Bicycle Mechanics - bike geometry

How would u find out if u wanted to replace a 100mm travel fork with a fork with different travel? My bike is a 2001 rockhopper FSRxc and i want to replace the front fork with something that will have more travel. Is it possible to put a 105mm, 110mm, or even a 135mm travel fork on it? What are your suggestions? What fork should i get?

I think so. But changing the geometry could mess up the ride. Make your turning more difficult etc...I usually go by a fairly easy rule. If your bike came with 100mm then it supports 75mm to 125mm...It should handle this easily. Of course some people insist on triple clamps on frames not meant for it...then the bike ends up looking like a chopper...an extra inch on that bike is nothing...

The general rule of thumb, is if you increase your fork travel by 1 inch, you will slacken the head tube angle (and bike) by 1 degree. This isn't an exact rule, but like mentioned a rule of thumb. (you techno wienies relax!)

This can be good or bad depending on where and how you ride. If you ride in tight technical trails with a lot of switchbacks, slackening the headtube angle might be bad and cause the bike to steer slower.

If you ride a lot of fireroads or smooth ribbony (is that a word?) singletrack or double track, a lot of fast downhills, it may actually improve your ride.

BTW, does the FSR XC have the adjustable travel on the linkage? I think just the Enduro and their BigHit bikes do. If so, you can set the travel to provide the steepest angle to conteract the slacker angle produced by the longer travel fork. Does that make sense?

L8R

Is it possible to put a 105mm, 110mm, or even a 135mm travel fork on it?

It is possible. You could even put a fork on with 10 or 12 inches of travel but it would seriously mess the handling up.