4CS forks vs 2017 Airfork?

Racer112
Posts
40
Joined
9/16/2017
Location
Placerville, CA US
9/27/2017 5:45am
Hello, I'm new to the forum. I have a question to those of you that have run the 16' 4CS fork and the 17' airfork.
I have a 16 ktm 350xc-f that I ride off-road and am planning to race this weekend at a hare scramble. The forks have been valved and have gold valves in them etc..... but everybody knows these forks are in no way amazing.
I also have a set of stock 17' 350 sx-f air forks. Question is; are the airforks better than the valved 4CS??

Any thoughts on these would be greatly appreciated!
Matt
|
9/27/2017 7:08am
Yes, the air forks are 10x better. A person would have to do thousands of dollars of work to the 4CS to make them okay, and they still aren't great. I have a 2016 Husqvarna FC250 with Mx Tech valving to give the bike low speed, mid speed, high speed and rebound adjustability by adding more clickers. It is better over stock, but I had the chance to ride a 2017 TC250 and a 2017 FC350 with the AER48 forks and they blow any 4CS out of the water. Get them dialed in and many riders I've talked to don't even consider a revalve with the AER48's. I'd love to buy a set for my bike..
Racer112
Posts
40
Joined
9/16/2017
Location
Placerville, CA US
9/27/2017 7:18am
awesome! thanks a ton.........
i cant believe the 4CS are such junk!

i have a set of WP cone valve on my sx-f and nothing can ever compare to those.....
Superdave19
Posts
1102
Joined
10/10/2012
Location
Spring, TX US
9/27/2017 6:53pm
Yes, the air forks are 10x better. A person would have to do thousands of dollars of work to the 4CS to make them okay, and...
Yes, the air forks are 10x better. A person would have to do thousands of dollars of work to the 4CS to make them okay, and they still aren't great. I have a 2016 Husqvarna FC250 with Mx Tech valving to give the bike low speed, mid speed, high speed and rebound adjustability by adding more clickers. It is better over stock, but I had the chance to ride a 2017 TC250 and a 2017 FC350 with the AER48 forks and they blow any 4CS out of the water. Get them dialed in and many riders I've talked to don't even consider a revalve with the AER48's. I'd love to buy a set for my bike..
This^^^ AER Fork is a fantastic fork.
Lynch
Posts
722
Joined
3/14/2015
Location
SE
9/27/2017 11:47pm
I spent 50 hours trying to dial in the 4CS forks and I was never happy with them, bought a bike with the AER forks, rode it once to set sag and raced a 3 hour race the next weekend and loved it. I have a list of what settings I prefer on what type of track, if you want I can pm you the list.

The Shop

Digger29
Posts
1886
Joined
11/2/2011
Location
Oxford, MA US
9/28/2017 7:03am Edited Date/Time 9/29/2017 4:01pm
The AER fork is quite possibly the best production fork out there right now. (easily the best air fork) The 4CS is definitely the worst fork out there especially when it comes to dialing it in. No amount of money spent on the 4CS will put them in the same league performance wise as the AER in stock form. On a 1-10 scale I'll give the AER's a solid 8.5-9 and the 4CS get a 1-2.
Lynch
Posts
722
Joined
3/14/2015
Location
SE
9/28/2017 9:56pm
Digger29 wrote:
The AER fork is quite possibly the best production fork out there right now. (easily the best air fork) The 4CS is definitely the worst fork...
The AER fork is quite possibly the best production fork out there right now. (easily the best air fork) The 4CS is definitely the worst fork out there especially when it comes to dialing it in. No amount of money spent on the 4CS will put them in the same league performance wise as the AER in stock form. On a 1-10 scale I'll give the AER's a solid 8.5-9 and the 4CS get a 1-2.
How would you rate it against the WP Cone valve forks? I'm thinking about doing the KYB SSS inserts, Öhlins inserts or just getting the whole CV forks for next season..
Digger29
Posts
1886
Joined
11/2/2011
Location
Oxford, MA US
9/29/2017 2:53pm
Me personally, I love the traditional spring cone valves over my stock AER fork but that being said I'm testing a pr of AER cone valves right now. I've got just about 3 hrs on them but all on the same track (MX 207 at the Racer X event in Maine) and so far I love them. They're are definitely plusher and definitely seem to follow the ground much more like my spring cone valves do instead of dancing around and being a little busy like my stock AER's tend to do. They honestly feel very much like a spring fork. I'm going to race them at our final 5 races of the season at 5 different tracks so I'll know more about them and if I like them more than more spring cone valves in the next few wks. For you I'd definitely do the cone valve fork over the SSS inserts because the cone valve fork is a better fork than the SSS fork. You can sell the cone valve fork fairly easy and get 85% (or more) of your money back when you're done with them and you're not getting one dollar more for bike when you sell it with the SSS inserts. Just my humble opinion so please take it for what it's worth.
Lynch
Posts
722
Joined
3/14/2015
Location
SE
9/30/2017 10:05am
Digger29 wrote:
Me personally, I love the traditional spring cone valves over my stock AER fork but that being said I'm testing a pr of AER cone valves...
Me personally, I love the traditional spring cone valves over my stock AER fork but that being said I'm testing a pr of AER cone valves right now. I've got just about 3 hrs on them but all on the same track (MX 207 at the Racer X event in Maine) and so far I love them. They're are definitely plusher and definitely seem to follow the ground much more like my spring cone valves do instead of dancing around and being a little busy like my stock AER's tend to do. They honestly feel very much like a spring fork. I'm going to race them at our final 5 races of the season at 5 different tracks so I'll know more about them and if I like them more than more spring cone valves in the next few wks. For you I'd definitely do the cone valve fork over the SSS inserts because the cone valve fork is a better fork than the SSS fork. You can sell the cone valve fork fairly easy and get 85% (or more) of your money back when you're done with them and you're not getting one dollar more for bike when you sell it with the SSS inserts. Just my humble opinion so please take it for what it's worth.
Yep the SSS is out of question now hahah..
I have a friend that spent most of this season on the AER CV fork, without going in on the details he changed to the traditional spring CV last week.

I found two great deals (imo), 2016 CV spring forks for $2.2k and a set of 2017 öhlins forks + shock for $3k. Can not decide... One way would be to get the Öhlins inserts via RG3 however after setting them up with the Swedish supplier it will end up costing between $1.8-2.5k anyways, however he does offer great support from what my friends tell me.
CarlinoJoeVideo
Posts
7332
Joined
11/30/2013
Location
Portland/Los Angeles, CA US
Fantasy
2298th
9/30/2017 1:46pm
Digger29 wrote:
Me personally, I love the traditional spring cone valves over my stock AER fork but that being said I'm testing a pr of AER cone valves...
Me personally, I love the traditional spring cone valves over my stock AER fork but that being said I'm testing a pr of AER cone valves right now. I've got just about 3 hrs on them but all on the same track (MX 207 at the Racer X event in Maine) and so far I love them. They're are definitely plusher and definitely seem to follow the ground much more like my spring cone valves do instead of dancing around and being a little busy like my stock AER's tend to do. They honestly feel very much like a spring fork. I'm going to race them at our final 5 races of the season at 5 different tracks so I'll know more about them and if I like them more than more spring cone valves in the next few wks. For you I'd definitely do the cone valve fork over the SSS inserts because the cone valve fork is a better fork than the SSS fork. You can sell the cone valve fork fairly easy and get 85% (or more) of your money back when you're done with them and you're not getting one dollar more for bike when you sell it with the SSS inserts. Just my humble opinion so please take it for what it's worth.
Lynch wrote:
Yep the SSS is out of question now hahah.. I have a friend that spent most of this season on the AER CV fork, without going...
Yep the SSS is out of question now hahah..
I have a friend that spent most of this season on the AER CV fork, without going in on the details he changed to the traditional spring CV last week.

I found two great deals (imo), 2016 CV spring forks for $2.2k and a set of 2017 öhlins forks + shock for $3k. Can not decide... One way would be to get the Öhlins inserts via RG3 however after setting them up with the Swedish supplier it will end up costing between $1.8-2.5k anyways, however he does offer great support from what my friends tell me.
If you plan on staying on KTMs for multiple years, get a depressed set of forks. You can take them over to your new bike and sell the 4cs ya know. I have CVs I use on my 125 and 250f. Best $2,000 I've spent on my bike. The forks have more wear obviously now after 2 years, but I could prob sell them tomorrow for $1,800+.





Lynch
Posts
722
Joined
3/14/2015
Location
SE
10/1/2017 9:38pm
Thanks for the input Carlino, I will stay on KTM's for atleast 3 years so a good set of forks would be nice. However I am on the AER forks and not the 4CS, my three bikes before my current one had 4CS forks and I never got 100% comfortable on them. I was really happy with the AER's when I first changed to them but I feel like they restrict me in some parts of every track that a "better" fork would not, four of my friends have gone from AER's to something else, one to CV Spring forks, two to Öhlins inserts and the last one with the WP spring conversion (which I do not recommend at all after trying it). They all say they can go quite a bit faster in the rough parts which I struggle with.

I have messaged a couple of retailers in Sweden about both the CV spring forks and the Öhlins inserts, would be nice to test them beforehand tho.
swtwtwtw
Posts
1287
Joined
4/16/2008
Location
Apple Valley, CA US
10/3/2017 7:58am
if ya stick with the 4cs, get the 6 days version. I put a set of these on a tc250 and they are every bit as good as my aer on my fc250. No revalve needed and work great up to 200 lbs easy.

Post a reply to: 4CS forks vs 2017 Airfork?

The Latest