Mountain Biking - Upgrading shock

My Marzocchi 80mm travel shock just blew last night, so I'm posed with a decision.... I can just get it fixed, or I can use this opportunity to upgrade. I have seen some good deals on mtbr.com classifieds and some other places for z1 freeride, psylo xc, and some others. I would love some more adjustabililty, and a little longer travel if possible.

Will getting a longer travel shock screw up the way my bike handles/feels? I have a Rocky Mountain Element, with only 3.5" in the rear. Will it put more force on the rear having longer travel up front?

Thanks!

Originally posted by gonesh9
My Marzocchi 80mm travel shock just blew last night, so I'm posed with a decision.... I can just get it fixed, or I can use this opportunity to upgrade. I have seen some good deals on mtbr.com classifieds and some other places for z1 freeride, psylo xc, and some others. I would love some more adjustabililty, and a little longer travel if possible.


Will getting a longer travel shock screw up the way my bike handles/feels? I have a Rocky Mountain Element, with only 3.5" in the rear. Will it put more force on the rear having longer travel up front?

Thanks!


I would have thought you'd be fine with around 100mm but I don't know that I'd want to longer - what about a zocchi MX Pro/comp with ETA?

Richard

100mm's of travel would be fine. 125mm would run you the risk of frame crackage and you would have much worse climbing

Well, I took the bike in to the shop today, and got their answer, which is pretty much what Richard D and Peter G said:

More travel will put too much stress on the frame when the front hits very hard. He said 100mm would be o.k, but could still be a problem if I came down on it too hard. So, he took the fork and said he has to send it back to Marzocchi and have them rebuild it. He said it will be somewhere between $60 to $120, and I'd have to also replace the disk pads as they got oil squirted on them.

Oh, well, these things happen. I decided I'd just go with that option rather than buying a whole new shock... The real bummer is it'll take 2 weeks. :(

A good rule of thumb is the max upgrade you can do to a bike unless otherwise stated is 20mm either direction from stock. If it came stock with 80 then 100 is around max unless the bike says it can handle it.