I've got 2 26" forks in my posession:
- A 2011 A1 Revelation, currently at 130mm (I think?) Dual air
- A 2010 A1 Recon Gold Turnkey Solo air, currently at 120mm
One of them will be going on my pump/jump/muck abut bike, and the other I plan on putting on my son's Orbea MX24. So, the question is which for which? I don't know much about forks of this age TBH :/
- Am I right in thinking that the Recon will need a new air shaft as it's a Solo air? Or is that not right for forks of this gen? Or are they both All Travel spacer jobs? Guessing I need to reduce it to more like 60-80mm.
- Which is easiest to change the damper fluid on for something lighter?
I'd like modifications to be reversible so that the forks can follow onto a 26 in a few years if possible.
Ta for any help!
Why bother to change the travel, just put it on.
I’d stick the lightest ones on. Try as is.
Because the a2c is getting on for 100mm more than the rigid fork on his bike at the mo. I've mocked it up by raising the front of the bike, and it looks like a chopper and will likely ride like a pig with the BB about 4ft in the air.
wouldn't put a 26 inch fork on the MX24 - the A2C length is going to be too big.
Dual air will be easier to make functional for kids weight but A2C is probably the over riding.
– Which is easiest to change the damper fluid on for something lighter?
The revs are open bath ... but I suspect the recon will be as well ...
Pre-Brexit you could get a RST F1rst from Germany for <<£200 ... short A/C and works out of the box with kids weight... dunno about now though.
I’d space down the dual air fork to about 70mm and stick some lighter oil in the damper - both easy, cheap and reversible.
Quick measure of A2c (obviously not super precise)
Stock fork: 410ish
Recon: 475ish
Revs: 505ish
Looks like the Recons are actually 100mm, so travel for travel, they're basically the same. At around 70mm a2c should be about 35mm longer, so once sagged only about an inch longer, which sounds fine to me 🙂
@ianpv: That's my thinking, I think I'll run with that, cheers dude 🙂
@stevextc The F1rsts would be a great option, but I'm seeing what I can do with what I've got for now. TBH I had no intention of spending that much!
I put a 26" manitou R7 on my nippers mx24
light, easy to adjust travel, and manitou give loads of info for modifying damper shims if thats your thing to suit a light rider
I tried this with a Fox 32. the plan was to get it revalved and travel lowered to 80 mm, then with 20mm sag it would have approx the same AC. At 100 mm it felt awful and the same when I lowered the pressure for the correct AC height. The front end was really hard to turn and you really had to lean on it to weight the front wheel going down hill or it felt really unstable. It was so bad in fact, Mini did not want it on the bike. I think the offset was the problem.