i've been looking at a new pair of the Lyrik Air U-turn's as an upgrade for my Fuel EX 9, want something thats a bit bigger up front for the downs... do you reckon this would hamper the geometry of the bike too much as 130mm front and rear..
Thought the EX 9 was 120mm at the rear (only just got my '09, could be wrong) but seeing as you could match the 130mm up front at the moment then tweak up or down from there you could back it off if it feels wrong.
Aye, 120 on the back on an Ex. I'd happily fit 140s, not too sure about much longer though!
I thought trek fuel EX's were 120mm rear?
You would be increasing the fork length by I believe 44mm, not 30mm if running at 160mm
If you ran Lyric air 2-step (115 [i]or[/i] 160mm (there isn't an exact Air U-turn version (130-160mm) I don't think) then you can only run at 160 or 115mm of travel, neither of which is going to make the bike handle particularly well when it isn't very steep (uphill or downhill) eg singletrack
You could run a Lyric Coil U-turn and set it somewhere between 115 and 160mm, but they weigh about 2.6kg and as with all 160mm forks it seems cost a fortune
Given you probably end up running a Lyrik around 140mm, you'd be better off with a pike (coil or air) as both are lighter and cheaper than a Lyrik and still have the 20mm bolt-thru axle. Its more likley not to void the frame warranty too (Check with trek, but I'm almost certain a Lyrik will void it)
Even lighter would be a Fox 32 Van, Float or Talas (140 or 150mm versions) but available with 15mm thru-axles, else Magura Thor (20mm), Rockshox Revelation (20mm avail.) etc ..
I think Fuel EX9s have Fox 32 Forks? You could get them serviced and have new QR15mm thru-axle lowers installed to increase the steering tracking. If they come with talas' I don't think you can up the travel, but if they're floats you ought to be able to have the travel upped to 140mm too