny in my mind.

[p-tex]

The problem being that the bike I think I'll want next seems to be hovering in the way-the-fuck-out-of-my-price range area of ~$1500-2000. I know this sounds like a travesty, parts wise, but....

if I bought a frame and a fork, say a Transition Preston FR or something like that.
and took the crappy parts (driveline, stem, bars, seat, hopefully not the v-brakes, cranks, you know what i'm getting at) and put them on the oh-so-nice frame. and then upgraded as i could afford it/shit got trashed. would this be dangerous? More expensive in the long-run (probably)? Should I just wait till I can spring for full squish?

Probably not worth it. Upgrading a bike & parts is usually an emotional decisison - not a sound plan from a $$ perspective. If you are concerned about the best deal, wait, save you pennys for the bike with all the stuff you want. I have upgrade bikes knowing I was "throwing $ away" but still did it.

MHO FWIW

PS - what kinda bike U looking for? I might be looking to sell my 2004 model 4" XC bike later this summer....