[dankilling]

I sent a mail to Yeti last week, and still havent heard back- what is the maximum recommended fork length for my 2003 Kokopelli? I would like to set it up as more of a trail-bike, and would love to run 120mm, but wanted to make sure it wouldnt screw up the handling......

 

[mansor]

I have the same frame like you.Before I am using SID Race Titanium with 80mm travel.
But now I have changed to REBA Team U Turn.Always set to max. travel 115mm.
So dankilling you can 'go for it'.

 

[azdrawdy]

The rear is using the same travel as the AS-R (3.7") and that bike is designed around a 100mm fork. Wouldn't go over 120mm. Not saying you can't run a 120-130mm fork, but your steering will definitely slow down.

My wife's Kokopelli is running a 100mm Skareb. Nice, neutral steering. Not sluggish, not too quick.

Michael

 

[Axe]

I sent a mail to Yeti last week, and still havent heard back- what is the maximum recommended fork length for my 2003 Kokopelli? I would like to set it up as more of a trail-bike, and would love to run 120mm, but wanted to make sure it wouldnt screw up the handling......

105 Marzocchi, with its slighlty taller axel to crown then an equivalent Manitou is the tallest I would go on Kokopelli.

It is quite fine as a trail bike with that fork.

 

[dankilling]

105 Marzocchi, with its slighlty taller axel to crown then an equivalent Manitou is the tallest I would go on Kokopelli.

It is quite fine as a trail bike with that fork.

Do you know the difference in axle-to-crown on that? I have a marathon SL 105, but wanted something coil-sprung (like a Minute or Nixon) running at 120MM

 

[Yetifan]

I have a Fox talas on my AS-R (designed for 100mm), I use it at around 110mm mostly, any more and you can tell it affects the front wheels ability to grip when your pushing it.

Best stick with around 100mm, why not try a fork with adjustable travel?

Ap.

 

[MOO]

100mm ONLY

I blew my Fox 100 RLT and put on a spare 125 mm temp fork the lbs gave me until my fox is rebuilt. The bike is pretty much a disaster!! The longish headtube and highish center of gravity for a xc bike fitted with a long fork will never let you enjoy the great attributes of this bike. Descending is a disaster and climbing worse! dont make the mistake of going over 100mm. I cant wait to get my fork back .

 

[dankilling]

Ok- I have a Vanilla RLC on the way with the 100mm conversion, so that should be good. In any case, does anyone know the geomotry spec of the 2003 Koko? Since the bike originally came with either 80 or 100, and the current AS-R comes only with a 100, does the 71 degree head angle reflect the older koko geometry, or am I looking more like 70 degrees with the 100mm fork?

 

[MOO]

Ok- I have a Vanilla RLC on the way with the 100mm conversion, so that should be good. In any case, does anyone know the geomotry spec of the 2003 Koko? Since the bike originally came with either 80 or 100, and the current AS-R comes only with a 100, does the 71 degree head angle reflect the older koko geometry, or am I looking more like 70 degrees with the 100mm fork?

The geometry, to the best of my knowlage, is exactly the same as the ASR frame. 71degree head angle

 

[dankilling]

It was the same in 02-03, but that was also when they were all specced for 80mm forks- that would put the head angle at 72, seat angle at 75, which is pretty steep....thats why I think there was a change in 04/05 to make the 100mm forks work with the Ýeti' geometry....

 

[dankilling]

Reborn!

Well, my Vanilla finally made it- cool thing is its a 2006 model! In any case, I did the 100mm conversion, installed the fat-guy spring, and mounted it up. Between that, a new set of wheels, new brakes, and a changeover to SRAM X-9 shifting, this biks is REBORN and irdes better than it ever has! The front-end flex is gone, the wheels feel sweet (no flex there either) and the 'ghost shifting' I had experienced in the past with Shimano is all but eliminated. I was kind of avoiding riding her for about 6 months because it was so frusterating with the old setup, but now I think she will come out MUCH more often I will post some pics soon, but here is the 'was' vs 'is'spce list

2002-03 Kokopelli (with bearing pivot)
Was
2003 Marathon SL 105mm
Magura Louise brakes
Easton Monkey-lite bars
Lock-on grips
Shimano XT shifters
EA 70 stem
Cane Creek headset
Mavic 819 rims on Ritchey pro hubs
XTR deraileurs
RF Turbines
Time ATAC
Kenda Kinetics tubeless tires
Thompson post
Selle italia max-flite

Is
2006 Fox Vanilla RLC w/yellow spring and 100mm
FSA headset
Azonic world force bars
lock-on grips
Avid Juicy 5 (185mm front)
Sram x-9 triggers, RD
LX FD
Thompson stem/seatpost
MavicXM321 on Sun JuJu hubs
RF Turbines w/bashguard
ZuZu pedals
Nevengal rear, weirwolf front

Much more trail-bike style build for a 200+ lb guy....a very happy 200+lb guy

 

[Axe]

I sent a mail to Yeti last week, and still havent heard back- what is the maximum recommended fork length for my 2003 Kokopelli? I would like to set it up as more of a trail-bike, and would love to run 120mm, but wanted to make sure it wouldnt screw up the handling......

120 would be too much IMO. It seems marginal with Marz 105 (with its tallish crown height) - and only because of ETA lockout that locks it in the down position while climbing (while still leaving some travel)..

100m Fox is spot on on my AS-R and they seem to have same geometry.

 

[dankilling]

Finally- a current build pic

 

[Entrenador]

Looks good, dan.

Chiming in a bit late, but I posed the same question on here about a year ago.

The 03 Kokopelli was a 71/73 frame, but 3 of the 4 packages offered included an 80mm fork -- only one had the 100mm fork. That said, I think it's a 71 HT angle with an 80mm fork, and probably around 69.5 degrees with a 100mm, depending on the sag.

A few folks responded that a fox 125mm fork would work great, but my guess is that they had theirs set up to sag a bunch. At the time, I was dealing with a bit too much washout/understeer, and was thus considering converting my "105 mm of Marzocchi pleasure" MXComp w/ETA to an 85 mm fork, in an attempt to tighten up the steering a little.

Ended up with going with a slightly longer stem and a Fox Vanilla 100RL (got it for free -- ask me how!) and swapped in the purple spring (I'm around 185 geared up). With the adjustable coil sag, this fork is perfect: smooth as butter, still handles the rough stuff pretty well (though the MX Comp, with its slightly taller profile and air-preload was worked better on the fast big bumps). All in all, the bike seems to fit better now. I do prefer the ETA feature over the lockout though. Actually, the only reason I keep the fox on there instead of the Marz is the geometry/ride of the bike with it (duh, right?). I had a hard time getting the Marz set up right -- always felt too stiff & too tall, or too saggy and soft. Hard to gain the middle ideal ground with the air preload. Easy as pie with the Fox.

Anyway, sounds like you went the right route.

PS -- is that the medium size Koko, or a large? And why did you ditch the clipless pedals for platforms?

Enjoy.

 

[NorKal]

I bought an '03 Koko frame a few weeks ago and built it up with an '03 Fox Van RLC. I'm kinda thinking it's too much fork for this bike and then I ran across this thread. Where can I get more information about a 100mm conversion for this fork?
Thanks

[Edit] Scratch that, I did a search and found the info I was looking for.

 

[dankilling]

105mm.....Its a medium- I ditched the clipless because my other bike is a DJ bike and I found I really like a good set of platforms over clipless when the going gets tricky, which is most trails I ride now-adays....I still use clips of I am going on something long and fast, but for 'trailbike'duties, I really like to hit a two-wheel drift and put a foot down when necessary. I also broke my ankle two years ago, and I sometimes have trouble getting out quickly on my right side because I only have about 90% range of motion now.....its the last 10% that gets you out quickly (dont ask how I figured that out)

As for the 100mm conversion, its just a spacer in the spring-side of the fork, any decent shop can do it in about 10 minutes- definitely worth it on this frame

 

[NorKal]

As for the 100mm conversion, its just a spacer in the spring-side of the fork, any decent shop can do it in about 10 minutes- definitely worth it on this frame

Yeah, it's amazing what you can find when you actually read the manual

I bought my fork used and it didn't have a manual but I downloaded one from Fox's website and presto, there's what I was looking for.

I'm going to try the 100mm option. I don't really mind the slack headangle but with the longish toptube I feel like I'm too far behind the bottom bracket even with my seat all the way forward. I think moving to a shorter fork will help some. I just wish the Fox had a quick travel adjustment like my Manatou Sherman

 

[Entrenador]

clipped in, for better or for worse.

105mm.....Its a medium- I ditched the clipless because my other bike is a DJ bike and I found I really like a good set of platforms over clipless when the going gets tricky, which is most trails I ride now-adays....I still use clips of I am going on something long and fast, but for 'trailbike'duties, I really like to hit a two-wheel drift and put a foot down when necessary. I also broke my ankle two years ago, and I sometimes have trouble getting out quickly on my right side because I only have about 90% range of motion now.....its the last 10% that gets you out quickly (dont ask how I figured that out)

As for the 100mm conversion, its just a spacer in the spring-side of the fork, any decent shop can do it in about 10 minutes- definitely worth it on this frame

I hear you on the release issues. I just switched to clipless on my koko about 8 months ago, and somehow managed to avoid crashing/turtling ... up until yesterday. Went to a place that's relatively rocky compared to the faster, smoothish stuff I'm used to. Went down 4x, which is about 4x more often than usual. Felt good to fall a few times, as I've been feeling like I'm getting away with something every ride. Karma's catching up to me, and it's strangely relieving.

The bashguard looks good -- haven't seen one on a koko before. I thought about ditching the big ring on mine, as I rarely get an opportunity to use it. Sounds lame, but I think I didn't want to hassle with the front derailer adjustments again, so it's still a triple.

How tall are you? I'm just under 6', and find this medium to be perfect.