EXT ERA - First Ride Impression

[@VelkePivo]

Thanks for this! Very little out there on the fork so far. And excellent riding, too!

[@1taifi]

Really great fork! i'm also and the heavier side and just rode a zeb for 2 months prior to era....can't see a stiffness difference, but ohh boy...the era feels better than the zeb'21, lyrik'21 and fox36'19-'20, no more sore hands! ride on!

[@simonurquhart8455]

Nice! I am only seeing positive reviews so far.

[@six5mtb415]

Dude you shred !!

[@leofoy9096]

That EXT mudguard that I see on the fork, is that cable tied on or is there the option for a bolt on mudguard like on Fox forks? Nothing better than a clean mudguard setup with no cable ties everywhere and I do love that bolt on feature on my pair of Fox 36's! Great video too, those trails look brilliant.

[@simonurquhart8455]

That one is cable tied but there are provisions to bolt one on. I do prefer the cable tied on guards though as the bolt ons can snap of at the mounting points very easily.

[@temoheath8563]

Bro you have to come down to wanaka and ride cardrona bike park this summer. So much fun and for a day pass its well worth

[@MTBTrailMagic]

that would be pretty sick!

[@temoheath8563]

@@MTBTrailMagic Season starts 11th december, if you do go up look out for a black n purple trek slash!

[@MTBTrailMagic]

Awesome! good to know.

[@aridersview9584]

Smooth riding 👌

[@MTBTrailMagic]

Simon is a smooth rider already, and these forks (and his ext shock) will make the ride 🧈 smooth haha!

[@aleks2194]

I had a 36 I was never happy with, put a coil kit in and still ran the hsc wide open, new bike came with the 38, it’s a little rounder on the edges but still a little spikey and have to choose between plush or no support and find myself once again looking for upgrades and now I’m thinking maybe I should just buy something that works instead

[@benruffatto707]

Thanks for the review and awesome riding! I’m considering a swap from my 36/smashpot to EXT. can you tell me more about your bike and setup? How’s the fork holding up? Lastly, have you noticed any downsides? Thanks for the info!

[@mtbboy1993]

I have the Storia Lok V3 shock, but so far there is no Coil fork from EXT. I haven't tried any dual crown fork yet, but that's also interesting to me, cus I would not have to align the cockpit. I currently use Fox 36 with Vorsprung Smashpot 170mm coil conversion I run High and Low Compression settings at zero, bottom-out control at zero. but so far this is the first long travel coil setup I've had. The Storia feels great, so far I run rebound at two clicks, 400-pound spring, I am 86kg fully kitted. I will stick with coil setup, cus I don't have to change the air pressure, pressures can change a lot from day to day and even during a ride.

[@paul.p.smellthetruth2667]

Coil a fork is No prob. Get the Piston away from the++ Topcap Install Something aß a plastic dick For keeping the Coil centered,remove the Air Deals and get a TOPOUT spring from eBay which You put in the negative spring Side. Put a fitting coil With some shrinking slope around it in.marzocchi,Formular selva or an öhlins spring. I would prefer a Coil vs that very good Double chamber spring,too, as the Air pressures May Gary easily depending on Temperature or height

[@jorgeflores8884]

I am at same weight, what settings are you or did you run on the Era? + & ++ chamber?

[@mtbmike9866]

Your camera footage is so damn smooth. GoPro??

[@MTBTrailMagic]

Simon uses a hero 9 chest mount with standard lens.

[@travishutt9140]

Where is this? Looks awesome

[@MTBTrailMagic]

This is at Christchurch Adventure Park in Christchurch, New Zealand. In particular the trails are Double Over Head Cam, Choir Boy and Gung Ho. It's pretty fun, and they're about to open 9 new trails in time for summer. Super fun!

[@travishutt9140]

@@MTBTrailMagic is this Simon replying? Exact same story here, I’m on the F36 smashpot! Real close to getting an Era. Do you still feel it is superior over the smashpot for enduro riding?

[@simonurquhart8455]

@@travishutt9140 hey man! I’m actually now running a 38. My ERAs ended up going back twice (with one set completely replaced) before getting a refund. They were good in regards to service and warranty but unfortunately I can’t say much about the quality of the forks. Maybe I got 2 bad forks in a row 🤷🏻‍♂️. Still running the storia on the rear which has been pretty good.

[@travishutt9140]

@@simonurquhart8455 were your problems regarding the lowers? I heard ext doesn’t actually make them and they come from a different company

[@simonurquhart8455]

@@travishutt9140 lowers are made by xfusion which are absolutely fine but both my forks the bushings slogged out and started binding giving a very harsh feel.

[@kniernberg]

What PSI were your running in the main chamber?

[@imperialred]

Dude you CHARGE HARD!!

[@paul.p.smellthetruth2667]

Can you compare to an öhlins m2 or a Mezzer?

[@MTBTrailMagic]

I believe Simon had fox 36's previously.

[@paul.p.smellthetruth2667]

@@MTBTrailMagic Mezzer and rfx m2 are above 36 anyway. Only like to know how far they are behind it or compareable

[@simonurquhart8455]

@@paul.p.smellthetruth2667 I’ve had an rxf 36 which was terrible. Can’t compare to the m2 or mezzer though sorry. From what I’ve heard they are better than the mezzer. I have had a couple of avalanche dampers one in a pike and one in a boxxer and even had the boxxer setup at 180mm on my previous enduro and in my opinion none of them come close to the Era.

[@paul.p.smellthetruth2667]

@@simonurquhart8455 So you say it is rather worth investing a few euro more in a whole era instead of an avalanche tuning? What does the Era do better worse than a fresh serviced lyrik/pike with Avalanche open bath cartridge? (stiffness and creaking aside)

[@DirtDogDiaries]

@@simonurquhart8455 would you take this Era over an Avy Set up? Have it in my 49 and 36 right now and absolutely loving them! But need a new fork for the new bike I’m building so I’m curious on your thoughts on it vs the Era. Thanks!

[@kenww776]

Is it easy to set up? Compared to a Fox 36 Factory?

[@simonurquhart8455]

I was forever hating the 36 as far as setup goes to the point where I was running both high and low speed compression wide open. With the Era I went with recommended settings for my weight and I feel no need to change them other than to just play around and see if they can be any better (or worse)

[@onawave]

would you get the ext fork over a fox 38?

[@simonurquhart8455]

I’m now running a 38 haha

[@keeran450]

@@simonurquhart8455 How's the Era compare to the 38? I'm currently tossing up between the two

[@simonurquhart8455]

@@keeran450 if the ERA was reliable I’d be running that. Other people seem to have better luck with them. So far the 38 has been good

[@Martin-gh8uq]

How does it compare in regards to stiffness with other forks in the class?

[@simonurquhart8455]

I haven’t tried a 38 or zeb but it feels similar if not a bit stiffer than the 36. But it really is hard to say as the fork feels so much better everywhere else that I’d say it would naturally just feel stiffer. Put it this way... I’m at the heavier end of the scale and stiffness isn’t an issue.