Remotely adjustable fork travel ?

BG2000

Please can someone confirm if any manufacturer provides a way of locking travel down via a remote switch (to make climbing really steep climbs easier).

I really miss the ETA feature on my old Marzocchi forks. A flip of a lever on the crown, and they'd lock down at 80mm travel for climbs, and then pop back to full travel when I switched the lever back again. I seem to recall that a remote lever could be fitted to do this ?

I do really like my current forks (Revelation Team U-Turns) but really can't be bothered turning the U-Turn dial before and after climbs.

I seem to remember TALAS forks offering this option, but is it remote controlled ?

Mtaylor2012

You mean a remote lockout that goes on the bars, like this?

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=87546

paul.skibum

He doesnt want to lockout he wants to reduce travel (as in drop the front end down).

I have the ETA on my bombers and it is a good feature - 100mm fork down to 30mm for climbing then back to full bounce for the decent (if you remember).

I have U turn on my full suss and if I know I have a long climb ahead I will drop them to 85mm and lock them out but its annoying you cant wind them down on the move although at least you can bring them back up on the move.

I dont know of any that have the ETA system - even Marz seem to have dropped it these days.

stalkedtoast

yes the Talas is remote controlled for lock out, but you have to turn the dial on the forks yourself to reduce or increase travel, you can do it on the move tho so quicker than the U turns

warpcow

Magura offer it. It's called Flight Control Remote (FCR).

benpinnick

Dt do it too. Launch control.

allthegearnoidea

Manitou had it called IT - infinite travel as you can set it to whatever height you want to by releasing the bar lever, has a bit of a habit of sinking in the cold though! ;-)
My minute are 80-130mm with compression remaining the same at whatever height they are.

jairaj

Rockshox also offer the dual position system on the Revelation. This is a quick flick of a switch similar to the compression adjust on the motion control damper. Might come with a handlebar remote too not sure, you'll have to check. Although the dual position forks are a lot more linear in feel so not to everyone's taste.

paul.skibum

I'm glad the system still exists in some form as I thought the old ETA was great - bar mounted would have been even better.

BG2000

Thanks for all the replies much appreciated.

Yes, I meant quickly changing travel, or crown height via a remote, as opposed to 'lock-out' - sorry that wasn't well worded !

My current problem is doing wheelies on steep uphills. I just can't seem to get forward enough on the bike. Even I do remember to take the U-Turn down to 120mm, it helps a bit, but as Paul Skiburn hinted, I usually forget to raise them back up again before going downhill. And I hate to break the flow of the ride by stopping to wind something down. Even though my old ETA forks didn't have a remote, it was quite easy to reach down and flip the level on the crown.

Part of my problem is riding a Cove Stiffee with 150mm forks and riser bars. I like the high front end on the downhills, but not the uphills....and ideally would be able to switch between the two quickly, i.e. while bombing around steep trail centres.

I had no idea so many manufacturers had offered this. As for which make to go with, damn, that's a whole forum's worth of discussion on it's own, and I'm not going there. But I don't particularly have a desire to stay with RockShox.

cat_with_no_tail

Just buy a Bionicon. Infinitely adjustable travel FTW!

nicklouse

BG2000 wrote:

Thanks for all the replies much appreciated.

Yes, I meant quickly changing travel, or crown height via a remote, as opposed to 'lock-out' - sorry that wasn't well worded !

My current problem is doing wheelies on steep uphills. I just can't seem to get forward enough on the bike. Even I do remember to take the U-Turn down to 120mm, it helps a bit, but as Paul Skiburn hinted, I usually forget to raise them back up again before going downhill. And I hate to break the flow of the ride by stopping to wind something down. Even though my old ETA forks didn't have a remote, it was quite easy to reach down and flip the level on the crown.

Part of my problem is riding a Cove Stiffee with 150mm forks and riser bars. I like the high front end on the downhills, but not the uphills....and ideally would be able to switch between the two quickly, i.e. while bombing around steep trail centres.

I had no idea so many manufacturers had offered this. As for which make to go with, damn, that's a whole forum's worth of discussion on it's own, and I'm not going there. But I don't particularly have a desire to stay with RockShox.

go find a set of old Marz Fr forks with eta and 150mm of travel and get then serviced and used.

jairaj

BG2000 wrote:

My current problem is doing wheelies on steep uphills. I just can't seem to get forward enough on the bike.

Try lower rise bars or flipping your stem around.

BG2000

I've had a look around at the options, and so far my favourites look to be DT Swiss forks with either Launch Control or Twin Shot. In particular, I like the look of the XMM 120 which can drop down to 80mm when climbing.

jairaj

My mate has the DT Launch Control system on his forks. I like the way it works, you push the button and reduce travel while climbing then when you hit a big enough bump to break the threshold the forks return to normal extension. clever system as you don't have to remember to manually release when you start going down the hill.

BG2000

Thanks again for the info. I'm now a very happy owner of some DT EXC 130s. Launch Control II is great. I'm not fussed about there being no remote option for this. Tapping the red button down is easy and the automatic 'blow-out' release works really well once everything is tuned accordingly (which isn't straight forward BTW)

flo411

Hello, I would like buy a cove stiffee frame, but I don’t know if this bike is comfortable and efficient in the uphills. And I have a question about the fork travel chose.

Is it real inconvenient to ride a cove stiffee with 140mm fork in the uphills? Or is it just uncomfortable?
Can you tell my more about the comparison with 100mm fork travel on this bike? Is it comfortable in the donwhills and technical track?

Thanks for your help and excuse my English.

The Rookie

A bit off topic, better to post a new thread with a relevant title!

flo411

Sorry, I posted here because BG2000 made exactly the same frame changing of future mine (trek 8500 to Cove Stiffee) and I would like knowing his impressions but I cannot contact him by mp.

I am agree with you, it is not the right topic, but I chose to go on French forum to ask my general question (I come from Belgium and French is my first language).