Ajustable travel forks, gimmick or genuinely useful?

[Rik]

I'm bored, and want to start a discussion, and at the same time learn something...

Are adjustable travel forks (ala the Uturn RS and TALAS Fox's) useful when riding?
When using the forks, do you find yourself adjusting the ride height to suit the terrain, or is it a set-and-forget thing?

Here I am thinking it'd be nice to have a high front end for cruisin down dale, and drop the forks when things get tight and trialsy. Are the assumptions reality when riding, or is it all marketing?

Legitimite opinions welcome

 

[CAM]

mmm, when i first got the psylos with the u turn i thought i would use it al the time, and i wound it up and down for climbs then back to normal for dh for like first couple of weeks, but then the novelty wheres off and u just tend to leave them.

 

[bazza]

yer i think i wouldnt use em that much. like the u turns it is a lot of work cranking that stupid thing. but some of the fox forks look way easier, mainly the rear suspension one. but with a mainly xc background they might think of it differently.

 

[Squidly Didly]

I find it to be a bit of a fad. If it's a new toy, you're gonna play with it for the first few weeks, then you'll get over it. Similar situation with lock-out levers! wank wank wank

set and forget is so much easier, and less to go wrong!

 

[phreeky]

i think if your into XC it may be ok but if i had a choice of 80mm like on my old bike or 5" on my new one i would stay with the longer travel i mean if you are smooth why change the travel i don't have much trouble going up hill i my not be the first up but who cares i'm a hell of a lot quicker down and not having anything to change means less to go wrong K I S (keep it simple ) :roll:

 

[jayboy882003]

mine are air and oil. so when i want soft i just take a bit of air out. when i want stiffer just add some air. simple

 

[Grip]

I've seen the workings of Rock Shocks and the design is valid and simple but the worm screw that does the adjusting by winding up and down the spring itself is an unbelievably light and flimsy looking injection moulded plastic. I know I'm fat so want everything over engineered for my weight but has anyone had or heard of probs with em?

 

[lupine128]

i had a set of adjustale travel rockshox for bout 2 weeks. was so unimpressed with them that i went back to bombers pretty much straight away.
i thought that the adjuster loked a bit cheap and plastic as well, byt then i also am a fat bastard, and worry about things like that.

 

[Rik]

mine are air and oil. so when i want soft i just take a bit of air out. when i want stiffer just add some air. simple

Whilst preload adjustment is all fine and dandy, I'm really after the opinions of people that have used and abused on-the-fly adjustable travel systems.

 

[Cruz]

Lupine, give the rs's a bit longer to break in, and change the stock oil. Would you change over bombers after just 2 weeks, they arent bedded in after 2 months.
I have the uturn psylos and use the travel adjust for the different areas that I ride. Works well for me, and allows you to have bike for a lot of varied riding.
Grip, do not turn the uturn knob past the first feel of resistance at either end of adjustment. Have you ever thought about making cnc adjuster caps for psylos, big market out there, hint hint.

 

[wombat]

I've seen the workings of Rock Shocks and the design is valid and simple but the worm screw that does the adjusting by winding up and down the spring itself is an unbelievably light and flimsy looking injection moulded plastic. I know I'm fat so want everything over engineered for my weight but has anyone had or heard of probs with em?

I haven't had any problems with mine but then again I don't use it much. I would probably wind mine right down more often, but I find that I chew through what little travel I do then have way too fast. I'm not buying the idea that it also adjusts the spring rate in accordance to travel.

 

[Grip]

Cruz - I wouldn't have thought there was THAT big a market for them. Hmmm. When they first came out Steve Cramer Products (R/Shock importers) asked the same question of me but the figures they showed me didn't make it look worthwhile and then not long after that Cramers and GripSport parted company so nothing came of it. As far as I know they never chased anyone else to do it so maybe even they figured it wasn't worth it.
Anyway... what I know about CNC could be written down on the back of a postage stamp... I'm more OldSchool in that I like to make one-offs/specials etc by hand. Maybe talk to Gutty... he is definitely the man when it comes to CNC (apologies to other CNC gurus on the site that I don't know about)

And Shayne... I agree with you re the spring's actual "rate". IMO the only effect "reduced travel" could have on a spring's true "rate" would be the reduction in time available for compression and therefore a very VERY minimal effect on the WAY the spring compresses. What do you reckon?

 

[lupine128]

i admit i tend to give RS a bit of a hard time. i've never really liked the plastic feel you get with them. and i never really forgave them for making psylos where the bushings were wearing out before the seals were bedding in. i fully agree with people who love them, for them. their choice.
just have always been a bomber dude i guess.

 

[Grip]

Gutty would be a big fan of Rock Shox though... wouldn't he?

 

[curtisrider]

I've seen the workings of Rock Shocks and the design is valid and simple but the worm screw that does the adjusting by winding up and down the spring itself is an unbelievably light and flimsy looking injection moulded plastic. I know I'm fat so want everything over engineered for my weight but has anyone had or heard of probs with em?

i heard from people that last years ones had reaay weak crowns and if you endo'd you would have a good chance of snapping em.

 

[Cúl-Báire]

I have to say that I use U-Turn on my Psylo's all the time, although I normally only ajust them between 80mm and 100/105mm as I mostly ride XC / Trial but nothing too big...It's a usful option to have, some may like it others womt, I guess it's personal preference

 

[S.]

And Shayne... I agree with you re the spring's actual "rate". IMO the only effect "reduced travel" could have on a spring's true "rate" would be the reduction in time available for compression and therefore a very VERY minimal effect on the WAY the spring compresses. What do you reckon?

You could do it (theoretically) fairly simply with a single shaft attached to the U-turn knob (I think...), but to me it doesn't feel like they do. What I think it does do though, is push the damping rod further into its stroke, so that the damping is ramping up sooner in the travel when it's in short-travel settings than when it's in long-travel settings.

Edit: you also have to take into account where the negative spring is still pushing. If you move the staunchions down too far, then it's past the stroke of the negative springs and the fork will top out (assuming you have a topout bumper of some sort), and feel like shit when you push on it (because it won't move unless you exceed a certain force if it has no negative spring influence).

 

[schwing]

I have a variety of forks. I agree the rockshox just don't feel as meaty as the marzo's
The adjustable travel of the psylos has a good place especially on a do all hardtail.
I have Rocky hammer that's used for trail riding (100-120MMdepending on trail type.), cycle touring (80-90mm). They are SLs so the lockout gets used on long climbs with 25kg of pannier weight, and 100mm on epics.
The ramp up is quicker on 80mm setting which would be good for jumping I suppose
My only gripe is the relatively weak springs I am a clydsdale.
Can I get heavier ones??

 

[schwing]

I have a variety of forks. I agree the rockshox just don't feel as meaty as the marzo's
The adjustable travel of the psylos has a good place especially on a do all hardtail.
I have Rocky hammer that's used for trail riding (100-120MMdepending on trail type.), cycle touring (80-90mm). They are SLs so the lockout gets used on long climbs with 25kg of pannier weight, and 100mm on epics.
The ramp up is quicker on 80mm setting which would be good for jumping I suppose
My only gripe is the relatively weak springs I am a clydsdale.
Can I get heavier ones??

 

[Rik]

Thanks for the opinions guys.
I'm looking at, as a longterm project, getting my 14" Zaskar up and running again, preferably with a trialsy orientated buildup, but at the same time I'll want to use it for everything else like bombing trails and street and everything in between.

I like the idea of adjustable travel, not so much as for outright difference in travel (because I doubt I'd need much more than 80mm), but because I like the idea of changing my head angle to suit my riding.
IE, low and sharp for slow technical stuff, and slack and tall for high speed descents.
Right now it's a toss-up between a set of Psylo's, or a set of TALAS', and whilst I can afford neither for a while, it's still good to get my research done over time. If the idea of adjustable travel is a dud, then I'll just save my dollars and get a Vanilla, so I'm trying to determine if it's worth the extra expense.