How does fork travel change affect ride?

aerris

Hello,
I recently got rid of some rockshox domain 115-160mm forks. I have been thinking of getting the Rock Shox Fork Revelation 426 Air U-Turn 110-140mm 2009 instead.

My question (as im new to biking) is will changing from a 115-160mm travel fork to a 110-140mm travel fork be dangerous and put pressure on my frame in places it wasn't designed to handle? Or will the fact that 140mm is in the 115-160mm range mean that my bike will be ok with it? How can I expect a reduction of 20mm max travel to effect my ride etc?


Thanks very much!

The Northern Monkey

what frame is it?

aerris

lol sorry

Felt Redemption 3

http://www.feltracing.com/08/product.as ... 6&pid=8733

The Northern Monkey

not sure there is a 140mm fork with a 1.5" steerer.

your fork has travel adjust anyways?

aerris

The domains did have travel adjust however they were faulty and I've sent them back under warranty. I really wanted some with a lockout. I'm off to wales soon and I need to get some before then.

Yes I can see now that the ones I was thinking of getting:

http://activesportskit.co.uk/product_in ... ts_id=4057

have a steerer tube of 1 1/8 which wont fit my 1.5 head tube?

I'm having trouble finding some that will fit my frame for the price I want to pay (around £400 max)

Would you guys have any suggestions?

The Northern Monkey

the domain 318 (infinitely better than the domain 302) have compression damping. if you wind it all it then its practically the same as lock out.

Not sure how much they are atm, couldn't your get your forks changed for 318's?

aerris

i will look into it. I kind of wanted air instead of coil so I could adjust them easily. I really thought i'd found a bargain on those revelations until you pointed out that the head tube was the wrong size! gah

The Northern Monkey

you may be able to get headset adapters to allow you to run a 1 1/8th steerer but i'm not 100% sure.

Think it'd be better to have a 160mm travel adjust fork than 140mm, just incase it does change the geometry too much and you don't like it.

Btw, if your already wanting to reduce travel then don't you think you've bought the wrong bike?

aerris

I dont necessarily want to reduce the travel... I just want some better forks with lock out. I would be happy with another 160mm its just finding one I like for the price! I need the 20mm maxle and 1.5 headset (although maybe an adapter like you say)

nicklouse

aerris wrote:

Hello,
I recently got rid of some rockshox domain 115-160mm forks. I have been thinking of getting the Rock Shox Fork Revelation 426 Air U-Turn 110-140mm 2009 instead.

My question (as im new to biking) is will changing from a 115-160mm travel fork to a 110-140mm travel fork be dangerous and put pressure on my frame in places it wasn't designed to handle? Or will the fact that 140mm is in the 115-160mm range mean that my bike will be ok with it? How can I expect a reduction of 20mm max travel to effect my ride etc?


Thanks very much!

run your current forks at the 115-140 range and see what you think.

20mm less travel/height will make it a bit skittish on the Downhills. what about spending the money getting an upgrade to the current forks?

The Northern Monkey

20mm less travel/height will make it a bit skittish on the Downhills. what about spending the money getting an upgrade to the current forks?

Yea, the 318 domains are miles better than the 302's, and the compression damping is pretty much the same as lock out when it dialed in fully (as I said ^) but I've just had a search and can't find the 160mm forks in 1.5" steerer variety

There were loads last year!!

Do you really need lock out though? there was a thread a while back (i'll try and find it) about lock out. turns out most people used it at 1st, but it becomes annoying/pointless to use, so most people forgot about it.

edit: found it - http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... light=lock

xtreem

The Marzocchi 55 ATA 2009, comes with 120-160mm travel, lockout, and 300g lighter than the Domain.

The Northern Monkey

Xtreem wrote:

The Marzocchi 55 ATA 2009, comes with 120-160mm travel, lockout, and 300g lighter than the Domain.

And it tends to break quite alot....

nicklouse

bigbenj_08 wrote:

but I've just had a search and can't find the 160mm forks in 1.5" steerer variety

change the headset and use a 1 1/8th steerered fork

but still the cheapest option is to get the current forks sorted.

aerris

actually, if you look at the spec of my bike:

http://www.feltracing.com/08/product.as ... 6&pid=8733

it says that the headset is:

Headset
Semi-Integrated, Oversized Bearings 1.5 to 1.1/8 Reducer style, w/Custom Felt Spacer Kit

does "reducer style" mean that the 1 1/8 forks will fit in there without getting an adapter or new headset? I guess I should just measure it later when I get home...

The Northern Monkey

kewl, should be able to change it then!
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=29840

aerris

nicklouse wrote:

20mm less travel/height will make it a bit skittish on the Downhills.

Hi, what do you mean by skittish? Just a bit light and jumpy? Hard to control? I wouldn't class myself as a particularly extreme biker and I have to make sure I don't break anything due to the job I do... so if I'm not gonna be tearing down the mountains with my teeth clenched and a face plastered in mosquitoes is it gonna make that much difference?

bigbenj_08 wrote:

edit: found it - http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... light=lock

thanks I read that thread. I found when doing the uphills it was really tough without a lockout. Getting up the long firetrails were a nightmare. Totally worth it when I get to the top though lol.

I would defo get a remote lockout so I could adjust it from the handlebars. I'm dubious of the domains due to the problems I have had with the 302's (they are currently in the post somewhere under warranty repair). Also I like the idea of air sprung so i can tweak it that little bit more.

The Northern Monkey

the 302 are really really terrible compared to the 318's. Has been said in MBUK a few times now

aerris

Yeah. I wouldn't have chosen the 302's had they not come on the bike already. I didn't feel safe on them at all. Like they could break at any point. The travel adjust didn't work at all. You couldn't even turn the travel adjust dial. It felt really tough and springy. You had to really force it to even rotate it at all. Which i guessed was not how it was intended to be used!!

Northwind

Lockout's nice, but remote isn't really all that handy, especially with rockshox where teh lockout is nice and easy to adjust- just reach down and turn it. I had a remote on my last bike and it was kind of cool sometimes, but I've never missed it once since. And it means one less cable, and one less thing on the bars to catch your testicles on when you crash

aerris

hehe Not snagging my balls is a reasonably high priority of mine!

one more q...

is the maxle 360 interchangeable with maxle lite?

thanks

aerris

Nevermind! I think they are... found this in the rockshox manual:

TIGHTEN (Maxle 360, Maxle Lite)
1. Place Maxle lever in the open position (Fig. A). Ensure the lever
engages with the corresponding slot in the axle.

That kind of suggests they are i guess.