Mountain Biking - RockShox SID travel adjustment

Hi,

Just bought a new SID Team fork and I want to set the travel before I install it on my bike.

It comes with a piece to adjust the travel from 80mm down to 63mm. My initial thought was that doing this would shorten the fork's extended length by 17mm. I thought that this might be a good thing for me. My frame is pretty old, and the fork that's coming off of it (Manitou 4 - I should donate it to a museum ;) ) didn't have much travel and it's extended length is shorter. I thought that lowering the fork would preserve the original geometry better plus I'm just not used to a lot of travel anyway.

However, looking at the service instructions for the fork, it looks like the spacer part just prevents the fork from compressing all the way. Looking at the pictures (I haven't actually disassembled the fork to play with it) it looks like the extended length stays the same, with the fully compressed length being 17mm longer.

Can this be right? Surely I'm looking at it wrong, right? I just can't imagine why you'd want to keep the fork long, but reduce its travel......

Thanks,

Chris

OK, so I think I'm wrong. I studied the service guide again and I guess the piece does shorten extension.

Now I have to decide if I want to do it. 80mm isn't considered a lot of travel these days, it it?

Nope, 80 mm is almost the minimum anymore. Some people still run 63 mm but not many.

i have a SID team as well, 80mm is not much. But for the intended purpose of the SID 80mm is great. 63 i just wouldnt do

I run a 12 Y.O. MTB frame that was designed for 50mm travel forks. 80mm is out of the question for this frame. Even the 63mm of my current fork, plus the increased tire clearance make the handling noticably slow. That said, I feel the short travel of this fork offers some advantage over the 80 and 100 mm forks. On climbs the bike is noticably quicker, and there is less dive when braking. I'm quite happy with it-only on fast downhills do I miss the extra travel.

I'd suggest try it with 80, and if you like it, keep it. If not, think about swapping it for the 63. 17mm isn't that much, but you will notice a difference in your bike's handling.

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. I'm in the same boat as you - 12 yo frame (a Dean). Dunno what it was originally designed for, but I would guess less than 80mm. The SID does look like it lets the wheel suck up a bit more vs. my Manitou 4. It's only an inch longer at most fully extended, but certainly has more than 1 inch more travel. The lower tubes of the SID are shorter than the M4.

Laziness is also playing a part - you basically have to totally disassemble the fork to convert it and I don't really feel like doing that with a brand-new fork. I here the SID needs rebuilding a lot so maybe I'll plan to switch it to 63mm at the first rebuild. If I don't absolutely love the extra travel, that is!

Shame mtb forks don't come with triple clamps. Then you could slide the clamps down the tubes to get less rake and quicken the steering back up.