Hardrock sport 06 fork upgrade.

Zidane

Hi, I am thinking of replacing the Gila fork that came on my Hardrock as I don't think it's that good to be honest and wondered what the best replacement is in the £130-£140ish price range. I don't do any tough riding really just roads in the week when travelling to work and bridle paths and trails etc at the weekends.
I have been taking a look at the Rockshox Tora 302 with poploc which I have seen good reviews of.
Also is it hard to fit new forks ? as my bike is booked for a service in the next week or two and I thought about asking my LBS to fit them for me depending on how much they would charge.
Thanks.

xtreem

Yes, Tora 302 but 100mm version, because I'm not so sure that
your frame supports the U-turn version. For mainly road and a little
offroad riding that should be enough.
About fitting, in other post some said maybe £20.

Zidane

Thanks for the reply. The ones I was thinking of are the poploc version, they say in the specs 85-130mm, would these not be suitable then ?
Cheers.

xtreem

Will be suitable, but if you run it on below 110-120mm max.
You can use it in 130mm, but then you'll lose your frame waranty,
some say you may damage the frame, and the handling of the bike
would be different.
Some bikes come with 100mm fork and support 130mm fork, but some no.

I would say take the U-turn version, and use it on between 85-110mm.

hairy_boy

Just a quick question - what is U-Turn ?

Does it just mean the travel is adjustable ie. 85-130mm or is there more to it ?

Thanks.

taliesyn

Hairy Boy wrote:

Just a quick question - what is U-Turn ?

Does it just mean the travel is adjustable ie. 85-130mm or is there more to it ?

Thanks.

That's exactly what it is. The fork has an external adjuster with which you can vary the length of travel

BlackSpur

It's not just 85 or 130mm of travel, it's all the lengths in between too. U-Turn also adjusts spring rate, so with less travel the fork is firmer and vice versa.

The Hardrock may be OK with 130mm of travel, I would get in contact with Specialized and find out.

Zidane

Thanks I will get in touch with Specialized just to confirm. I emailed wiggle and they said that the 302's and 318's should be fine.
I have seem some 2008 100mm 302's with poploc for around £90.
Cheers.

Zidane

Also, this might be a daft question, but why would the longer travel forks potentially damage the frame ?

riggsy123

Im running rockshox tora 318s at 130mm and imo it handles and rides 100 times better

Zidane

Seems with the Gila forks no matter how much I adjust them the ride feels the same, just don't know which ones to go for.
Are these the ones you have on your hardrock riggsy ?
http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/?fn=produ ... egoryId=18

riggsy123

yeah thats them mate

cee

for what its worth, i did the same upgrade to my 06 hardrock.

I got the 100mm 302 from merlin for £86 and it has transformed the bike. Even though I have the same amount of travel, it feels a lot better all the way through. And the external rebound adjust makes sure you can get it set up miles better than the gila could ever.

I had the same deliberations about whether to go for the u-turn version, but reckoned I didn't need the extra inch (or so) of travel, particularly on the hardrock.

The reason the frame can be damaged (apparently....I wasn't able to speak to anyone who had broken a frame with too big a fork!) is that the head tube gets raised slightly, so the head angle gets slackened and more strain gets put on the headtube. I also failed to get a response from specialized about the maximum supported fork length.

Whatever you might think of that, even if you go for the 100mm it will still feel like you have more travel than the gila.

Zidane

I think that's the one I am going to go for. LBS said they would fit them for £12 also which seems very fair.

abbots_mike

tbh you would be able to fit them yourself as long as you are competent with a hammer. me and a mate chanhged over his forks, and the only challenge was swapping over the crown race, which is easily doable by using a small screwdriver to tap it off.
I would say it is easier with a friend to hold the forks and rotate them for you. just make sure you tap it off gradually, not whacking one side right down then the other. i found wd40 helped, both as a lubricant, and to clear all the other crud out the way.

Here is a howto from nickouse with pictures.
http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12547246

Zidane

Had the forks fitted today along with a full service which showed up a few more problems which needed to be fixed but everything is running smoothly now.
My chain was worn so I had to have a new one fitted along with a rear cassette. There was also a build of water in my bottom bracket and general muck etc also in my hubs which the guy in the shop said I should be able to clean and regrease myself with the right tools.
I've been lookin at basic tool sets is this one any good ?
http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/?fn=produ ... egoryId=31
The chap in the shop also said I should look into getting a new seatpost in the near future as well.
Do you have to do any tweaking to set up the Toras properly or should they be good to go ? I can't find my manual so will check out the Rockshox site for one to find what the knobs do.

supersonic

That toolkit has all the basic tools - is a generic one, sometimes can be found cheaper elsewhere. Enough there to take off your cassette, and service the hubs plus a lot more.

SRAM site does have instructions. Easy fork to set up and adjust.

Zidane

Thanks, I got the manual from SRAM's site. I think they are set up ok now, the sag is around 25mm with the lockout off and the fork is a 100mm travel.
Is it best to leave the lockout on when travelling on tarmac ?

cee

hey zizou.

yip....on the road, I usually have the lockout on (even gone down some steep steps with it locked). I does still give about 5mm of play, so this takes care of any little bumps. Also, I think that most of the lockout systems have a 'safety' mechanism where the lockout can be blown through if you hit something hard enough, returning it to normal travel. Haven't tested this on the tora 302 though and probably won't!