What ever happened to adjustable travel forks?

Had plenty of TALAS and Uturn forks in the past. Don’t miss them in the slightest and now just have 150s on my hardtail and FS (both modern geo).

I have had a few. I hated adjusting it on the fly.  My contact points are all finely tuned to give the correct weight distribution and balance for comfort, and adjusting the fork cocks that up completely. However, I do love being able to fine tune the fork length as part of that process.  I had (and still have) 66 SLs with ATA, and I tried many lengths before settling on 170mm and leaving it there. The frame also had adjustable shock mount, so I could lower the entire bike, which made a big difference.  Yes, you can do the same thing with internal travel adjusters on some forks these days, which is good.

vlad_the_invader

Hmmm…good point. So, when is a seat post “too steep” 🤔

No – steeper seat tubes mean adjustable travel forks no longer needed – the reason they made climbing better was that they steepened the seat angle. Frames with steeper seat tubes put you in that position for climbing without all the disadvantages of a shitty fork

I had dual position pikes on my 2016 Giant Trance and they were noticeably worse than the standard ones on mates bikes. They were also more difficult to find parts for and the parts were more expensive.

I seem to recall a set of DT Swiss XMM 140 forks I had on my first proper full suss. They had 140mm travel but could be stuck down at 110mm for climbing. IIRC they would release automatically if you bounced them hard meaning you couldn’t forget to unlock them for the descents. But I may be mis-remembering that bit. Nice forks they were, to be fair.

I seem to recall a set of DT Swiss XMM 140 forks I had on my first proper full suss. They had 140mm travel but could be stuck down at 110mm for climbing. IIRC they would release automatically if you bounced them hard meaning you couldn’t forget to unlock them for the descents.

I had some and they were lovely forks. Forgot to raise them for a descent, they didn’t blow off and then didn’t work as well afterwards! Still, they were the plushest pre modern Pike fork I ever had.

As for what happened to adjustable forks? Maybe something to do with us riding less do it all bikes and travel increasing? BITD 130mm bikes were allrounders, used for everything from XC to all mountain. These days 150mm+ is pretty standard where as XC bikes are still 100/120mm.

Have Rockshox made an adjustable version of their modern forks (post game changer Pike)? Before that the majority of people wanted Fox and I guess not enough people were buying TALAS so they stopped making them? Reviews saying the cheaper and lighter Float was the better fork can’t have helped.

They were targeted at XC riders who wanted to feel a bit gnar on the downhill bits (me!).

You’d get off, wind yer forks out to max travel – and manually, yes manually kids(!), drop your seatpost – then clench your sphincter for the not really that gnar descent to come! 🙂

Speak for yourself – every descent is maximum gnar for me…not due to terrain, more to do with me being utterly useless at descents!

As for what happened to adjustable forks? 

They became unfashionable?

Have Rockshox made an adjustable version of their modern forks

I believe there were a few two-step (?) forks still around in the later 2010s, IIRC because the Germans were quite attached to the concept.

But as others have mentioned, mostly not needed due to improved frame geometry (not just fashion).

I blame all those UK frame manufacturers who came out with ‘456’ type frames.

If you’re a tight arse like me and you’ve bought a frame that was based around a 120mm to 160mm fork then you’d be crazy not to get maximum value for money by buying a fork that didn’t go from 120mm to 160mm.

Even if you then spend all your time with the fork at 120mm, you’re still getting maximum value for money!

two-step (?)

Dual Position. They were decent. I had Coil Sektors on my Dialled Prince Albert. 120mm for general riding, 150mm for more intentional DH/uplift/bike park stuff. Single switch: min or max travel, big bounce on the front to lock into the travel you just switched to. Not a huge compromise in performance.

Ha! Exactly as per BruceWee!

two-step (?)

Dual Position. They were decent.

Thanks for correcting, I was obviously thinking of DJ Pied Piper or Double 99.

This weekend I just dug my old pike 454s out of the loft to rebuild a 4x bike.  They seem to still be in perfect working order.  Just waiting on a few bits and I’ll find out soon enough,

personally I quite liked them.  Possible to do the uturn whilst riding as well with a bit of practise and a flatish bit of track