Focus Jam2 fork upgrade

[ajtkiwi]

Hi all, Looking for some advice, want to upgrade the rockshock recon RL for on my 2020 6.7 plus (shimano e8000) what would you recommend (heavier rider 100kgs) also need spec's to look out for e.g. steering length offset axle spacing etc...

cheers

 

[RustyMTB]

There's not many right or wrong answers for fork upgrades other than to get the correct steerer tube & axle spacing. On your current fork, the steerer tube will be 1 1/18" tapered & the axle spacing is boost 110x15mm. After that, it's up to you what you want from a fork. Travel, offset, internal damping tech etc. I would strongly recommend putting the serial number of your currrent fork, stamped on the rear of the fork brace, into this website:

RockShox TrailHead

A suspension specialist, in your pocket.

trailhead.rockshox.com

This will tell you the exact specs of your fork & from there you can be sure you match the specs of the replacement so that you're certain it will fit before you buy. The main points you might want to cover in an upgrade are travel, tunability, internal damper & airspring. Rockshox forks can have either motion control or charger dampers & various levels of air springs. Fox are similar & you get different levels of suppleness & capability depending on what you're prepared to spend.

It can be a big subject to get your head around, worth doing a bit of reading if you're coming at it from a standing start to work out what's right for you - for example, it's probably a waste to buy a burly 180mm Rockshox Zeb if you ride gentle cross country trails & a Fox 32 won't cut it if you're a bike park jump shredder etc. One other thing is Rockshox forks can often be upgraded by swapping internal parts which is often a saving over buying new. On steerers, if you buy new, the steerer tube will need cutting down to size. If you buy used, it will have been done already & you should be very careful that a secondhand fork steerer isn't cut too short for your bike.

 

[steve_sordy]

@ajtkiwi I am assuming that you have the Rev with the 35mm stanchions. If you have the 32, stop reading now.

I had the Revelation RC Debonair 35mm fork, only marginally better than the one you have. But you don't have to change the whole fork to get a better performing fork. You can convert the fork to a Pike Ultimate by changing the damper from the Motion Control damper that is in there to the much more sophisticated Charger 2.2 damper. That alone will give you a major upgrade whichever version (RCT3 or RC) of the Charger you choose. To get maximum benefit add another £40 or so and add the latest Debonair airspring. That will effectively convert the fork to a Pike Ultimate.

Rockshox have a parts list that allows you to swiftly identify which parts you need to upgrade. They even list the upgrades that your fork can have, so they make it really easy!

Go to the Sram service hub: Service - SRAM

Then scroll down and open the Rockshox spare parts catalogue (it's 2022, so if your model is earlier scroll further down and open the Rockshox spare parts catalogue archive.
Look in the table of contents (page 3, I think) and identify your fork, go to that page and see what upgrade components you need and get the part number. You can buy the components all over the place, but the descriptions that they use are often inaccurate or vague, so only buy to the part number.

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[ajtkiwi]

Cheers guys, the current fork has 32mm stanchions. Will be looking for a good used fork. Need to figure out the steering length and specs I need to look out for

 

[RustyMTB]

Measure your current fork steerer from the top of the fork brace to your stem cap & you'll have a good idea of what you need, keeping in mind you can leave it over long & add spacers to allow you to move your bars up or down to suit. or cut it flush for s sleek look.

 

[irie]

Good advice here ^^^

 

[steve_sordy]

Measure your current fork steerer from the top of the fork brace to your stem cap & you'll have a good idea of what you need, keeping in mind you can leave it over long & add spacers to allow you to move your bars up or down to suit. or cut it flush for s sleek look.

And remember @ajtkiwi "Measure twice, cut once!"

I was on an mtb course and the instructor (Tony Doyle) told us of a top of the range fork that he was fitting to his bike. "Measure twice, cut once" he told himself, so he measured twice, but before he cut the fork steerer he got his mate to measure it as well. The measurements agreed, so he cut the fork steerer. When he fitted it, the steerer came exactly to the top of the top tube! aaaaaarrrrrggggghhjhhh!!!!!!!

 

[Tooks]

The Rockshox Domain is a great fork for the money at the moment, it’s on offer in lots of places for around the £360 mark.

38mm stanchions, Debonair spring, and whilst it has the Motion Control damper that can be upgraded when you’re ready (and if you feel you need to) to the Charger 2.1 damper. It’s a baby ZEB really, albeit 250g heavier than one of those.

I had one on my Jam2 6.7, and it’s now on my Turbo Levo (still got the Jam2 as well) and the Jam2 is running a Rockshox Silver 35 TK which is fine for trail riding.

Keep the travel and axle to crown size the same as your current fork, and you won’t go too far wrong. I put a 29er fork on my Focus, and run it as a mullet, makes it a much more playful bike in my experience.

 

[Bone_doc]

Hi everyone,
Not sure its too late to share.
I've upgraded my Jam2 6.8 fork to a 170mm fox 38 and Cane Creek Coil and it transformed the handling markedly. I kept the wheel the same diameter.
May have slacken the HTA 0.5 to 1 degrees when I measured.