Hello
I have a Kona Kikapu that Ive built up from a frame.
I have the following to choose from:
Rock Shox Recon 351 Solo Air with Lockout & Motion Control - 2008
Rock Shox Recon Gold R Solo Air No Lockout or motion control - 2011
I like the idea of keeping the new 2011 forks because they are new and look better (bigger and tougher), But I like the lockout on the older 2008 351's and they are in great condition
Ive ridden both with the lock off and I really cant tell a difference
Can you help me decide? Or at least let me know which you would pick 🙂
How/why does one look bigger/toughter than the other?Do they differ in travel?
If it were me I'd probably weigh them and see which was lighter
The gold have power bulges and generally look more chunky, I appreciate looks probably should be my reason for choice, I'm torn because the nicer looking shock misses out on lockout or motion control
Oh, sorry forgot to say, they are both 100mm travel
Just purely down to there 'potential' performance it's the 351's for me, due to the MoCo damping over the Solo air. Flog the 2011's whilst there still current and have extra 'value' to that...
EDIT: Actually, swap the internals over to get a the perfomance benefits of the Moco damping with the power bulge chassis
I can do that?
Is it hard? That would be the ultimate option for me I think!
the damper cartridge just unbolts from teh top. swap over - top up oil. done
So can I steal the lockout too? or is it all part of the same thing?
All you need to do is undo the (IIRC) 2.5mm allen bolt from the centre of the topcap (damping side, the right as you sit on the bike) then get a 21mm (I think) socket and undo the big nut looking thing, this nut looking thing is actually the top of the damper so be very careful not to mash it. Do the same to the other fork then check they have the same oil levels and if they do just swap over the dampers, if they don't then make sure the oil levels are correct for each of the units. Then reassemble and the new forks should work better.
I think the oil levels in the new fork should be the same as the ones in the old fork because of how the rebound works.
Well it is but the 2011s require a bit more oil for the compression. So best just top it up with 15ml of 5wt.
And this will help you take the old ones apart, it really is easy.
where are you based - will do it for you for beer
Cruzhecler, thanks for the offer but I think I've cracked it!
On the recon r there was nothing but a cap, there was no damper to remove so I removed the cap and put the right amount of oil in the shox leg.
On the 351 I removed the cir clip and plastic lock out lever, unbolted the damper and pulled out the whole red damper (I assume this was to MoCo unit). Pushed it into the recon and bolted it up. Put the lever and cir clip back on and I think that's me done?
Does this sound about right? It rides well enough I think from my limited experience.
I wonder if I could have just bought the damper / lockout ?
Thank to you all! My first post and I got a great response!
bob on perfect