Fox Forks

[HowellingWulf]

...bit of a stupid question...

 

Is there anyway by just looking at a fox fork to see what the travel is? I bought a bike with a Fox 32 F29 Kashima fork on it but have no idea what the travel is. Measured it with a ruler - it is either a 100mm or 120mm travel fork. Not sure about the clearance left at the top of the stanchions. I'm leaning towards 100mm but are there any identifiable marks or numbers to look for since all the forks in the range are draped in the same decals.

 

Thanks in advance.

[droo]

Travel on Fox forks runs pretty much from the seal to the crown, but the easiest way to measure accurately is to just let (most of) the air out and compress them. If you don't have an o-ring on the stanchion then a small zip tie will do a good enough job as an indicator.

[CAAD4]

What bike did it come on?

[Iwan Kemp]

There'll be 5 - 10mm safe-gap at the top before lowers hit crown.

[HowellingWulf]

What bike did it come on?

Niner RIP9. Reason I'm asking it that the front end always rides "hard" (even though the suspension is soft) which led me to believe that the bike came with a 100mm fork instead of a manufacturer's recommendation of 120/140mm. I'm thinking that the head tube angle might be a bit steep so that the fork bends back instead of compressing. Thought of getting a 120mm Float or Talas but don't want to spend all that money if I'm being finicky.

[Johan Bornman]

There is no easy way to tell. In fact, no hard and fast way either. The travel they stipulate is actually quite arbritrary. If you remove the guts of the fork, you'll see that there is no 100mm or 120mm in there. Some gibve you only 90mm of effective travel, others a bit more.

 

With experience you eventually get to guess pretty accurately. The advice to let all air out and then see what the travel is may help, but won't allow you to extend the fork fully since it will now suck against itself.

 

Remove the air top cap with a 26mm socket. This will allow you to cycle the fork freely (if lockout is off). and get a measurement.

 

You may well have a 120mm travel fork, but with the travel restricted to 100mm.

 

In spite of all the above, a feeling of a hard fork usually has nothing to do with travel. A 60mm and 120mm should feel exactly the same for a given amount of travel. There may be something else wrong. When you extend the fork fully, have a careful look for gouges just under the seal where the usual sag position could hide them. If it is a new fork, it may have insufficient lubrication.

[Iwan Kemp]

In spite of all the above, a feeling of a hard fork usually has nothing to do with travel. A 60mm and 120mm should feel exactly the same for a given amount of travel. There may be something else wrong.

 

Yip