[plokazsx]

It seems there is enough clearance for a longer rear shock on my Jamis XC comp. Does anyone know if increasing the rear travel is possible, and will it cause any ridability or mechanical problems?

Thanks

 

[Descalzo]

I've no idea if one will fit or not - but a commonly overlooked area isn't up top, it's the lower pivot/bottom bracet shell interface. It always looks like there's plenty of room where the shock is. A real quick referance is to unbolt your shock & drop the swingarm down. Is there really room enough for the eye-2-eye measurement of the shock you're thinking of before the swingarm hits the shell? Then you need to investigate how much, because shocks do bounce (or "stretch"eye2eye- just a smidgen) on the internal "topout" bumpstop when you get in hthe air, & you don't want a thunk when that happens either. Bad for the BB, bad for the pivot.

Whatever the case - putting a longer eye-2-eye shock on your bike will effect the handling. It'll steepen the head angle, which translates into making it quicker to respond to steering inputs-less stable @ high speed. If that's what you're looking for, you could get the same effect by installing a fork with a shorter axle to crown measurement.

Would you like it? I don't know. People play with that kinda stuff all the time. Depends on the person, what & where they ride, & the OEM specs of the bike in the 1st place I suppose. I've heard rumors of racers reaming the by-golly outta the fork crown to drop the angle, & stories of 'em running shims under the headset race to slacken it up a bit. It all depends.

IMO if you want a bike with more travel, you should sell your XC & go buy one designed for it in the 1st place.