[donalson]

I found a great deal on a tora 318 off a '08 cobia... i'm planning to put this on my karate monkey... am I right to assume that i'll quicken up the bike?... if so would bumping it to 100mm travel slow it down (aprox) to what it's been stock (rigid KM fork)?

i'm searching but reading mixed things
thanks
mark

 

[Cloxxki]

On an S KM, maybe. Maybe a 100mm G2 on a larger size. But it will be sketchey!

Frame made to handle quick, and a fork made to be quick despit a slow frame, adds up to faster than anyone will ever need.

 

[donalson]

its a large frame... also have the option of putting it on my L redline d440... prob a better match as i wish it was a little quicker on occasion...

guess it wouldn't be hard to swap the fork from one bike to another to try things out i suppose

 

[Cloxxki]

Is the D440 the one with Flight geometry, 71º head tube angle? It would be perfect(ly G2) with a 100mm G2 fork, then. If you run a non-G2 susser on it now, I can imagine it feeling slightly lagging at times.

 

[donalson]

ya d440/d460/flight all have the same geo (well the BB drop is about 3mm different)

 

[anthony.delorenzo]

I loved how my XL Karate Monkey felt with a 100 mm fork... I didn't have the extra offset but I think you should give it a shot. Maybe try it on both your rigs and see what you like better.

 

[donalson]

ok little time with the g2 fork on my monkey...


setup... 80mm 2.1 moto raptor out back, 2.1 nano raptor front
felt a little sketchy at 1st... but i quickly got used to it... biggest issue was playing with my bar height trying to get it close to the original bar height (lost a bit of stack height due to shorter steer tube)... riser bar did the trick... loved it...

yesterday tried it with moto raptors front and back... the moto is a bit smaller then the nano... not a huge difference but enough so that they don't clear the rear derailleur as i have it setup right now... so maybe 8mm taller... the bike felt A LOT like i remember it feeling when i went to the g2 fork... twitchy... i couldn't hold a line in a turn to save my life... could have to do with the tires themselves also...

i like how the bike handles and feels... so i'm hesitant on going to the 100mm... and again hesitant on putting it on the redline... redline was already much slower in the tight singletrack... and i had more pedal strike problems on it (same bb drop so i'm assuming it's to do with the longer wheelbase)... 100mm fork would help that but would offset the quicker steering as I understand)

for now i'll toss the nano back on the bike and keep it that way till the time trial at the end of feb then i'll start to play with things again...

 

[donalson]

...bumped travel to 100mm... RS made it insanely easy to do... props to them... anyway i've only got 2 miles of trail riding on it thanks to a spoke popping very early into ride :-/ ... it's MUCH smoother riding... also put the handling back closer to stock feeling... i LOVE it from the little bit of time i spent with it... then again i loved how the bike handled when it was stock when I get the wheel fixed i'll be out and run down the "chute" which will be the true test of the new fork setting