Answer BMX have been the leader in high tech BMX racing forks for as long
as I can remember. Their huge range of pure bred BMX forks are made to
suit every rider at every level of competition, from the juniors to the
20 inch pro to the senior guys (who would probably prefer we don't release
their ages) who still get around on their cruisers.
The Mag fork has been on the market for around 2 years now and are used by many AA pro riders such as Grant White (Free Agent), Sean Dwight, Jamie Staff (Haro), Kevin Tomko (Haro) and Warwick Stevenson (Diamond Back), just to name a few.
Answer boast that the Mag fork is the strongest fork on the BMX racing market, and so it should be. It borrows more from mountain bike technologies than any other rigid BMX fork every produced, using cast magnesium legs. Magnesium legs are more common in MTB forks, but with additional aluminium reinforcements to give them even greater strength and stiffness, just what you need for BMX.
Installation:
We had only one problem with fitting the fork and that was when we tried to find a head cap for them, because the hole running through the Mag fork is quite small. Answer already have a solution to that problem, which far exceeds any other, the stem-lock. The stem-lock totally replaces any existing head cap and locks a stem down like nothing on earth.
The Looks:
At first the Mag fork looks like a fork on steroids, with it's bulging oversized legs and beefy crown. To the uninitiated the Mag fork looks "...a lot like a suspension fork...", but they are far from it. You wont get any suspensions out of these babies...you don't even get any flex. Oh...and if you are worried about the decals, there are 2 different sets that come with the forks.
The ride:
Moving from a cro-moly fork to the Mag there is a noticeable difference
in bike handling. The front end of the bike feels much lighter which is
more obvious when jumping or coasting, but doesn't take too long to get
used to. Gate starts feel better, the lighter fork helping make that all
important snap that little bit easier and the all round stiff fork means
you don't have to fight with the flex while trying
to balance, giving
you the ability to focus on the job at hand. The rake on the fork feels
perfect, cornering is a breeze, weather it's railing or going in for that
tight swoop, they wont let you down.
The Mag is a very slick looking fork but is only available in Black and only 1 1/8" steerer tube. The steerer tube itself is reinforced, and the crown is 7075 cnc'd alloy. The Mag fork that we did our test on was from the 2000 range the only difference with the 2001 fork is that the crown has a more rounded finish on the 2001 model.
The only problem we can find with these forks is that they are strictly for BMX racing, which is really not a problem in our books. If you are thinking of taking them down to the local dirt jumps, these are the wrong forks. But if you are looking for the ultimate BMX race fork at an affordable price, the Answer Mag fork is just what you need.
For more information on the Answer Mag forks, or the stem-lock, check out www.answerproducts.com.
Reviewed:
27/03/01