[maddogdunn]

I have an '03 fuel 80 with an 80mm rock shox pilot. I hate the fork. It has leaked air since the day I bought it. I think I have blown a seal, when I hang it on the wall, oil leaks out onto the floor in a little puddle. I am a hefty guy @ 195lbs. Anyway I am willing to spend 300$ on a new one. I want the most durable/best fork for the money. Jenson has a manitou black platinum for 299 but it has 90mm travel. Will this affect the way my bike rides at all? Is a black better than a skareb? Any suggestions on other forks I should invest in?

thanks.. matt

 

[monkeyboy90]

Yes, this will probably change the ride feel of the bike, but not much. When you raise the front end of your bike, you slow the steering down. YOu gotta think about the way the bike handles now. Have you ever noticed if your bike is a little twitchy? This would be a good fix for it. However, since it is actually only 10 mm of lift, it won't be much of a change. But, it will slow it slightly.

 

[Blue Shorts]

I have an '03 fuel 80 with an 80mm rock shox pilot. I hate the fork. It has leaked air since the day I bought it. I think I have blown a seal, when I hang it on the wall, oil leaks out onto the floor in a little puddle. I am a hefty guy @ 195lbs. Anyway I am willing to spend 300$ on a new one. I want the most durable/best fork for the money. Jenson has a manitou black platinum for 299 but it has 90mm travel. Will this affect the way my bike rides at all? Is a black better than a skareb? Any suggestions on other forks I should invest in?

thanks.. matt

It's the axle to crown distance that makes the difference. What you want to compare is the axle to crown minus sag for each fork.

btw....I run a 105mm Marathon S on my Fuel......It's great. YMMV.

 

[Mars2003]

I've put a Fox Vanilla R on my 01 Fuel 90 and it works like a dream. I even mailed Trek and they said it was ok as long as I kept it set to 100mm or less, the guy that replied even said that he'd go as far as recommening this specific upgrade!

Go ahead with confidence, but do pay attention to the crown to drop out distance, forks can vary for the same travel as mentioned by Monkeyboy.

 

[maddogdunn]

Trek says 100mm?? What about lockout?

Where can I find information on the length from the crown to the bottom? I can measure my rockshox myself but can't do the manitou with tape measure.

So trek says anything up to 100mm is acceptable??

Is lockout really worth the money? I know everyone says it is more efficient, but is it really that much better?

thanks all

 

[KMan]

100mm on a Fuel

I spen a few months on a 01 Fuel 90 that was originally spec'd with a RS SID XC100. I really like the ride and handling....so much when I bought a Fuel100 I spec'd it with a FOX F100

KMan

 

[PointBoy]

Running a 80mm to 100mm fork on a fuel is no problem, in fact you can spec a Project One Fuel with a 100mm fork and order it from Trek that way..

 

[Frozenspokes]

The '02 Fuel 90 came with an 80-100MM Manitou Black

I keep mine in the 80mm travel mode most of the time as I like the way it handles better. It is nice to be able to bump up the travel for technical descents though.