Thinking about putting a longer fork on one bike that's not really designed for it.

So what would happen to the handling??
I've heard people say things like "it'll be s**t" but that's not really very halpful.
Will it get sharper, slower, like a barge??????

It works out about 1 degree slacker for every extra inch of fork, so will get slightly slower steering, check out the axle to crown length of the forks you have and the forks you plan on using, if your lucky even an extra inch of travel might only be 15mm longer fork, factor in a bit extra sag and it might not make much difference at all, or could go the other way and make more diference..

I put longer forks on an 04 FSR Stumpjumper and it made the bike flipping great, I did however opt for a fork that had a lockdown feature to even things out a bit on steep climbs, but found I rarely needed to lock it down anyway..

Thanks Tinsy, that's what I thought.
The bike is my SO's and it has a short high rise stem on now which makes it a bit twitchy. I thought putting longer forks would slow things down a bit and also raise the front to make it fit her better.

I've done this on several bikes. I was running a fork that was 20mm too long for the recommended A to C for that frame (6" travel bike) and it was fine. It will wander a bit more on uphills but will feel more confident and stable downhills. If you're used to an xc whippet position then you may not like it but it it's for general riding then it should be fine.

If you just want to slow the steering down the put a longer stem on.

It will also raise the BB height (raising the centre of gravity) and reduce stand over clearance – neither of which your SO probably wants. So be careful.

All in all putting longer forks on to make a bike fit can work sometimes, but is usually fairly unsatisfactory!

AndyPaice – I had to put a short stem on as she was too streched out and low.

Jonathan – there is plenty of stand over clearance. I know the BB will raise, but only by about 10mm and it's quite low at the moment anyway.

My work situation (temp contract) means I can't spend on a new bike for her and she's showing interest so I need to do something.

Sounds like it's worth a punt then. It's so important to get a bike that feels right for anyone you want to get into riding at all – so it's definitely worth playing with whatever you've got to hand.

You could try some wider bars to slow it down a bit, much cheaper than new forks.

Well, I've done it and regretted it after a few months. To start with yes, you get the stability and extra absorption – but then the lack of flickability starts to get on your nerves. The slower steering requires much more obvious hauling around of the bike to make a corner. And then you end up riding all over your fork to try and make the bike bite and steer – which is a bad thing.

My view is that it is much better to have nice intuitive steering and build confidence in your downhill riding with technique, not compromising your equipment. The magazines have a lot to answer for – they just won't get off this slack angles bandwagon and have taken it much too far.

went from 63mm to 80mm on my Bontrager Race, became a little barge like but you do adjust. I also shortened the stem which seemed to help.

thanks all,

I can't add wider bars as they are already pretty wide and her shoulders aren't.

The flickability, etc. isn't an issue as she's only just starting on the riding front and most of the time will be following the kids on easy stuff. It'll also be used to ferry round our 1yr old on a seat.

I run a 50mm stem on mine and like the handling fast and it seems twitchy to me so I think I'll punt for longer forks ans wee what happens

And then you end up riding all over your fork to try and make the bike bite and steer – which is a bad thing.

not necessarily. Depends how you ride, really.

The magazines have a lot to answer for – they just won't get off this slack angles bandwagon and have taken it much too far.

Well, as fork travel gets longer, you need slacker angles, the two go together. Personally I'd rather have slacker than twitchy any day

Just want to add a comment about the original motivation for the question: The bike shouldn't really be super extra twitchy downhill just because of stem length change, unless the change was really massive. Sounds a bit like the bike doesn't fit, in which case continuing to spend money making it more wrong might not be the best approach.

I also agree with tinsy that wider bars might be an option, depending on what's on there already and how big the rider is.

I had to fit longer forks to my 01 FSR last year in Spain when my forks packed up. They lent me an old pair of 130mm bombers luckily with a travel drop function.

They were great downhill & much more confidence inspiring than the Judys that chucked their guts up (although some of that has to be attributed to the fork working more effectively), but even on the level they didn't feel great. I think they pushed my weight too far back so the front wheel didn't have enough weight on it – the front tyre felt like it didn't want to grip in corners at all & climbing anything other than a slight incline became a lesson in getting your weight forward to a ridiculous degree.

I've now got some Reba Teams on that are 85-115mm & they feel just right at 115mm on most stuff & just need bringing down a touch on steep climbs.

I would go for some cheap u-turn forks that will allow some adjustment if it does occasionally feel a bit wallowy. What length are the forks currently?

Given the price of forks,it might actually be chaper to buy a frame that fits.Lots of good secondhand frames for £100.

Also depends on fork offset. What bike is it, what are you taking off and what are you putting on?

ok, can of worms – open.

I thought about a new frame, but I'd still need new forks as it's the forks that determine how high the front end is…. (axle to crown length and steerer tube)

The bike is an old (circa 2000) Scott Navajo that is a nice Al frame with gussets, etc.
The fork is manitou spyder, 80mm and very short.

I've just looked at the angles more closely and I think that the fork is too short for the frame compared to the other bikes I have in the garage.

I got an 04 Enduro which is set up supposedly for a 125mm fork>>>

I have put a Fox Talas rc2 on set at 160mm, BETD extended rear link and Fox DHx5.0 on and it feels fine. All depends what you want. wants to raise the front when climbing but apart from that it rides better than ever

I've got a battered pair of Judy SLs in the shed. They are the adjustable travel ones (spacers) and I think are currently set to 100mm.

If you want, measure up your axle-crown length & how much steerer you need. I'll measure the axle-crown length of the Judys and if there's a significant difference to make it worth trying out, you can have them for the cost of postage (unless you're near P'boro & can pick them up).
They were serviced (by myself) not long before I replaced them & to be honest they are little more than pogo sticks. The wiper seals aren't seated properly into the lowers either, but don't leak & I used them like that for about 2 months.
You'd probably be alright using them for a month or so, but I was thinking more as an experiment & then chuck when done. They've got an IS disc mount & brake bosses.

Mail me if you're interested. My address should be in my profile.

Thanks all,

I've plumped for a set of RS Dart1 100mm forks new from CRC for 50 notes.
The axle to crown length is 35mm longer not including sag.
The uncut steerer will allow me as much height adjust as I need and I have 40, 50, 70, 90 and 100mm stems lying around so I can tune the position to fit.

The slower steering requires much more obvious hauling around of the bike to make a corner. And then you end up riding all over your fork to try and make the bike bite and steer – which is a bad thing.

I agree with that. Comparing my FS with my HT, the HT steers like a bus, in fact I had a close call on some tight off-camber singletrack near Cheddar last Saturday, nearly hitting a tree instead of making a turn. Did an inglorious skid! The HT needs a lot more body input and I think this is caused by the longish fork raising the BB, being slow to turn and me being a cr@p cyclist.