Extending Fork Travel on Norco Charger

[Kman42]

Hi, I have a Norco Charger 9.2 (I think it’s the 2019 model – I bought it secondhand). I’m trying to make it more trail friendly on a small budget. I’ve upgraded to 180mm rotors and added a dropper post. I’ve heard that on the Rockshox forks you can open them up and remove some spacers to give you 130mm travel (currently 100mm). Just seeing if anyone has experience with longer forks on a Charger – did it improve the bike, or completely mess up the geometry? The fork has a lockout so I’m not too worried about climbing, and our local trails have a return shuttle so I don’t do much climbing anyway. The fork is a Rockshox TK Solo Air 100mm.

 

[moorey]

Old dual air RS had spacers. Forks like pike, lyrik, yari need an air shaft change. Not a big job. I don’t know about the Recon.

 

[Daniel Hale]

Is it a tk gold or silver? Spacers are usually 20mm I took one out, fork was better at 120, wasn't a great fork overall bit I didn't push it hard, has 30mn stanchions..wasn't too hard to open up & remove the spacer

 

[Kman42]

I don't know if its gold or silver - it doesn't say on the fork anywhere. Do you need to replace the oil if you open up the fork?

 

[Daniel Hale]

Just for lubricating only 10ml I think in lowers if I remember

 

[Flow-Rider]

I don't know if its gold or silver - it doesn't say on the fork anywhere. Do you need to replace the oil if you open up the fork?

There is a serial number on the back of the leg on a sticker or on the back of the fork crown steer unit, get that and plug it into this site in the link below and it will tell you everything about the fork. https://trailhead.rockshox.com/en/search/

 

[Kman42]

Thanks for this info! The fork is a 30 Silver.

 

[Kman42]

I checked out a video of the Silver 30 and it showed rebound adjustment by twisting a wing nut type thing on the bottom. I definitely don't have that on mine - looks like that mechanism was removed by the previous owner.

 

[Flow-Rider]

I checked out a video of the Silver 30 and it showed rebound adjustment by twisting a wing nut type thing on the bottom. I definitely don't have that on mine - looks like that mechanism was removed by the previous owner.

You should be able to stick a small Allen key in there to turn the rebound adjustment, I can't remember the exact size, something like 2.5~3mm.

 

[Kman42]

You should be able to stick a small Allen key in there to turn the rebound adjustment, I can't remember the exact size, something like 2.5~3mm.

Worked a treat, thanks!

 

[The Duckmeister]

Travel adjustability depends on the particular fork. Just to get tricky, some OEM models don't have the same degree of tweakbility as the "regular" open-market versions. The only way to know for sure is to open the fork & see if any travel spacers are fitted. Just as an example, I had a Rock Shox Recon fitted to my first MTB; the service manual showed that it could be adjusted from 80 to 120mm travel by spacers, but closer investigation proved it to be a special spec maxed to 100mm - there were no spacers in it that could be removed to extend travel.

 

[The Duckmeister]

I don't know if its gold or silver - it doesn't say on the fork anywhere.

Easy, "Silver" model forks have silver-coloured chrome plated stanchions, while "Gold" model forks have gold-coloured anodized aluminium stanchions. I don't think there is such a beast as a Gold model in the XC30 (or even 32) series forks.

Do you need to replace the oil if you open up the fork?

Unless you dismember the damper side, you will only need to replace the small quanity of lubricating oil in the lower legs (which was mentioned earlier).