Mountain Biking - Unknown fork travel?

I have a junk unadjustable fork. I'm pretty sure it wont travel the whole length of the stanchion tubes. So how do I determine it's travel, to get an idea of what to replace it with?

tie a ziptie around one of the fork legs and fully compress the fork. Where the ziptie is, is where the for travel ends. Just measure.

What he said.

Thanks for the quick reply.

When I push my 220lb of body weight down onto the handlebars, I couldn't get it to bottom (measure travel that way).

Well give em a wham! go riding with them, and drop some curbs. Make sure the ziptie is tight so it wont go down again. Works like a charm.

Or if you can take the spring out you should have no problem compressing the fork. If there are two springs i would leave one in however, just to save time.

Here is what you do. Measure the distance from the bottom of the crown to the top of the fork legs. Then remove the springs. Now measure the distance again. Subtract the second from the first, and there you have it, the total travel of your fork.

peace
harris

Here is what you do. Measure the distance from the bottom of the crown to the top of the fork legs. Then remove the springs. Now measure the distance again. Subtract the second from the first, and there you have it, the total travel of your fork.

peace
harris

I'll try that route, when I have the $$$ in the bank awaiting the ordering of the new fork.

Thanks!

I'd guess that it's either 80 or 100mm travel. You could probably go up to 120 w/o any difficulties with the existing frame you have it on. A pic would be nice, or tell the brand of the fork maybe....

I'd guess that it's either 80 or 100mm travel. You could probably go up to 120 w/o any difficulties with the existing frame you have it on. A pic would be nice, or tell the brand of the fork maybe....
You assume way too much. It could be an old 63mm or even less. That plus if he puts a 120mm on a bike designed for a 80mm maximum he'll **** the handling up something awful. You can't just swap forks willy nilly.

Alright...don't laugh...

Link. (http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/sr=1-16/qid=/ref=sr_1_16/602-5019079-0477435?%5Fencoding=UTF8&asin=B0001M2AV4)

Mine is similar...the S-40.

It has a really strong frame/swingarm (7005 Aluminum), with a lifetime guarantee.

It's a starter that I'll eventually replace all the parts on.

Mention Schwinn, kill a thread.

Yep.

By eyeballing the fork, I'd guess it's 80mm. How much bigger could I go?

i cant really help u...i just wanna break the silence. i say go to your LBS.

Mention Schwinn, kill a thread.
Mention an X-mart Schwinn labeled bicycle shaped object that is.
Save your self a lot of money, time, and effort. A $300 full suspension bike from TARGET (http://tinyurl.com/czrae) isn't worth sinking an extra nickel into much less replacing every part on it.
You'd be MUCH better served by saving your hard earned cash and going to a REAL Bike Shop (Which is somewhere were you can't buy dishes and Barbie dolls a few aisles away)
Go read the FAQ's posted at the top of the MTB section.

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/3986/toystorevslbs4om.jpg

I read the FAQ before my 1st post. I understand the rationale behind it. Really I do.

There are no bike shops within 1.25 hours of here.

The Schwinn fits good. My wife wouldn't allow a $2k+ budget. I've had a 20 year hiatus from cycling. I used to have a $1200 Hutch ProRacer. I know what a quality bike is! Also, I still haven't finished my home theater yet. It's my main hobby. I still have 2, $2k subs to buy (have...lol). I want to slowly replace all the parts on the Schwinn, then once that's done, replace the frame with one with similar dimentions/fit.

There is a method to my madness. I just hope I don't continue to get snubbed for riding a Target bike. That's just ethicly wrong, & you'd end up running off a really helpful, funny guy.

I read the FAQ before my 1st post. I understand the rationale behind it. Really I do.

There are no bike shops within 1.25 hours of here.

The Schwinn fits good. My wife wouldn't allow a $2k+ budget. I've had a 20 year hiatus from cycling. I used to have a $1200 Hutch ProRacer. I know what a quality bike is! Also, I still haven't finished my home theater yet. It's my main hobby. I still have 2, $2k subs to buy (have...lol). I want to slowly replace all the parts on the Schwinn, then once that's done, replace the frame with one with similar dimentions/fit.

There is a method to my madness. I just hope I don't continue to get snubbed for riding a Target bike. That's just ethicly wrong, & you'd end up running off a really helpful, funny guy.

Heck,ride it if ya got it.

Heck,ride it if ya got it.

That's more like it. Who says I can't give a $300 bike hell? I have fun on it. I've replaced parts so far: $85 pedals, $12 headset covers, $12 rear shock cover, $15 bar ends, $15 MTB rear brake pads, $25 cushy seat. Soon: fork, headset, stem, bars, grips. Then as/if it breaks...shifters, brakes & wheelset.

It's functional. I have fun. I get good exercise. I ENJOY buying new parts to fix it up...what's the problem?

That's more like it. Who says I can't give a $300 bike hell? Nobody said that. However, The quality of bike you bought at Target is far less than the same money would have bought at a real bike shop and you might as well know the truth

Then as/if it breaks...shifters, brakes & wheelset.Oh they will

It's functional. I have fun. I get good exercise. I ENJOY buying new parts to fix it up...what's the problem?I'm not dogging you for how much you spent. Far from it. What I AM attacking is the where and what you spent it on. I could understand it if you were a poor college student, or a kid just getting into the sport with a gift bike, but you're an adult who's main hobby involves multiple $2000 subwoofers. If you were a tenth as serious about having fun and getting excercise as you are about your home theater you would have bought a bike from a quality manufactuer rather than a rebaged Pacific. The Schwinn of old is LONG GONE (bought out and turned to **** by Pacific) and the quality of what you find in X-Mart is sadly lacking.

By eyeballing the fork, I'd guess it's 80mm. How much bigger could I go?

Anything around 100mm should be fine. However buying a bike part by part is pretty much the most expensive way to go. It's only worth it if you are picky about what you like and would just end up swapping out loads of parts on a complete.

I'd recommend saving the money you would spend on upgrades then when you have enough buy a good complete bike, you will get more bang for your buck that way.

Nobody said that. However, The quality of bike you bought at Target is far less than the same money would have bought at a real bike shop and you might as well know the truth
Oh they will
I'm not dogging you for how much you spent. Far from it. What I AM attacking is the where and what you spent it on. I could understand it if you were a poor college student, or a kid just getting into the sport with a gift bike, but you're an adult who's main hobby involves multiple $2000 subwoofers. If you were a tenth as serious about having fun and getting excercise as you are about your home theater you would have bought a bike from a quality manufactuer rather than a rebaged Pacific. The Schwinn of old is LONG GONE (bought out and turned to **** by Pacific) and the quality of what you find in X-Mart is sadly lacking.


Unless you've seen the frame/swingarm, I'd say you ARE NOT competely correct in your bike snobbery.

Anything around 100mm should be fine. However buying a bike part by part is pretty much the most expensive way to go. It's only worth it if you are picky about what you like and would just end up swapping out loads of parts on a complete.

I'd recommend saving the money you would spend on upgrades then when you have enough buy a good complete bike, you will get more bang for your buck that way.

But going this route makes things fine with the wifey. I am quite picky, but wasn't with my original purchase. Well sort of. Wifey was pointing out much lower quality bikes such as Mongoose & Next.

what could happen if i put a 120 mm travel fork on a frame designed for 100 mm ?
just guessing

You'd be fine. 100mm could handle a 120mm fork.

Unless you've seen the frame/swingarm, I'd say you ARE NOT competely correct in your bike snobbery.

Actually he is correct, compared to a bike like a kona, trek, specialized, etc; depot store bikes have the structural integrity of a limp noodle mostly due to the metal tubing of a cambels soup can and the lack of effective gussetts and poor quality weilds. Besides who in their remote likelyness would need a hometheater, a couch potatoe?

Hmmm, I don't know why x-mart bike owners even bother to say we are snobs. Thats like a hobo calling a lower/middle class family millionair bastard spoiled jerks. It just doesn't work. Saying a bargin basement bike is extremly strong as is a good ride is like comparing... Chocolate to sh*t. They are both brown, but one is about a trillion times better. And please stop the home theatre stuff, and just get a decent (at least) bike. 2000 dollar woofers are not comparale to the time you'll spend on something nicer than that blasphemy of a bike. I hate to insult, but it's like you have a fetish for fly infested boiling poo.

Unless you've seen the frame/swingarm, I'd say you ARE NOT competely correct in your bike snobbery.
I have. It's rubbish. Read my last post again. I'm not bashing how much you spent, I'm bashing what you spent it on

But going this route makes things fine with the wifey. http://img268.echo.cx/img268/5517/reagandoh0dh.gif

I am quite picky, but wasn't with my original purchase. Well sort of. Wifey was pointing out much lower quality bikes such as Mongoose & Next.Mongoose is owned by the same company as Schwinn (Pacific-Cycle which is a division of Dorel Industries) Next is produced by Dynacraft Industries.
You were correct in your assessment that they were of even lower quality, however polishing a turd doesn't mean it's not still ****
Basically what Pacific did is snatch up companies that had a good reputation and used them to foist inferior products on a public that remembered the name from their youth, but didn't know the back story. Schwinn still makes some decent bikes, but they damn sure don't sell them at X-mart.
http://www.bicycleretailer.com/bicycleretailer/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1117188
http://www.bicycleretailer.com/bicycleretailer/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1114378

Besides who in their remote likelyness would need a hometheater, a couch potatoe?

You really need to watch the Collective with a good HT system. The Tyler Moreland section at whistler will rattle my wifes trinkets off of the wall.Heck all of my MTB vids are better with a HT.

Besides who in their remote likelyness would need a hometheater, a couch potatoe?

Music is & has been my #1 hobby for most of my life. During jamming, I'm not always setting. I enjoy exercising, but an occasional movie can be fun too. I'm only a part time potato.


Before my HT hobby, I was into SQ competing in car audio contests.

There's nothing wrong with having more than one hobby, no matter what some people here would say. Maybe those people can't grasp the concept that another just may not enjoy cycling as much as they do, and can't yet justify spending their entire paycheck on it.

I personally have less money in my bikes than in my computers, and I'm going to end up with twice as much in camera stuff than in bikes before long. Doesn't mean I don't like riding, in fact it's my favorite thing to be doing.. but there's a point where added expense won't increase the quality of my rides enough to justify it.

..Besides, that's a damn nice looking HT setup, bet it sounds awesome :D

There's nothing wrong with having more than one hobby, no matter what some people here would say. Maybe those people can't grasp the concept that another just may not enjoy cycling as much as they do, and can't yet justify spending their entire paycheck on it.

I personally have less money in my bikes than in my computers, and I'm going to end up with twice as much in camera stuff than in bikes before long. Doesn't mean I don't like riding, in fact it's my favorite thing to be doing.. but there's a point where added expense won't increase the quality of my rides enough to justify it.

..Besides, that's a damn nice looking HT setup, bet it sounds awesome :D

Thanks!

Yeah the HT sounds good. I like cranking Symptom of the Universe on a regular basis. ;)

I mean why in the hell would I spend more than my long-term (6 years HT, 30 yrs. music) hobby on my new (ages 4-15 then renewed last month @ 35 years of age) hobby?

I just don't understand your "wifey". She is cool with $2000 speakers but not a $2000 bike? My wife would be equally against both.

I just don't understand your "wifey". She is cool with $2000 speakers but not a $2000 bike? My wife would be equally against both.

Because she knows the Music/HT hobby is here to stay, but I just recently got interested in a hobby I had quit over 1/2 my life ago.