Adjustable Travel, Worth the money??

[GhisalloWheels]

As I look for a new fork for my xcl I am trying to determine if the adjustable travel is all that. Can those of you with the adjustable travel forks chime in on how much you change the travel or percent of time at a particular height? Thanks for any input

[Ricky D]

I have the Pike 454 U-Turn coil. I typically leave it at 140mm but when I'm riding trails with a lot of climbing, I crank the travel down to about 120mm,

[GhisalloWheels]

Do you feel like the 140mm is to light in the front, or does it position you better for pedaling efficiency or both?

[shwatzu]

I ride an xcl with a 160mm fork, supper fun and raises the bottom bracket height just enought so not hitting the triple to much, and adjust to 115 mm for extended climbing perfect match.

[scruffylooking]

I have a TALAS 32 on one bike and a Van 36 on another. The former has travel adjust and I use it... but mostly because it's there. If I didn't have it I think I'd just get used to climbing without it. On the latter, there were/are times I wish I had an adjustable fork but I got used to climbing at full extension. I guess what I'm trying to say is if you have it you'll probably find it useful and if you don't you'll get used to not having it.

What are you considering?

[womble]

I had a Revelation on my hardtail (not a Chumba, BTW) for about 6 months, which I'd change between 100 and 130mm depending on the terrain (XC or AM type riding).

The Rev is a real PIA to change travel on (takes 15 or so turns to change travel) and I found that it just wasn't worth the hassle. I'd only change travel because I felt that I should use the feature, not because I could detect a big difference in climbing/decending ability or even in steering. So I'm moving the Rev to the full suss bike and will leave it at 130.

[scruffylooking]

Womble makes a good point. Some Travel Adjust forks require a lot of cranking. My TALAS is a gen II with the three position dial. Love it.

[GhisalloWheels]

I ride an xcl with a 160mm fork, supper fun and raises the bottom bracket height just enought so not hitting the triple to much, and adjust to 115 mm for extended climbing perfect match.

Shwatzu,
Which fork is it that has the 160 to 115 travel adjust?

[womble]

RS Lyric

[Merrimack Dave]

I have a Pike U-Turn Air on my XCL, and I leave it at 140mm all the time. When I first got the bike I dropped it for extended climbs, but it stays at 140 now. The XCL climbs very well even at full extension.

[GhisalloWheels]

I have a TALAS 32 on one bike and a Van 36 on another. The former has travel adjust and I use it... but mostly because it's there. If I didn't have it I think I'd just get used to climbing without it. On the latter, there were/are times I wish I had an adjustable fork but I got used to climbing at full extension. I guess what I'm trying to say is if you have it you'll probably find it useful and if you don't you'll get used to not having it.

What are you considering?

I''m looking at the float x or the vanilla right now. What I am looking for is a set it and forget it fork. But only if it will be reasonably comfortable the whole ride. I'm sure there are other good options. I leaning toward the 140mm range, but am worried about raising the front end too much.

[EMrider]

I'm also in the "nice to have but not really necessary" camp on adjustable travel. IMHO, fork lockout is much more useful. I do use the adjustability of my pike 454 coil, but I'm always at one end of the spectrum. Either 140mm with free travel of 90-95mm with lockout (climbing obviously). Never in the middle.
R

[scruffylooking]

Ah, to each their own, cause I never use my fork lockout. I'd rather have t/a. I think your terrain is an important factor, though.

[shwatzu]

hey nice name chumabacabra, watch out for chumba blood suckers. good luck

[Mar-deeb]

I'd say, if you can, then go for it. I demoed a stock XCL for two weeks last July (Now waiting for delivery of my new XCL!!!!!) and that had the Pike. I found that I used the travel adjust quite a bit though found the "Twister" rather a pain to use so have gone for the Talas. I generally sat the front end at 120-ish going down to I think 100 for long climbs and and the full travel for the gravity bits where it excelled. I liked this becuse at full extention I found the front end to be too high for my taste and the lower setting gave me just that bit of extra front end control, particularly when climbing at "speed".

[Evil Chocula]

Depends where you live. Currently I'm in SoCal, where it comes in really handy when I'm about to start a 1200' climb. However, back in New England, I doubt I'll be winding it down much since there isn't much sustained climbing.

[GhisalloWheels]

What fork/travel do you have on your ride now?

[Evil Chocula]

Pike 454 Coil. It goes to from 140mm to 95mm.