Reducing travel on fox 36 float fork

levitronix

New bike will be here end of the month
Canyon strive al 7

Went for the non race version because i couldnt wait.
The bike im getting has a 170mm travel fork, would it be wroth it to get the 10mm spacer fitted in fork and set the travel to 160mm?

Tenzor07

Do you think it's worth it to have less travel?

maxamillius

170 is verging on downhill orientation , I'd say you would be comfortable enough at 160, where are you gonna be biking?

levitronix

Just local trails around Dublin/Wicklow nothing crazy. don't know all that many places to go, spent most of time on the road, and rode a hardtail when I did go out on the trails

JBokeh

http://www.ridefox.com/help.php?m=bike&id=576

If you're not confident doing it maybe get OC suspensions to do it for you, but I would leave it as is and make the most out of it. With the shape shift switch you can change the angles of the bike, so while it has a big 170mm fork you can raise up the rear, making it a lot less slack, which is more friendly for climbing, lock out the fork and you'll be flying. The shape shift is a good idea, the bikes with the raked out forks don't climb very well,you'll find climbing with it in descend mode makes it a lot harder to hold a line, and more prone to wheelies if it gets very steep. In climb mode that will all improve, and the higher bottom bracket will avoid rock strikes.

On a bike like that you'll be amazed at the confidence you'll get, after a few spins you'll find yourself using all 170mm of travel while you hit lines you wouldn't even have considered on a 100mm hard tail. Buy a shock pump and play around with the pressures, and look at a few youtube videos on how to set up the low and high speed compressions, as well as your rebound, after a bit you get a feel for how you like your suspension, and what performs best

JBokeh

http://www.ridefox.com/help.php?m=bike&id=576

If you're not confident doing it maybe get OC suspensions to do it for you, but I would leave it as is and make the most out of it. With the shape shift switch you can change the angles of the bike, so while it has a big 170mm fork you can raise up the rear, making it a lot less slack, which is more friendly for climbing, lock out the fork and you'll be flying. The shape shift is a good idea, the bikes with the raked out forks don't climb very well,you'll find climbing with it in descend mode makes it a lot harder to hold a line, and more prone to wheelies if it gets very steep. In climb mode that will all improve, and the higher bottom bracket will avoid rock strikes.

On a bike like that you'll be amazed at the confidence you'll get, after a few spins you'll find yourself using all 170mm of travel while you hit lines you wouldn't even have considered on a 100mm hard tail. Buy a shock pump and play around with the pressures, and look at a few youtube videos on how to set up the low and high speed compressions, as well as your rebound, after a bit you get a feel for how you like your suspension, and what performs best

Tenzor07

JBokeh wrote: »

If you're not confident doing it maybe get OC suspensions to do it for you

That place OC Suspension closed a couple of years ago...

Plenty more places around that service suspension these days..

JBokeh

Tenzor07 wrote: »

That place OC Suspension closed a couple of years ago...

:eek: They're gone?! I sent a shock into them at the end of summer 2014 last I think. Goes to show how often I service my suspension :pac:

Tenzor07

JBokeh wrote: »

:eek: They're gone?! I sent a shock into them at the end of summer 2014 last I think. Goes to show how often I service my suspension :pac:

Yikes! Fox forks should have an oil change every 30 to 50 hours of use!

Certainly after a hard winter of use where mud and grit can get into the seals then your forks will need a service....

JBokeh

I do my own forks usually, a kit of seals and wipers off ebay and a bottle of rockshox oil, but I have a stumpy FSR with the brain that they did for me. Usually do them in september and april, but i'm lazy with the shock because it isn't user serviceable.

I'd guess I'd do around 200hrs a year at an average of 2 2hr spins a week, though during the summer I do longer spins,and the winter they're shorter but harder on the bike. Frightful how quick it all adds up, though I spread it across a few different bikes depending on what kind of riding i plan on doing. You'd be surprised at how clean the insides stay, I've only had one fork with contaminated oil, so part of me thinks that the manufacturers spec a short service interval to make a bit more money doing easy servicing jobs

JBokeh

I do my own forks usually, a kit of seals and wipers off ebay and a bottle of rockshox oil, but I have a stumpy FSR with the brain that they did for me. Usually do them in september and april, but i'm lazy with the shock because it isn't user serviceable.

I'd guess I'd do around 200hrs a year at an average of 2 2hr spins a week, though during the summer I do longer spins,and the winter they're shorter but harder on the bike. Frightful how quick it all adds up, though I spread it across a few different bikes depending on what kind of riding i plan on doing. You'd be surprised at how clean the insides stay, I've only had one fork with contaminated oil, so part of me thinks that the manufacturers spec a short service interval to make a bit more money doing easy servicing jobs

Tenzor07

In general though all it takes is one worn set of seals to scratch the legs on the forks and let gunk get inside it...

Suspension is one of the most important things to keep serviced or the bikes handling will be rubbish..

I think Rockshox have a longer service interval than Fox...

Sure the Pro's get a full strip down and rebuild of suspension after each race!