I have a Giant hardtail with an 80mm travel fork that I'm looking to upgrade. In shopping around I've noticed that a lot of the newer forks sport 100+ mm of travel, although there are still some nice 80mm forks available. I do mostly XC riding and realize that with increased travel, I will be raising the front of the bike to a more chopper like position, which would effect handling.
Question: If I bought a longer travel fork(100+), can I adjust the preload so that my ride height would be the similar to 80mm? Is there any drawback to doing this? Or should I just limit my shopping to 80mm forks? Thanks.
I have a Giant hardtail with an 80mm travel fork that I'm looking to upgrade. In shopping around I've noticed that a lot of the newer forks sport 100+ mm of travel, although there are still some nice 80mm forks available. I do mostly XC riding and realize that with increased travel, I will be raising the front of the bike to a more chopper like position, which would effect handling.
Question: If I bought a longer travel fork(100+), can I adjust the preload so that my ride height would be the similar to 80mm? Is there any drawback to doing this? Or should I just limit my shopping to 80mm forks? Thanks.
If you buy an air fork, then adjusting the sag is pretty easy and will result in a pretty plush ride if set up right.
However, if 80 mm has been adequate for you so far, why mess with it? You can probably get a much better deal on a quality "older school" fork than on a midrange current model.
I have a Giant hardtail with an 80mm travel fork that I'm looking to upgrade. In shopping around I've noticed that a lot of the newer forks sport 100+ mm of travel, although there are still some nice 80mm forks available. I do mostly XC riding and realize that with increased travel, I will be raising the front of the bike to a more chopper like position, which would effect handling.
Well, perhaps a tad, but you could probably correct this by cutting the steer tube down to your normal size or by adjusting the handlebars and/or stem.
I have a Giant hardtail with an 80mm travel fork that I'm looking to upgrade. In shopping around I've noticed that a lot of the newer forks sport 100+ mm of travel, although there are still some nice 80mm forks available. I do mostly XC riding and realize that with increased travel, I will be raising the front of the bike to a more chopper like position, which would effect handling.
Well, perhaps a tad, but you could probably correct this by cutting the steer tube down to your normal size or by adjusting the handlebars and/or stem.
Not really... a longer fork will still have increased rake and trail... which won't be corrected by adjusting the bars.
"Chris Nelson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
I have a Giant hardtail with an 80mm travel fork that I'm looking to upgrade. In shopping around I've noticed that a lot of the newer forks sport 100+ mm of travel, although there are still some nice 80mm forks available. I do mostly XC riding and realize that with increased travel, I will be raising the front of the bike to a more chopper like position, which would effect handling.
Question: If I bought a longer travel fork(100+), can I adjust the preload so that my ride height would be the similar to 80mm? Is there any drawback to doing this? Or should I just limit my shopping to 80mm forks? Thanks.
Chris
I did something similar on an old steel hardtail a few years ago and haven't had any problems. I put an adjustable oil/coil fork on and don't notice much difference whether it is at the high or low end of the travel. Obviously, the handling does change a bit, but you quickly become used to the difference. I'm sure there is a somewhat more technical explaination available out there, but it probably depends on how sensitive you are to minor changes in the handling of the bike. You're only talking 2 cm (assuming the same preload) difference in the travel -- hardly chopper-like. As Bill mentioned, you can probably overcome some of that with your preload settings.
If my guess is correct, you're looking to upgrade and older bike for primarily recreational use and aren't concerned with max performance or racing. Go for it.
I noticed a few adjustable travel forks 90-130. That would be 5 cm difference than the 80 I have on there now at max setting. Cost more than the fixed travel though, so I'm leaning toward getting another 80 or maybe 100. The bike came with a low end fork which was good enough to start out with, but I'm getting better at riding and the fork is aging anyway, so I'm really looking for better performance.
I'm not a racer, but I do like to go faster than my friends if I can.
Looks like I also have to decide if I want another coil/oil or maybe a air pressure fork which cost a little more but weighs less.
