change travel in Rockshox Reba 2015 Solo Air

m00nbadger
m00nbadger Posts: 53
edited April 2017 in MTB workshop & tech
Hi,

Been doing some reading online and seems like its a common things to change over the air spring in Reba's to up/downgrade the travel. currently have 100mm of travel and would like to upgrade this to 120mm, and whilst I'm there do a lower leg service

Few questions I have about it though...

- Is it difficult? Videos make is seem straightforward, but YouTube videos of half the palces I've been riding seemed a lot easier than they actually were - anyone done this before and coule shed some light on how hard it is?
- Will the increase of 20mm negatively affect my bikes geometry? I've got a 2015 Trek Superfly. From what I've read it shouldn't really mess things up, maybe make it a bit slacker, which in all honesty wouldn't be a bad thing
- Is the lower leg service simple enough? would like to learn how to do this myself regardless, as it's something I should know to better look after my gear. Can of course do this when changing the air spring

Any comments/opinion welcomed

Cheers

Comments

  • thistle_
    thistle_ Posts: 7,121
    I can't remember which year mine were, but it's easy provided you have the retail version of the fork not the OEM version (I don't know how you tell the difference without opening them up).
    The retail version has spacers in the damper which you can add/remove to alter the travel, the instructions are in the technical manual for the forks.
    I think you'll also need to replace the oil in the damper at the same time, but again it's covered in the technical manual.
  • The Rookie
    The Rookie Posts: 27,812
    You shouldn't be able to just remove a spacer in a 2015 solo air, its an air shaft job.

    1/ Yes it really is easy, no single task is at all hard you just need to be disciplined and make sure you do it one step at a time. The hardest part is removing the circlips as they are stubborn little critters.
    2/ A bit slacker but not much, 20mm isn't much in terms of loading on the frame and won't be an issue unless you are particularly heavy.
    3/ As with 1.
    Make sure you download the (really rather good) RS manuals from SRAM.com and have a look at the instructions.

    I service my own forks and have even built up my own hybrids.
    Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.
  • poah
    poah Posts: 3,369
  • this is what i wanted to hear - thanks all, glad to have some confirmation that it should be fairly straightforward. time to buy some bits I think...

    I've never really taken much of my bike apart, so wouldn't say I'm massively skilled but I'm happy to try and not a typical man who doesn't read manuals and can normally put ikea furniture together correctly. hope this excellent skill serves me well

    I'd assume it makes sense to take the forks off my bike to change this? imagine leaving them on would make it more difficult in terms of access/maneuverability? and any suggestions on a service kit I should buy, or is there just one standard one that does the job?

    Will get the manuals and watch a good few more videos on this too
  • rockmonkeysc
    rockmonkeysc Posts: 14,774
    Most important thing with any fork internal work is cleanliness. Make sure your work bench is spotless. Have some isopropyl alcohol and lint free cloth for cleaning. The alcohol evaporates so doesn't effect the fresh oil when you reassemble the fork.