My friend got a Carrera Fury and was thinking of swapping the pretty basic Epicon fork with something better. Currently the travel is 120mm and would rather keep it at that so here is the question:

The Reba's on SRAMs website are listed as 80/100/120mm travels. Now on Merlin's website the travel is listed as 100mm.

Does that mean that there are 3 Reba models one of which is 120mm so the one on Merlin will be the 100mm only travel or it means that the fork can be adjusted between 80mm,100mm and 120mm using spacers or some other way of adjustment – they are not the U-Turn ones.

Sorry for hte numptie question

The 80/100/120 ones can be adjusted with spacers. OEM forks (e.g. like the ones that came on my old Rockhopper) can't usually be adjusted. Merlin sell OEM stuff so that's what the 100mm Rebas might be.

That is a shame as that Reba SL would have been a great upgrade. Having said that they are listed as 100mm forks on other sites but they normally have a note in the end saying they are adjustable to 80mm or 120mm.

Am I to assume that these are the same?
CRC Reba Race 2010

Those CRC ones are probably adjustable to 80mm or 120mm with spacers – that's what "all travel" means.

Just give both CRC and Merlin a call and ask!

Merlin also lists them as All Travel! I have already dropped an email to Merlin as they are a fair bit cheaper!

I just got my Reba SL from Merlin. Had a go at the quick and dirty travel adjustment (unscrew and bash the rod up and out with a mallet) and it wasn't having it. It is listed as 'all travel' adjust so I'm really hoping to find a spacer in there when I open it later in the week.

Of course if you hear back from Merlin first you could save me the trouble of getting covered in 15wt 😉

Unscrewing and bashing the rod out is all you need to do to get at the spacers! But you need to let all the air out so you can fully compress them, and then use an allen key to poke the rod up from the bottom. It's dead easy.

Tried that: emptied -ve, then +ve, removed topcap/valve, unscrewed 10mm bolt almost entirely from bottom, then whacked the crap out of it. Wouldn't budge, but I've heard it can be like that occasionaly and doesn't necessarily mean it's impossible. Or at least what what I keep telling myself.

Merlin are a bit hit and miss with emails I have found. Twice I have asked for a quote for one of their bikes in the past and I got no reply, ended up calling. Another time I asked about their XT brakes I had a reply within an hour… Will definitely post their answer though me being totally mechanically challenged the whole procedure sounds a bit complicated.

Any good 120mm RS forks? The U-Turns look like they would fit the bill but they are expensive.

My Merlin 2009 Reba SL's were 120mm travel when spacer removed.

Not heard of anyone not getting all travel on 2009 Reba's from them. Great service, great blokes.

Rumours of OEM supply are wrong-take time to chat with them!

I wouldn't take the advice of Merlin. When I asked them they told me no Rebas, OEM or otherwise, could be adjusted to 120mm despite saying that on the SRAM site. Fishers also told me the same thing and they're supposed to be the distributors!

I bought my 2009 Reba Teams from The Bike Outlet for £300, opened them up and changed them to 120mm. Half hour job.

Right… So do we have any other option for a decently priced 120mm fork or we are stuck with buying a Reba that might be forever stuck at 100mm or pay 550£ for a stupid U-turn version?

Trying to find a Magura Durin 120M but they are also at £500+

£300 for Rebas here and they can be converted to 120mm

http://www.bikeoutlet.co.uk/products/Rockshox_Reba_Team_100mm_26_2009-826-0.html

Thanks for the pointer ginsterdrz and BoardinBob . Might take a gamble with the 2010 SLs from Merlin, at 230£