[Closed] Changing the travel on 09 Reba Race

For a start you have to remove a spacer, not add one.
You need to strip the air cartridge to get at it, it's fairly simple though, if you're good with spanners

Cheers PP, That'll explain why I don't have a spacer to add 😉

I like to think i can handle a spanner, do you know of a good guide on the internets?

Email me (In profile) and I'll send you mine. It might be tomorrow evening before I get the chance to send it though.....

I'd be interested in hearing peoples experiences with this. Opinions vary greatly

Basically, with the all travel on the 09 forks:

1 spacer = 100mm travel

2 spacers = 80mm travel

Now, the RS site lists the all travel options as 80mm/100mm/120mm and there are a lot of OEM 120mm Rebas out there on 09 bikes.

Merlin claim the forks they sell can't be extended to 120mm.

TF Tuned say they can.

Fisher said they didn't sell any 120mm Rebas other than the Maxle lite version. They acknowledged the existence of OEM 120mm forks but they didn't have anything to do with them so couldn't comment but did say the 120mm travel was acheived by "foregoing the all travel mechanism completely"

To me it seems logical that no spacers = 120mm travel however there are rumours of certain 09 forks having shorter stanchions meaning you can't remove the spacers completely.

I'm crying out for a set of 120mm forks and there are so many good deals on 09 Rebas at the moment but I'm wary of buying a 100mm model and finding I'm stuck with it at that travel!

Merlin claim the forks they sell can't be extended to 120mm.

I hope this isn't true

PP YGM, Thanks

Well, if you fit a smaller bump stop on 115mm Rebas you can get 120mm out of them!
I've not seen the inside of any 120mm Rebas, so my only comment would be - "Have a look-see!"

I hope this isn't true

PP YGM, Thanks

If you call them and ask to speak to the mechanic he'll tell you they can't go to 120mm.

There are other places selling the Rebas at the same price as Merlin. I'd imagine the amount of OEM stuff Merlin sells may be why they're saying they can't go to 120mm whereas a definite factory spec fork should technically be ok!

As Bob said, 120mm is for the Maxle version only. Went down this road of confusion when I almost bought a Merlin Reba.

Glad I didn't now!

I've got the standard QR version, guess i'll be staying at 100mm.

[url= http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/marzocchi-and-rockshox-suspension-forks/rockshox-suspension-forks/rockshox-reba-race-2009.html ]Clicky[/url]

Thanks

Maybe not. To confuse matters further, some people claim to have bought the fork from Merlin and increased the travel to 120mm.

http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12634270&highlight=reba+120mm

Page 48 on the manual shows the All Travel mechanism and where the spacers go

And to back it all up the RS site clearly shows the 120mm as an option

http://www.sram.com/en/rockshox/trail/reba/#tab2

Ive got the Reba Race 09's bought from merlin in January as part of custom Malt One bike Pictured below. Came as 100mm, but I removed 20mm all travel spacer soon after. Forks now +120mm as Pictured below for evidance for any non belivers. Hope this helps rather than confuses further.

Where did the information about the forks being limited to 100mm come from? and has anybody actually got a pair of these limited travel forks? If not I'd discard the rumour as a misunderstanding or bad advice untill somebody comes up with a set.

[img] [/img]
[img] [/img]

Cheers Grimy and Bob, that's exactly to fork i've got.

Yes Merlin forks can be converted, yes it's pretty easy and yes they works MILES better as a 120mm fork!

Cheers.

Going over old ground a bit, but just to clarify:

Is there any reason 120 maxles can't be reduced to 100mm?

The service manual says it's a case of adding spacers to reduce fork travel. I can't see a problem but the fella at Fisher was VERY helpful.

I have a pair of 06 Reba SLs which I have just, today extended to 100mm.They were OEM from a Giant XTC and originally set at 85mm.

I too was told that OEM forks were often,fixed travel,but on disassembly I was glad to see,2 x 15mm spacers in there.

I have reassembled to air spring,and am now just waiting now for a new shaft bolt so I can reassemble the lowers.

This was the first time I had disassembled the forks,but a few good reads of the RS Reba service manual and watching the tech videos,have made it fairly easy to follow so far.

Was a bit of a fiddle to remove the snap ring on the air spring but managed OK.

😀

Grimy, how do you find the change of travel on the Malt? I've an '09 Malt 2 which I've often wondered about changing from 100 to 120.

Bump! I have just changed the travel on my Reba to 120mm. Same as Grimy, I've got 125mm of stanchion showing. So it definitely can be done!

But they only seem to rebound to 114mm.

So what pressures are recommended, higher or lower? I used to run 130psi in each chamber and they are currently sat at 120. What about oil, will it need more/less in the rebound damper?

The pressures should be the same regardless of travel setting. same goes for oil volume.