Anyone tried the Focus Jam2 Plus LTD?

[steve_sordy]

The originalJam2 Factory comes with a 150mm fork and rides well. Don’t think an extra 10mm will hurt it. I have a 160mm air shaft kicking around but have not tried it.

I am as sure as I can be that the 150 mm fork on that bike will only have 140 mm of travel. I was looking at a 2018 Jam2 Factory with a 150mm Fox fork. I asked why it was 150 when the Focus geometry was designed for 140. The stanchions measured 150 mm, the tech guy said it was 150 and the sales guy went away to consult a database and confirmed it was 150. If you looked up the Fork ID on the Fox website, it said it was a 150 fork. So it was 150 travel right?
Err no! I let all the air out and pressed the fork down to the bump stops, and measured the travel at 140. And the O ring was 10 mm from the top of the stanchion. It seems that Fox had altered the travel internally so that the fork suited the 140 travel designed geometry of the Jam2 2108 bike.

That mod would have cost money to do, and if it didn't matter, Focus could have had an extra 10mm of travel "for free". But they didn't, they opted to stick with 140mm of travel.

 

[Eckythump]

Maybe they have done that with the newer 29” Factory, the original 27+ Factory is a 150mm Yari. Had mine in bits to install a Luftkappe.

 

[NJR]

I have a 2018 jam2 ltd and I absolutely love it. I am 56 living in Lake Tahoe area and the elevations and amount of steep hill climbs make it a must have. I test rode the Levo, several Haibikes, and a Bulls bike before trying the focus. The things I love about the Focus bikes is the "Q" factor, the additional battery for longer days, and the Shimano motor is the best feeling one on the market IMHO. With the controls mounted on the handlebars it makes it super easy to switch from one assist mode to the next without ever breaking pedaling cadence. And the Bluetooth connectivity is pretty cool too.

 

[MartinW148]

I have a medium Jam2 Carbon, but at 5ft 7in and a bit (on tip toes into the wind), I think the reach on it is probably a bit too long (too much time spent on XC bikes, the small felt cramped in the cockpit).

Looking to change the bars to 25mm risers and maybe shorten the stem another 20mm to move my weight and the riding position back. Any other tips, maybe saddle position change?

Still loving the bike by the way........

 

[Eckythump]

Sounds like you have it covered. I did the same on mine.
You could put a longer airshaft in the fork taking it to 150 or 160mm which would raise the front a bit and also give you a bit more travel it would also shorten the effective top tube length marginally.

 

[DAZ1925]

I am as sure as I can be that the 150 mm fork on that bike will only have 140 mm of travel. I was looking at a 2018 Jam2 Factory with a 150mm Fox fork. I asked why it was 150 when the Focus geometry was designed for 140. The stanchions measured 150 mm, the tech guy said it was 150 and the sales guy went away to consult a database and confirmed it was 150. If you looked up the Fork ID on the Fox website, it said it was a 150 fork. So it was 150 travel right?
Err no! I let all the air out and pressed the fork down to the bump stops, and measured the travel at 140. And the O ring was 10 mm from the top of the stanchion. It seems that Fox had altered the travel internally so that the fork suited the 140 travel designed geometry of the Jam2 2108 bike.

That mod would have cost money to do, and if it didn't matter, Focus could have had an extra 10mm of travel "for free". But they didn't, they opted to stick with 140mm of travel.

I don't think this would affect the geometry as you say, one some models for the same year a Yari 150mm fork is used.

So here are my thoughts. Generally putting a longer travel fork on increases the axle to crown measurement which slackens the head angle, raises the BB a little so on and so forth. Now if the fork isn't using all of its travel as you say It will be identical to a standard 150mm fork in dimentions but only have 140mm travel. So having a 150mm fork that does use all of its travel would have no effect on the geometry until all of the travel is used, assuming that the axle to crown measurements are the same as the previously mentioned Fox fork.

 

[steve_sordy]

I don't think this would affect the geometry as you say, one some models for the same year a Yari 150mm fork is used.

So here are my thoughts. Generally putting a longer travel fork on increases the axle to crown measurement which slackens the head angle, raises the BB a little so on and so forth. Now if the fork isn't using all of its travel as you say It will be identical to a standard 150mm fork in dimentions but only have 140mm travel. So having a 150mm fork that does use all of its travel would have no effect on the geometry until all of the travel is used, assuming that the axle to crown measurements are the same as the previously mentioned Fox fork.

What you say makes sense, but I am still puzzled by why Focus opted to stick with 140mm of travel.
Quote: "That mod would have cost money to do, and if it didn't matter, Focus could have had an extra 10mm of travel "for free". But they didn't, they opted to stick with 140mm of travel."

 

[DAZ1925]

Is there a possibility that there was an issue with the Fox fork fitted to your bike? I have heard that some of them had more adjustment clicks than others of the same model. could it have been wrongly assembled with extra bump stops for example, just a guess as I don't know a lot about the internals.

 

[steve_sordy]

Is there a possibility that there was an issue with the Fox fork fitted to your bike? I have heard that some of them had more adjustment clicks than others of the same model. could it have been wrongly assembled with extra bump stops for example, just a guess as I don't know a lot about the internals.

I guess that is possible, but the bike staff didn't suggest that.

 

[Macone]

Depending on the travel the Revelation RC has different numbers of Tokens installed as standard: four in the 120mm fork, three at 130mm, two at 140mm and zero in the 150 and 160mm options. Once again, it’s just like the Pike. Over the past couple of months we’ve tested the Revelation RC on a bunch of different bikes, from 130mm travel hardtails up to 150mm travel full sussers and found that progression rate of the 130mm fork felt spot on, we needed to remove on of the Tokens from the 140mm version to tap into the final portion of the travel.
Read more at https://www.mbr.co.uk/reviews/forks/rockshox-revelation-fork-review#Wtq3yHHGiwf2J7UP.99


found the above whilst reading reviews on the Revelation Forks.
This probably answers questions about the 140/150 travel on the Focus Front end. If you want 150, just remove the token.

 

[DAZ1925]

Depending on the travel the Revelation RC has different numbers of Tokens installed as standard: four in the 120mm fork, three at 130mm, two at 140mm and zero in the 150 and 160mm options. Once again, it’s just like the Pike. Over the past couple of months we’ve tested the Revelation RC on a bunch of different bikes, from 130mm travel hardtails up to 150mm travel full sussers and found that progression rate of the 130mm fork felt spot on, we needed to remove on of the Tokens from the 140mm version to tap into the final portion of the travel.
Read more at RockShox Revelation RC review - MBR


found the above whilst reading reviews on the Revelation Forks.
This probably answers questions about the 140/150 travel on the Focus Front end. If you want 150, just remove the token.

Tokens don't actually change the overall travel of a fork as far as I know, they just make them more progressive (aka ramp up) the more you add, to alter the travel you need to change the airspring like in the link below.

Debonair Air Spring Upgrade Kits Pike, Yari, Lyrik

 

[Eckythump]

Is there a possibility that there was an issue with the Fox fork fitted to your bike? I have heard that some of them had more adjustment clicks than others of the same model. could it have been wrongly assembled with extra bump stops for example, just a guess as I don't know a lot about the internals.

I guess that is possible, but the bike staff didn't suggest that.

Did you do the zip tie down the fork seals to check there was no air trapped there? That can prevent a fork getting full travel.

 

[steve_sordy]

Did you do the zip tie down the fork seals to check there was no air trapped there? That can prevent a fork getting full travel.

Good suggestion and well worth discussing.

I am aware of the fork burping issue, as I had trapped air in my Pikes on the YT Capra. But I didn't do the zip tie thing on this occasion. I had already let the air out and when I pressed down on the bars, there was a thump with a hard feel, when I hit bottom. It wasn't an air cushion.

The problem on the Pike manifested itself at the start of the travel, in that the fork was sitting low in its travel even without me sat on the bike! I could deflate the shock using the valve at the top of the fork and I still could not fully compress the fork, but it wasn't a hard stop but slightly bouncy. The zip tie trick to burp the fork (both legs) did the trick. Weirdly, the fork needed another 5psi to get the same % sag as before (I would have expected less).

 

[steve_sordy]

Tokens don't actually change the overall travel of a fork as far as I know, they just make them more progressive (aka ramp up) the more you add, to alter the travel you need to change the airspring like in the link below.

Debonair Air Spring Upgrade Kits Pike, Yari, Lyrik

You are correct DAZ1925, but I don't believe that Macone was suggesting that tokens reduced travel. I read that he believed there was one too many in the fork and he wasn't either heavy enough or aggressive enough to overcome the induced ramp up. Therefore to access the last part of the travel, he removed the surplus token. I did the same thing on a 160mm Pike, I found no tokens meant the front was diving and risked throwing me off. So I kept adding tokens until I went too far at the fourth one. So I removed one token.

 

[BammBamm]

Ok people that have changed the stock RS recon forks!
Did you need to change the headset???
I'm planning on putting Fox 36's on this week with a tapered steerer

 

[Eckythump]

Headset will be fine.

 

[BammBamm]

Thanks legend!

 

[Eckythump]

Make sure you measure carefully before cutting the steerer tube

If you are buying second hand make sure the steerer isn’t too short on the forks you are getting as the head tube is quite long on the Jam2, especially the XL.

 

[steve_sordy]

Make sure you measure carefully before cutting the steerer tube

...........

I was on a MTB skills course and the instructor told us a story of when he and his mate were fitting a very expensive top of the range fork to his bike. He did the "measure twice cut once" thing. And then did it again. Then to make sure he got his mate to do the same. The fork steerer was carefully cut short to the mark and inserted into the head tube. It was flush with the top of the head tube!!! aaarrgghh!!

Remember, do not forget the stem and some spacers!!!!!!

 

[BammBamm]

Thanks for the tip guys, might be a job best left to a mate in LBS!

 

[highpeakrider]

Ok people that have changed the stock RS recon forks!
Did you need to change the headset???
I'm planning on putting Fox 36's on this week with a tapered steerer

I put a set of Yari on mine with no issues, just make sure the brake adapter will still be correct and the post are the same size.

I did measure but also put the old fork against the new and marked it using the existing fork to remove the error.

 

[BammBamm]

Has anyone changed the dropper or rear brake on their Focus? How did you go running the internal cable?

 

[Bri-72]

May not be much help but I bought a longer brand x from chain reaction. 170mm drop. Same post as the ysp that comes with the focus so just re-used existing lever and cable. Simple.

 

[Eckythump]

Has anyone changed the dropper or rear brake on their Focus? How did you go running the internal cable?

If you have to run a new outer sleeve you will probably have to swing the motor down as the cable run is pretty tight.
It’s easy enough, remove the plastic ‘sump guard’ (4 torx screws) loosen the rearmost two bolts a bit then remove the rest. The motor can then be swung down a bit to give access to run cables.
Take care you don’t trap anything when you swing the motor back up.
I used a bit of low hold loctite on the bolts when I put the motor bolts back in.

 

[steve_sordy]

I saw on another forum that someone threaded a screw into the end of the old cable and then threaded the new cable onto that, connecting them together. Then pulled out the old cable, drawing the new one behind it! Then trim the end to remove the screw marks and Robert is your father's brother!

I had imagined bodging a screw from something in my box of old screws, but I believe that you can buy special purpose screws with a left hand thread at one end and a right hand thread at the other.

 

[steve_sordy]

One for gear cables would be to withdraw the inner wire, thread the new inner wire through the old outer, then withdraw the old outer. Then thread the new outer onto that. Some risk of cross contamination, but simple to do (so I''m told - never done it myself!)

 

[BammBamm]

If you have to run a new outer sleeve you will probably have to swing the motor down as the cable run is pretty tight.
It’s easy enough, remove the plastic ‘sump guard’ (4 torx screws) loosen the rearmost two bolts a bit then remove the rest. The motor can then be swung down a bit to give access to run cables.
Take care you don’t trap anything when you swing the motor back up.
I used a bit of low hold loctite on the bolts when I put the motor bolts back in.

Do you have to remove cranks/chainring to get to one?

 

[Eckythump]

You don’t have to remove the cranks or chain ring, now you have mentioned it you do need to loosen the bolts on the chain guide to spin it a bit for access.
I could then get at the awkward bolt by jiggling things about.

 

[BammBamm]

Does anyone know if 150mm Fox Transfer will fit XL Jam? I'm 99% sure it will but just want to double check

 

[Gutch]

Yes sir it will. It’s on my bike. I’m 6’1” and have an xl.