Barracuda - Totally Driven!

Hi from southern AZ.

Thanks for putting this site together. I had no idea of the fanfare for this bike until I was searching the www for a solution to my fork problem (keep reading)

I bought my A2V Barracuda new in Longmont, CO on July 31, 1997. I got a deal on it because it was a 12" bike from an earlier year. Based on the "Bikes" page, it looks to be a 1994 model. I'll post its serial number in the database along with a pic soon.

I rode the Barracuda on Labor Day after a long time (close to 10 years) of it just sitting in the garage while I moved, changed careers, worked, moved again, rode skinny tires, among other life stuff. At the end of the ride, my disk-brake, 29" full suspension riding buddy's and I were comparing fork travel. To my dismay , my original SR Duo Track 9001 fork was fully compressed.... guess I maxed it out.

Any recommendations from the Barracuda experts out here on what to do? I am having a hard time finding a front fork that will work for my bike. I had forgotten how much fun mountain biking is and now can't ride until I recover from this mechanical.

Here's a pic of their crumbled guts:

Hey Goldenlocks-

Welcome to the site! Always good to come across another Cudahead... this is a great forum full of nice helpful people who love Barracuda bikes! Big praise goes out to Mark, The Grand Poobah, who put all this together.

As far as a fork goes, some guys run one of the early Manitou I., II., III., IV., or Comp, these are 55mm-60mm travel forks and they do the job nicely. For me, nothing beats a White Brothers SC72 or the newer version the AC-3/XC-3... they are American made, simple to work on, way overbuilt, and can be picked up pretty cheaply. I'm picking up a XC-3 this weekend for $45.00, back in the late 90's that fork cost $700.00+. The smaller travel forks can be won on Ebay for under $100.00 (also try YAKAZ and search "White Brothers Fork", that's how I found the $45.00 XC-3). The SC has 72mm of travel and the AC/XC has 80mm, both work beautifully with our Cuda frame geometry. Watch out for too much travel, I ran a newer Manitou that had 85mm and it was simply too much travel. It change the geometry completely and made for crappy climbing and sketchy downhilling. If you go to the MEMBERS BIKES section, you'll see my '93 A2L with a SC72. I have to tell you, I built and rebuilt that bike trying to find the perfect set up... I finally achieved it with the SC72... I love it!!!

Good luck, let's see some pics, and feel free to ask questions... I'm probably the biggest A-hole on this site and I can attest to the fact that this forum has the coolest, most helpful members of any bike forum that I've ever checked out!

-D-

Yes, welcome to the site..

Mix is positioning himself as the next great hoarder of all things 'Cuda... better watch out Mark... I think Mix is trying to steal your crown!!!

Sneaky Mixalive...

p.s. I used to think Manbeer had a lot of Cuda bikes but he's gone AWOL... maybe Mix eliminated the compitition...

Ouch.. That hurts..

It's outta love my brother... outta love!

Yeah GL, Welcome aboard. You will find a lot of good cuda info on this site and it will definately fuel your love for these great bikes.

LOL!!!

Regarding the duotrack, scrap it and seek out a nice, period-correct replacement. Manitou, Rock Shox or Marzocchi are all great. Keep an eye on the travel, as you'll raise the steerer tube too high and it won't steer right.

M