Sam2 - 180mm Travel Upgrade?

[betti154]

Hi,

I've got a Sam2 with a 170mm Yari, and am going to upgrade to the Debonair Air Spring.

Question is, do I up the travel to 180mm whilst there? Has anyone done this?

I'll likely upgrade to the Charger 2.1 RC2 damper whilst there I think.

Thanks, Damien

 

[jonas]

The question is if you really need the 10mm more travel. Do you feel like you bottom out too often or your fork is too stiff while using full travel?
Even small changes in travel also changes the bikes geometry.

 

[betti154]

The question is if you really need the 10mm more travel. Do you feel like you bottom out too often or your fork is too stiff while using full travel?
Even small changes in travel also changes the bikes geometry.

Need...maybe not, but if I can have it why not? I've always thought having more than you need in the front end might help save me should I screw things up (a high likelihood). They're just about to open a new local trail with some nice jump lines, so I'm thinking more merrier.

The Kenevo and RangeVLT both pack 180mm, leaves me asking the question why. I've no issue slackening the head angle a touch either. At $50 for the new air spring kit, I've very little to lose so will give 180mm a go and see how it feels.

 

[R120]

The bike is designed around a 170mm fork, so it will lift the front end slightly and the biggest knock on you will feel (more than any travel increase unless you are hitting big stuff) is that the front end will be lighter/want to lift more on climbs, and you might need to weight the front end a bit more unless you lower your stack height, when riding.

I did it on my vitus and swapped back after 6 months as I wasn't using the extra travel and the front lifting on climbs was annoying.

At the same time its easy t swap back to 170mm so no harm in trying and seeing if you like it, it wasn't for me, but plenty of other people have done it and love it. I say give it a go

 

[Telemarker]

I didn’t notice a difference between the 170mm yari on my focus, vs 160mm Yari on Kona process. But did notice changes when i changed number tokens .
Then I fitted the charger damper upgrade you mention on the 170mm focus , then a noticeable difference, the fork was more composed, and it wasn’t long before I got same upgrade for the yari on the Kona ! Because I didn’t like how the motion control felt after the charger experience
Only upgraded the focus fork after the motion control failed and started leaking oil

I reckon better dampening more usefull than more travel

 

[betti154]

Just an update, I've installed the 180mm Debonair air spring (with newer C1 Seal Head) into the Yari. Quick and cheap enough to do. A few observations after two laps of the local loop (~24km, mixed riding with some technical ups, burly downhill sections and fire trail/roads).

1. The fork easily sits 20mm higher than it did before, 10mm in additional travel and ~10mm due to the new C1 seal head. As such I dropped my stem about 12mm in the stack. I'm a heavy guys, run 90-100psi usually on the front, but dropped it to 85psi - and blew threw most but not all of the travel (typical for the trail).
2. Downhill felt great (same or better), though I'm unsure whether to attribute this to the 10mm more travel, or the the new seal head. It's hard to judge as last few rides have been on my analogue Reign 29.
3. Uphill felt the same, and the loop includes some steep technical ascents. Front end felt planted and was not poppy.

Overall seems a positive mod, though I'm keen to get it out on some more serious downhill and jump lines. If anything, the rear end seems the big let down, I'm just awaiting on a super deluxe.

Regards, Damien