I have a Lapierre XR 7.9 which is a really nice XC machine (unlike me). I’d basically like something with a bit more travel and its probably most cost effective and easier to just upgrade the fork to say 120mm or maybe only 110mm.
I think from reading online that to go from 100 to 120 is acceptable but it does obviously change the geometry and stuff but maybe not so much that is dangerous to the integrity of the bike.
Has anyone done similar? I do race XC but by race i mean i partake in the fun categories. This bike is for me to ride trail centres on, do some local loops and stuff too.
I ran a 130mm fork on a full sus XC bike designed for 83mm travel forks for over 15 years. at my heaviest I was 85kg, I didn’t die. This was a on a 26” wheel bike where the proportional change in fork length would be greater than for a 29er. Back then people were putting 6-8” travel DH forks on XC frames designed for 100mm forks because thats all we had.
adding a long fork will slacken the angles, increase BB height and shorten the top tube, but if you want a long fork isn’t the riding your doing going to be better with those geometry changes anyway?
Yep. It will change the geo a little, but in a good way for riding rougher stuff. It’ll slacken the front end a little and sit you up a little. BB height will increase a small amount, but not significantly IMO. The net effect won’t be much, but it will be in the right direction.
I went from a 100mm SID SL to a 120mm SID on my XC bike this year. Nothing but positives on how the bikes handles. It will slacken the seat tube angle a little bit (maybe 1 degree or thereabouts) so if the STA is already too slack that might be noticeable.