XC32 remove spacer to 120mm?

declan1

Hello!

I have a 100mm Solo air XC32 fork - I wish to extend that travel to 120mm which I understand is possible by removing a spacer on the air spring.

I have noticed that the Recon Silver (similar fork) solo air can only be 120mm with a 15mm maxle and tapered steerer.

Does anyone know if you can actually extend the XC32 (9mm qr with normal steerer)?

Thanks!

supersonic

There is no way of knowing until you have opened them up and have a look - two many versions of these forks to be sure ie OE versions with bespoke parts.

declan1

supersonic wrote:

There is no way of knowing until you have opened them up and have a look - two many versions of these forks to be sure ie OE versions with bespoke parts.

Ok, thanks. I'm not exactly confident in opening them up but I suppose I should have a go - it doesn't look too hard.

I've ordered some 15wt suspension fluid for when I do it.

Looking forward to see if there are some nice spacers in there I can take out

The Rookie

When we got my daughters Recon XC's (Revelation chassis) we took them from 100 to 130mm, they were OE forks with no spacer, but after a brief chat with the helpful guys at TFtuned I just cut down the air spring guide sleeve (it's also the stop for the rebound damper) to achieve the same effect (that is what they said they did, they offered the service quite cheap but said it was an easy DIY job and that it was silly to pay all the P&P etc if I could DIY it).

If you check the online info from RS you can make sure the bits in your forks are longer travel compatible.

declan1

The Rookie wrote:

When we got my daughters Recon XC's (Revelation chassis) we took them from 100 to 130mm, they were OE forks with no spacer, but after a brief chat with the helpful guys at TFtuned I just cut down the air spring guide sleeve (it's also the stop for the rebound damper) to achieve the same effect (that is what they said they did, they offered the service quite cheap but said it was an easy DIY job and that it was silly to pay all the P&P etc if I could DIY it).

If you check the online info from RS you can make sure the bits in your forks are longer travel compatible.

Brilliant, thanks for the info. I don't think I'd fancy cutting anything as I might go back to 100mm in the future (I change my mind a lot!). I'll wait until the fluid arrives then I'll just have a look and see.

Thanks again

The Rookie

If you wanted to go back later, you'd just need a spacer.......so no issue!

declan1

The Rookie wrote:

If you wanted to go back later, you'd just need a spacer.......so no issue!

That's very true. The fluid arrived this morning (CRC seem to have sorted themselves out) so I might have a look later or tomorrow

declan1

So, I'm reviving this thread to say I FINALLY removed the spacer the other day, and the forks are now at 120mm travel. Only problem is they don't seem to want to use more than 100mm of that travel unless I use a fairly low pressure - is there a reason for that?

oxocube1

It could be a good thing as that last little bit of travel will come into use when taking a big hit, but it could potentially be solved. Have you got fluid in the air chamber? I know some of the tech docs say to put a little fluid in when reassembling but it will make the fork more progressive i.e. make it ramp up towards the end of it's travel as the air chamber is effectively made smaller.

declan1

oxocube1 wrote:

It could be a good thing as that last little bit of travel will come into use when taking a big hit, but it could potentially be solved. Have you got fluid in the air chamber? I know some of the tech docs say to put a little fluid in when reassembling but it will make the fork more progressive i.e. make it ramp up towards the end of it's travel as the air chamber is effectively made smaller.

It's just not possible to use that last bit of travel - I've tried putting as much force as I can into the front end of the bike and it will not go past 100mm!

supersonic

Even with all the air let out?

declan1

supersonic wrote:

Even with all the air let out?

If I use a lower pressure (too low for actual riding) I can get it to use all of the travel.