Riding Talas forks in lower mode

mxh

I'm currently riding a Giant Trance which has 140mm travel front & rear. I'm looking at replacing the front Fox Talas (140/120) 32mm forks with a set of Fox Talas 34s which have 160/140 travel, as these should be stiffer than the 32s.

However, I'd still want to do the majority of riding in the 140mm (ie lower) mode, and just use the full 160mm travel for occasional steeper stuff. I'd like to know whether this will still be a good 140mm fork, or whether there will be some performance difference compared to a fork that was designed as 140mm

I know that Fox redesigned their TALAS system in 2014 (and I'm looking at a set of 2014 forks) which was supposedly to make them perform better in the lower mode - but I haven't found any reviews or reports that discuss this.

Anyone have experience of 2014 onwards TALAS forks being used in lower mode?

rockmonkeysc

Why not go for a Rockshox Pike DPA? They are much cheaper, better than Talks and stiffer.
I have ridden a Trance SX which is the same frame as yours with a 160mm fork. I wouldn't bother, it rides better with the 140mm fork.

mxh

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I have ridden a Trance SX which is the same frame as yours with a 160mm fork. I wouldn't bother, it rides better with the 140mm fork.

Which is exactly why I want to ride in the 140mm mode for the majority of the time. And then using the extra travel and slacker head angle on the steeper downhill stuff.

This actually seems to me to be the more logical way of using the TALAS setup - apart maybe from the small weight penalty of carrying around the extra 20mm of travel in reserve.

And as for a different fork - I'm only asking about this one as one has come up at a good price. But even so, the same question could be asked of the dual position Pikes - do they actually work as well in the lowered mode?

rockmonkeysc

The Pikes do work well in the lower position, there isn't really any noticeable difference in performance.
I thought the Trance was better even on steep, gnarly trails with the 140mm fork. It just doesn't feel right with more and it doesn't want to turn.
The main thing which would put me off the Fox fork is the service intervals.