BUCKLOS LUTU 26/27.5/29 Air MTB Suspension Fork, Rebound Adjust Straight Tube 28.6mm QR 9mm Travel 120mm Manual/Crown Lockout Mountain Bike Forks, Ultralight Gas Shock XC Bicycle

This is a one year review since installing this Lutu Fork for my daughter’s Trek Marlin 6 mountain bike.Bottom Line Up Front:I cannot complain. Great purchase, good product for the money._____________________________________________________________________My son and I own high-end mountain bikes and we use them on rough terrain. I do all the maintenance myself for both bicycles and motorcycles in our garage.My daughter is only mildly interested in mountain biking. Therefore, the Trek Marlin 6 suited her needs. However, bikes in this “entry level” category come with cheap suspension forks. In this case, the ubiquitous Suntour XCT spring forks. This OEM fork sucked. It had 100mm of suspension travel, but it moved only 25 – 30mm. It also leaked black oil constantly. The worst aspect was its heavy weight. My daughter was unable to jump or lift the front end over obstacles. My son and I tried riding her bike, and we confirmed that the bike was too “front-heavy” with this Suntour fork.Enter the Lutu Fork.I ordered the Lutu fork with 27.5″ tire clearance with gold/orange anodized fork finish. The fork arrived fast, in a typical Amazon manner. The product appeared really nice. The overall design was a direct copy of a 2015 Fox Evolution 32 fork. The fork sliders had anodized markers and numbers a la RockShox so that you could adjust and set the sag.Installation:Everything fit just fine. I had a minor difficulty with adjusting the disc brake caliper onto the fork. You just have to have patience. Make sure that the disc rotor and brake pads have enough clearance. I torqued the brake caliper mounting bolts to Fox Fork and Shimano torque data.The ride:What a significant improvement of the ride and handling!The Suntour fork was very heavy. It could be used as a boat anchor. The Lutu fork was just as light as Fox or RockShox fork. Therefore, lifting the front end over obstacles became easier (safer).I was skeptical about the long term ownership of this rather cheaply priced Lutu fork. Therefore, I waited over one year for this review.My son and I “borrowed” my daughter’s bike for some thrashing sessions.So far, so good. The air has not leaked to date. There is a minor oil leak every once in a while. However, this is too minor to degrade my rating.Overall, this was an excellent purchase.In the future, if this fork does wear out, I will not rebuild it. I will simply purchase another Lutu fork if necessary.____________________________________________________________Caution:Remember that this is a straight steer tube (not tapered), with QR drop outs (not thru-axle).You must purchase a “star nut” separately – this is cheap.You must re-use the “headset crown race” off of the original fork.The steer tube is full length; you might want to cut the steer tube.(my daughter preferred the higher handlebar height, so we did not cut the steer tube)If you do not understand these words of caution, I recommend that you seek help from a professional bike mechanic. Otherwise, you can research on YouTube for ‘how to’ videos. Again, overall, this fork replacement was very easy. You CAN do it.