cwtrials Posted July 4 Report Share Posted July 4 Hey guys, I've got two trials bikes. A modern high BB bike and a more retro norco inspired frame I had Marino build. It's actually a ton of fun in the right situation. I know just about nothing about the internals of suspension forks. I used to have a x-fusion velvet that was lowered to 60, and I owned one of Ryan leech's old demo bikes with a custom marz. Im trying to get a 26" fork with both a crown to axle of 440-445 and the ability to get fairly stiff. I've got an old fox f80rlt on there now, that is about 475 and it messes up the front end steering too much Anybody have any suggestions of forks I can modify? Or even pointers to tutorials to do so? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamc04 Posted July 4 Report Share Posted July 4 Hi mate, might be of some use. I've shortened an older Rockshox Sektor from 140mm down to 100mm and I'm sure you can just keep going from there. Thought about going to 80mm and even less than that must be possible. I laser cut the spacers myself but you can buy them from TF Tuned I think or 3d print them. Look for any Rockshox Solo Air forks, Rebas and the like. 32mm chassis seems to work well enough. If you get some with a lockout that would come in handy for trials. It's a bit intimidating taking the forks apart but you don't need to be some kind of wizard to do it, it just involves sliding some stuff off of the main shaft, sliding the spacers on, sliding the rest of the stuff back on in the right order with the right oil/grease/whatever and tightening everything back up. I would be able to provide some help if you go down that route, but to be honest I just followed online tutorials and the SRAM diagrams. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwtrials Posted July 4 Author Report Share Posted July 4 (edited) Thanks man! I'm confident about taking a fork apart as long as I can get the right manual. Just have no idea which forks would allow me to do this. So with rock shox solo air allows travel spacers? Dual air doesn't? Edited July 4 by cwtrials Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamc04 Posted July 4 Report Share Posted July 4 I'm not sure about Dual Air, I haven't ever tried it 😞 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forteh Posted July 5 Report Share Posted July 5 RS reba dual air will shorten down without any problems, I shortened a set for my daughters 24" whyte last year. Pretty sure they're currently 80mm, I can measure the axle to crown for you later if wanted? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwtrials Posted July 5 Author Report Share Posted July 5 (edited) On 7/4/2024 at 9:57 AM, cwtrials said: Thanks guys! I might try a reba, but I finally found a manual on my fox fork. It's super old and not something I'd want on there forever, but I think I can shorten it with a minor modification, at least for proof of concept before I spend more money. I'll keep you updated if I get it to work. Edited July 5 by cwtrials Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
La Bourde Posted July 5 Report Share Posted July 5 Dual air is sadly not so reliable. But it was easy to lower. Current solo air requires to cut the air shaft at the right length: you can bore further and to tap a thread. Some old solo air required only a specific spacer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwtrials Posted July 6 Author Report Share Posted July 6 (edited) Ok, I think I made it work. This old fox F80RLT has a pin that holds the top out plate. Instead of spacers you move the top out plate by tapping out the pin, which allows it to slide to different locations. The shaft comes with two preset holes drilled, one for 80mm and another for 100mm. You can see the hole to the left would allow for increasing travel to 100mm. I'm order to decrease travel I had to drill another hole in the shaft. Should be about 60mm travel now. Axle to crown around 445. Edited July 7 by cwtrials 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwtrials Posted July 7 Author Report Share Posted July 7 Built it up today. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross McArthur Posted July 8 Report Share Posted July 8 That bike lol wow. I think steering might be the least of your problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwtrials Posted July 8 Author Report Share Posted July 8 2 hours ago, Ross McArthur said: That bike lol wow. I think steering might be the least of your problems. Ha 100% agree, I threw some numbers at Marino, and probably made a big mistake on this one, but I still wanted to build it up and see. Lol I have an old school 26" frame I could swap out once I give it a go and see how weird it is. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Ugly American Posted August 6 Report Share Posted August 6 On 7/8/2024 at 6:34 AM, cwtrials said: I have an old school 26" frame I could swap out once I give it a go and see how weird it is. And how did it go? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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