from 120-150, say.

How many twiddles? Are we talking a stop by the side of the trail and 10 twists, or just reach down while your pedalling for 3 or 4 twists? We can talk degrees if you know!

For those that have it, how often do you use it? Do you tend to find a compromise and leave it there for all but the biggest ups and downs, or is it quick enough that it’s no bother to keep flicking it up and down throughout a ride?

I’m umming and ahhing about forks for a Dialled PA (latest geo, 120-140 recommended), and I have no idea whether I’ll prefer it at the long end or the short end, whether I’d rather have 110 as an option rather than 150.. whether dual position’s better, how stiff is too heavy blah blah etc.

Current front runner having spoken to Simon @ Loco (cheers Simon) is 2012 coil Sektors with a u-turn spring swapped in, and maybe the rev damper too. Had air forks since forever and don’t know whether I’d miss the adjustability.

Or Marz 44 micro switch TA? Not muchj out there in the way of reviews, but I’ve got until late July anyway.

Any hints tips and facts gratefully received! about u-turn, travel on PA’s, other forks, the weather…

It’s about 10 twists top to bottom.

On my Alpine 160 with u-turn Lyriks, my rule of thumb was 4 “twists” to drop the travel about 20mm or so for steep climbs.

I think my lyriks are about 7mm per ‘twiddle’, where a twiddle is about 180deg (i.e. as far as you can turn the handle in one go).

Presumably it varies with spring rate as harder springs are going to be more loosely coiled so the plastic bit moves further for a given number of twiddles?

It’s useable on long climbs but not for short sharp rises in the trail, that’s what the dual position bit’s or lockout/floodgate/compresison is for. Personaly I’m not a fan of travel adjust as I find it ruins my pedaling leaning that far forewards and much prefer the lockout which is just a switch on the sektor/revs anyway, a bit more fiddly but still doable on the Lyrics pushing the dial in and twist to lock them out, but maybe not so easy while riding something techy.

That reminds me, I need to phone LOCO and get that new air can.

Not sure on the amount of twiddles but on my PA i have some uturn pikes and they have been left at full travel due to the uturn winding itself down and my fix(bodge) being to cable tie the twiddler so it can’t move. So to cut a long story short, which may or may not be usefull… i don’t feel the need to adjust the fork down as i reckon the bike works great with 140 or maybe a bit more travel.

Also don’t bother Loco i need him to get cracking on servicing my 36’s :o)

Mk 1 prince albert here with RS Revs fixed at 130mm travel & no problem with steep inclines here (Chiltern Hills).

Cheers all,

the Sektors still look likeliest. I know there’s a good chance they’ll stay at 130 or so for most of my riding, and I can quite imagine swapping them for some air Revs fixed at 130mm after a while.

But after 12 years with the same frame and fork length, I want the opportunity to play around a bit but it’d be nice to have the option for both less and more for rides like Snowdon.

Saw this from Mr Greedy on that other fork thread over there >

I run them short for my local riding on flattish forest singletrack, somewhere in the middle for general trail riding on trips to Peaks/Wales etc, and wound all the way out when I feel like a hooligan

Sounds like an adjustibility I’ll appreciate, and the kind of versatility the PA’s built for.

130 travel 20mm axle Shermans and 110 travel drop lever seems to be pretty much on the money for all round riding. They are quite stiff in 110 mode and reasonably plush at 130 – also quite long axle to crown for a 130 fork.

I found 32 QR Vanillas with 130mm travel tended to blow through the mid section too easy and so they would feel a bit short when really pressing on. Super plush mind you.

Mine is one of the latest version frames and I love it. Not overly harsh (I’d say rear end is more forgiving than a slacker Cove Stiffee) and feels more playful/fun/lairy than a more expensive Soul set up with similar kit. Sits right in between those two frames.

My instincts tell me that I wouldn’t get on with forks much over 140 on the PA frame though haven’t tried.

It’s not particularly descent focussed as such but climbs pretty well and likes twisty technical singletrack the way mine is set up.

On my PA it was either 140 – riding down and along.
110 – riding up. (pikes)

I have since gone to coil sektors with Dual position and BB damper…
better IMO as only ever used uturn either all the way up or down.

frn – that’s another thought I’ve had. Try the Dual position before swapping it out, as it might be fine. I think I’d probably go the other way – 120 for up and along, and 150 for down. Who knows though!

How is it at 120 and 150 compared to 110 and 140?

How is it at 120 and 150 compared to 110 and 140?

I’d realy like to know that too….. Revelations can often be picked-up for a bit of a bargain.

Umming and ahhing about my PA “classic” build

I had a PA with a Rev fixed at 140. I now have a different bike (Attack Trail) with a Pike and only really use the U-turn for long sustained fire road/plain trail climbs.

I’ve read that Talas forks adjust in much fewer twiddles. Dual position also sounds like a good solution, I either have the fork extended or fully dropped. Mine has about 12 twiddles hence not using it much!

If you don’t already have a dropper for your PA I would suggest one over a U-turn fork (if the money is transferrable). Uppy-downy seatpost and a fixed length fork worked a treat on Albert.