Mountain Biking - Is it possible to change the travel of a fox fork?

Title says it all. I want to purchase the Vanilla R, but it is set at 140mm of travel stock. The Fox is replacing a terrible Axel Elite on my bike with 80mm of travel. I don't want to hurt my bike's geometry this bad. So, is there a way to change the travel of the Fox to something more like 100mm?

Found a Fox Vanilla shock on eBay claiming to have changed some spacers for a different height, but have no idea how they did it.

"It is currently set at the 90mm travel setting, but can be changed to 110mm or 130mm as well by adding some internal spacers to the spring."

Any ideas???

I have an F100x and an F80x. The F100x can be changed to 80 mm using spacers. The F80x cannot be changed. In other words, the travel can be changed on some. Probably not much help. :o

Oh yeah, welcome to bike forums.

Thanks Lowcel! I have been lurking these forums for a few months now. Lots of great information.

It looks like it's possible to take it down 30mm from the fox website, here a link to the 06 owners manual
http://www.foxracingshox.com/fox_tech_center/owners_manuals/06_32mm_en.pdf

so does that actually reduce AC height or just limit the travel.

so does that actually reduce AC height or just limit the travel.
good point!

Wow, really good question! I will try and call Fox, but I am not hopeful for a response. Anyone know this one?

Ok, just got off the phone with Fox technical support. You can remove spacers to reduce travel AND the overall length of the shock. However, his can only be done on 2006 models and older. 2007 was redesigned and cannot be shortened without buying extra parts from Fox.

So I'm guessing the 140mm you were asking about is an 07 and the one on E-bay is an older model.

Correct. I decided to call around to some local bike shops, and one has a few of the 2006's in stock and asking less that most of them on eBay!:D

Looks like I am making a trip to the bike shop tommorow. Will try to change the travel height myself.

:beer:

Why not see if you can find an F100 or F80 while you're calling around. It would be a bit lighter.

I got a new 2006 Vanilla R from price point a few months ago. Best deal I could find on the net. I say go for it.

Yeah, I bought a Vanilla R 130 from Pricepoint for $213 with a cut steerer tube. Probably the reason he doesn't want to get an F80 or F100 is the same as mine. The Vanilla will kick it's butt in performance. It's just smoother.

I changed the travel on mine from 130mm to 100mm when I had it on my hardtail and I loved it! I now have it on my dually, so I changed it back to 130mm. I still love it!

Do yourself a favor...call Fox and order their 7.5wt suspension oil and two crush washers. (I think you only need one, but it's good to have an extra.

When you change the travel, you will lose all the oil (into a pan if you want to) and you would be wise to replace the crush washer instead of re-using it.

It's an easy process.

I dont get it, my fork RS Recon (comes with my Anthem) states I can change my fork travel and air pressure but how? I cant get my air pressure cap to open and I dont see any feature on my fork which can change its travel

The Vanilla will kick it's butt in performance. It's just smoother.
Whoooooo! Them's fightin words!:D

B2bhick: I think I forgot my smiley: The Vanilla kicks the F100's butt:D You know I had to open up that can of worms, hehe. I just couldn't hold it in. I really don't know if I believe it or not because I've never ridden your Epic or XTC. I just regurgitated the knowledge passed on to me via the internet and bike shops. I know, I'm a punk.

The one thing that I don't like about the Vanilla compared to the F series forks is the teeny bit of bushing play that is inherant to the Vanilla that helps it cycle so smoothly w/o stiction.

RS Recon: On my old RS Pilot, I had to take the spring mechanism out of the left leg, pull the "all travel" spacer out, put it back together, and put the spacer in on top of the spring...(I think that's how it worked)

The Recon "U-Turn" forks have a knob to turn that changes the travel.

Oic, thanks

I looked at the F80 and F100. The problem is that I am looking for a coil sprung fork. The Vanilla has the charachersitics I ma looking for. Its just too damn long stock!



Yeah, I bought a Vanilla R 130 from Pricepoint for $213 with a cut steerer tube. Probably the reason he doesn't want to get an F80 or F100 is the same as mine. The Vanilla will kick it's butt in performance. It's just smoother.

I changed the travel on mine from 130mm to 100mm when I had it on my hardtail and I loved it! I now have it on my dually, so I changed it back to 130mm. I still love it!

Do yourself a favor...call Fox and order their 7.5wt suspension oil and two crush washers. (I think you only need one, but it's good to have an extra.

When you change the travel, you will lose all the oil (into a pan if you want to) and you would be wise to replace the crush washer instead of re-using it.

It's an easy process.


Thanks for the tip about the oil and washers. Makes sense you would loose the oil, but I didnt think about it.

Will let everyone know how it goes!

There are rumors of expanding the Vanilla line in '08. They're adding a Killer XC fork.

Fox Vanilla 90 X
90mm travel
Terralogic with lockout
Coil Sprung
27mm stanchions
High and low speed rebound controls
10mm through axle
Disc only I'm afraid

Should weigh in at 3.1 lbs because of the smaller stanchions

Jerks! I need a shock now, not in 08!

I'm demo'ing one now if you want to have a shot at it. Kinda flexy for freeride, but it is plush for an XC fork. It'll probably put SRAM outta the suspension business for good.

hmm, where you get the news from? 08 fox?

Actually I got the news from Marzocchi b/c they're worried too.

Whassup....nobody wants to nibble on that one?:rolleyes:

There are rumors of expanding the Vanilla line in '08. They're adding a Killer XC fork.

Fox Vanilla 90 X
90mm travel
Terralogic with lockout
Coil Sprung
27mm stanchions
High and low speed rebound controls
10mm through axle
Disc only I'm afraid

Should weigh in at 3.1 lbs because of the smaller stanchions

How do you know this?? Where you get this info from or are you just guessing? :rolleyes: And its not even 07 yet XD

How do you know this?? Where you get this info from or are you just guessing? :rolleyes: And its not even 07 yet XD
Fox is doing this because they know you wanna upgrade. Do it.. do it!! comon!

Im interested in knowing how chelboed got this info? Because I got my eyes fixed on Fox F series

There is somewhat of a glitch so far with the low speed rebound settings. With it turned too far clockwise, they pack up under hard pedaling. It's a conflict with the Terralogic compression damping and the low speed rebound. The high speed rebound is perfect as well as the lockout. They said 5 wt oil instead of the standard 7.5 wt should solve the issue.

The lowers are still going to be Magnesium like the current Vanilla, but the dropouts are Easton CNT. They are still testing the life of the dropouts because the 10mm through axle's quick release is so powerful that it causes the dropouts to spread and bind. They said that this is pretty normal to have a few glitches here and there in a non production model fork. They still have 18 months to get it all ironed out.

Personally, I'd never buy a fork that is brand new to the market. I would want it to be out for at least a year to get all the glitches of the mass produced model smoothed out.

You should probably stick with an F90 RLC or F90X.