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140mm fork on a GT I-drive 5?

AnonymousAnonymous Posts: 79,667
edited October 2010 in MTB workshop & tech
Currently got a Rockshox 327 Solo Air fork which is a 130mm fork, that came with the bike.

Would I be able to get a 140mm fork on there instead? There are more options at 140 than 130.

Posts

  • NorthwindNorthwind Posts: 14,675
    Officially no. But it'll ride better with 140mm. I did, then I sold mine to aargh can't remember the forum name but someone on here, and he has a set of 140mm Revelations in, and whenever I see him he tells me iit has not yet snapped in half :lol:

    TBH I'd have liked to run it with 150mm but that was a bit more worrying. At 130mm it just felt ever so slightly fractious, like an incredibly long travel XC bike more than a 5 inch travel trail bike but even though the 10mm and tall headset was only a small difference it seemed to be an important one. Really nice bike after that.
    Uncompromising extremist
  • AnonymousAnonymous Posts: 79,667
    Cool. Is there anything I need to watch out for? Would I just need to reduce the stack height up to the stem? Currently got a good 20mm of spacers there anyway.
  • NorthwindNorthwind Posts: 14,675
    deadkenny wrote:
    Cool. Is there anything I need to watch out for?.

    Well, one thing you need to know is it's outwith the warranty so very much an at-your-own-risk. The Idrive's got a headtube joint like the prow of an icebreaker though so I doubt it's weak (you can never really tell). Got mine used so wasn't an issue.

    Don't worry too much about moving spacers to suit etc, the bike'll feel a bit different so just set it up to taste afterwards.

    Still... Are your recons working right? That's a pretty nice fork, not one I'd rush to upgrade myself without a good reason.
    Uncompromising extremist
  • AnonymousAnonymous Posts: 79,667
    True. They pretty good. Still impressed by the kit on that bike for the money.

    Though no lock out on the recons though, but then I've not really felt much need for one. Do think they're a bit hard on the rooty & rocky stuff but maybe they need a service or I just haven't got the rebound set up right.

    Was a thought of upgrading the forks and using the recons as part of a HT build. They can also be set to 100mm apparently according to the manual.
  • hypermanhyperman Posts: 232
    People always mention warranty when this type of question comes up, but the way I see is just keep your old forks and if anything happens you can put them back on and no one would know.. :D
  • AnonymousAnonymous Posts: 79,667
    Not sure how much warranty it has anyway. It's over a year old and the value of it has plummeted (seem to only be £300 on ebay for used but nearly new XCR models. Though the components individually would fetch more than what the whole bikes sell for).
  • popstarpopstar Posts: 1,392
    Recon's are good, but recently after upgrading to Reba's on me HT bike there is difference to be noticed. In your case Revelations are a big step forward. IMO longer travel has got more of sweetspot which can be noticed on roots and not so big slabs of rocks compared to shorter forks, but then those forks have to be set properly to enjoy perfomance.

    Sweet rebound is the Future, you always can borrow bikes of riding buddies to see how it feels. :wink:

    Once rebound set to your liking, think thats only when you may want to play with PSI and only then after that if fork blows through all travel upgrade the bastid.
    What could have been (Video)

    I'll choose not put too much stake into someone's opinion who is admittingly terrible though
  • ride_wheneverride_whenever Posts: 13,279
    Set pressure first then rebound...

    General procedure is let all air out.
    Set +ve to give 20-30% sag
    set -ve to the same psi plus or minus 5psi to taste.
    Rebound to taste
    Any other adjustments to taste
    Neeermad
    Carbon 456
    456 lefty
    Pompino
    White Inbred
  • AnonymousAnonymous Posts: 79,667
    It's solo air so makes it simple & sag set fine.

    Rebound I'm not so sure about. If it's kicking me up hard on roots I soften it up, but then do any drops (tiny though they are the ones I do, or more likely I roll them) and it sinks and I feel maybe it should be a quicker rebound. Then I'm not doing them properly anyway.
  • thel33terthel33ter Posts: 2,684
    edited October 2010
    That 10mm won't make break the frame, neither will 20mm if you get some 150mm's.

    A rough idea for setting rebound, is that when you unweight the front end they should extend to full travel, so when you do a drop properly you land with the full 130mm travel avaliable.
    And now you know, and knowing is half the battle
    05 Spesh Enduro Expert
    05 Trek 1000 Custom build
    Speedily Singular Thingy
  • ride_wheneverride_whenever Posts: 13,279
    The idea of rebound is that it gives you control, you want just enough to stop it packing down on repeated hits, but leaves you in control.

    On the big hits the forks need to control you. Sounds to me that you need the soft rebound for the roots with perhaps a little less pressure. Make sure you're letting the chambers equalise when pumping it up...
    Neeermad
    Carbon 456
    456 lefty
    Pompino
    White Inbred
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