Will more travel kill my bike?

russ_gillespie

Hiya,

I have a charge duster mid 2007 large frame. It has rockshox tora 100mm forks but I would like to put forks on with more travel, maybe140mm?

Has anyone does this with a duster before?

The reason for the upgrade is that I've noticed the bike & me are weighted over the frontwheel sometimes and it feels a little unstable on trails, I'm thinking more travel will bring the front of the bike up enough to stablise my weight on the bike. Does that make any sense?

I've emailed Charge asking what maximum travel they recommend on that model but thought I'd see if anyone here had done this before.

Cheers
Russ

nicklouse

you could try a new stem and or bars. but i would not fit a longer fork as it is a frame designed for a 100mm fork. Is the fork set up correctly?

also look at you seat position.

brownix

yeah if you wanna get over the back a little get a high rise bar or stem instead of all that money on a new fork

Northwind

I thought about this myself but Charge were totally dead against it... Not "We don't think it's a good idea" but "Don't do it, it's stupid"- even though they knew I'd buy it if they said yes, and wouldn't if they said no.

Depending on your budget and the condition of the frame, you could probably change to something like an Inbred which is built for up to 130mm for not a lot of money- the charge frame should still have some value and used Inbreds run around £100-£120 usually. Just putting that up as an option though as I think nicklouse's comments are a better place to start.

russ_gillespie

Thanks for the advise chaps, I think I may go down the route of a shorter stem, I current have a 10cm with 2 inch riser bar, I'm think maybe a 60cm may be better, or maybe less.

Thanks again.

Russ

JakeWC

The Duster will take a 120mm fork with no problems, the geometry will be slightly slacker. I would not go any higher than that. Try the stem and bars first though, unless you particularly want more travel.

CycloRos

I've been considering the same thing on my Duster.

I thought about this myself but Charge were totally dead against it... Not "We don't think it's a good idea" but "Don't do it, it's stupid

i

Interesting how Charge were dead against it? Did they give any particular reason? I've read various geometry measurements about the Duster and I'm not entirely convinced the measurements listed on their website are even correct? The seat angle particular seems very laid back and I'm pretty sure the head angle is slacker than the quoted 71 deg

I decided against touching the fork just yet as the Reba fork has just be in and is now really sweet, but when it does come to replacing it I'll probably be going for a Pike/Revelation giving me the option of some height adjustment and see what works...

Northwind

Not really, it could always just be the usual litigation terror that most manufacturers live under now. Still, I'd go with a frame where the manufacturer happily stand behind it with the forks you're using personally.