cachehiker

I purchased a 2005 Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Expert 100 Disc at an end of season sale last year. I like the bike and if I owned one and only one mountain bike this would be it. However, I own three and one of them is a pure unadulterated cross country Zaskar hardtail that weighs only 23-1/2 lbs. with the everyday wheels on it. It's an ounce or so under 23 with the "race" wheels. Her name is Sophie and she's my second-favorite ride so I could never leave her. I could even put her on on a diet and have her under22 lbs. by changing the crankset and installing a SID fork.

The short wheelbase, steep head angle, and very low bottom bracket make the Stumpjumper seem almost redundant. Sure I can ride the downhills a little more aggressively but this is completely offset by the fact that the Sophie climbs like a scalded cat.

I've been thinking of selling the Fox F100RL fork and replacing it with a 120mm fork to slacken the head tube angle about one degree, raise the bottom bracket about 8mm, and lengthen the wheelbase about 12mm. Has anybody out there tried this? Any recommendations for which fork might be a better choice? Any other informed opinions are welcome.

I'm not a big guy at only 5'7", 150 lbs. with short legs. Most 5 inch travel and many 4 inch travel bikes don't fit me. The small Stumpjumper frame is an exception and should still fit with a 120mm fork.

C Law

why not get a Fox talas 32 and set the travel at 130-110-90. That way, you can still climb with the same geometry that was intended, and only let out the full travel when descending, or whenever you feel like it.

cachehiker

I've been looking at the Talas fork but wonder if it's too much fork for a bike that's still mostly LX. The F100RL is already an awful lot of fork for an XC bike that tips the scales at around 28 lbs.

I also wonder if the 90mm setting on the Talas would ever get used. 72 degrees would be a very steep head angle and I generally have my hands full with the Zaskar in rough conditions at 71.5 degrees. I'd have a few inches of squish to help out but wonder if it would steer like my cross bike does on a rocky road. The Stumpjumper would end up with the very same 72.5 head angle when taking on 10mm washboard chatter.

I've been impressed with what I've heard about the Rockshox Revelation 409 100-130mm U-turn fork. Comments often go like "Talas performance for $200 less." Is there anybody out there using one on an XC frame similar to this one?

C Law

Then set it at the 100-120-140 settings.

jm01

My daughter rides a SJ FSR with the 100mm Black fork and loves it...but to your question...I have a traditional frame bike with the 125mm Vanilla RLC which gives me a 69 degree HA and perfect handling on the tight singletrack up here...my wife however went with the 130mm Talas Float RLC on her Blur, but dials it in to 110-120mm for the tighter trails...gives her a steeper HA and that Ferrari handling...she likes 130mm for the rockgardens and roots