Jam2 Fork Travel & Upgrade...

[Gethy]

Hi all,

I have the Focus Jam2 6.7 Nine enroute and having managed to get £700 off the rrp I am going to upgrade the Recon fork.

I am looking at something like the Yari or Pike, i wanted to ask if I went up to a 160mm fork, from 150mm, how would that affect the handling of the Jam2?

Thanks

 

[Tooks]

10mm will of course change the geometry of the bike slightly, on paper, but in practice I’d be surprised if it’s noticeable.

I went from a140mm fork to a 150mm, but the axle to headset height was unchanged, and the 10mm difference is only apparent at max travel.

If you’re getting a new fork with the same offset, then I don’t think you’ll notice any difference geometry wise, but you should notice the damping quality.

 

[Gethy]

10mm will of course change the geometry of the bike slightly, on paper, but in practice I’d be surprised if it’s noticeable.

I went from a140mm fork to a 150mm, but the axle to headset height was unchanged, and the 10mm difference is only apparent at max travel.

If you’re getting a new fork with the same offset, then I don’t think you’ll notice any difference geometry wise, but you should notice the damping quality.

Thanks Tooks,

I have to admit that I'm still riding a 26" so all these boost and offset is new to me...

What does the offset on the forks actually do?

More research required me thinks ??

 

[Tooks]

Thanks Tooks,

I have to admit that I'm still riding a 26" so all these boost and offset is new to me...

What does the offset on the forks actually do?

More research required me thinks ??

There is a bit to get your head around if you’ve not been paying attention to the bike scene for a few years, like me! Offset is also called Rake in some circles.

If you draw an imaginary line through your head tube down to the ground, you get a line that denotes your head angle.

Offset is how far in front of that line the axle is. On my Focus the forks fitted were 29” and 51mm offset, so I purchased the new ones with the same to ensure I didn’t change the steering characteristics. I’m sure if I had, I would have got used to it quick enough though!

I changed the Recons as they were a bit ‘twangy’ for my weight and riding, 32mm is on the narrow side. I just went with some 35mm stanchion Rockshox Gold forks, which I’m very happy with, although don’t get me wrong Pike’s would have been great too! I’ve still got some old coil sprung Pikes on my 26” home brew e-bike, and they work great.

 

[Gethy]

There is a bit to get your head around if you’ve not been paying attention to the bike scene for a few years, like me! Offset is also called Rake in some circles.

If you draw an imaginary line through your head tube down to the ground, you get a line that denotes your head angle.

Offset is how far in front of that line the axle is. On my Focus the forks fitted were 29” and 51mm offset, so I purchased the new ones with the same to ensure I didn’t change the steering characteristics. I’m sure if I had, I would have got used to it quick enough though!

I changed the Recons as they were a bit ‘twangy’ for my weight and riding, 32mm is on the narrow side. I just went with some 35mm stanchion Rockshox Gold forks, which I’m very happy with, although don’t get me wrong Pike’s would have been great too! I’ve still got some old coil sprung Pikes on my 26” home brew e-bike, and they work great.

Brilliant reply mate, thank you.

Exactly what I've read about the recons and with the discount I got, I thought I'd upgrade those...

I've certainly missed a few years, 2009 to 2020 ?

 

[Gethy]

Rather than start a new thread I thought I'd put an extra question here...

Does anyone have the typical or actual measurements of the steerer tube length of the Focus Jam2? I have a large frame size coming and their website says the head tube length is 130mm.

I am thinking of buying a second hand fork...

 

[Macone]

Back to your first question: I just replaced my 140mm Recon's for 150mm Pike. Don't notice the geometry difference at all. Ride quality however is night and day difference. The Pike is a "Magic Carpet Ride" compared to the Recon. My 115kg frame probably didnt help with the 32mm stanchions on the Recon though.

 

[Gethy]

Back to your first question: I just replaced my 140mm Recon's for 150mm Pike. Don't notice the geometry difference at all. Ride quality however is night and day difference. The Pike is a "Magic Carpet Ride" compared to the Recon. My 115kg frame probably didnt help with the 32mm stanchions on the Recon though.

Thanks Macone,

I ended up going for the 150mm Yari I found on offer; I'm hoping to sell the Recon's to part fund the new fork.

 

[Gee tomac]

Morning all , sorry to crash the party , also thinking of changing the Recons on my jam . Any thoughts on the Rockshox 35 golds ? I see Chainreation cycles have them on sale for £299.99 and I believe an extra £20 off this with clearance code . Or am I better off spending more on a Yari or Pike ? I should be out riding this morning instead of looking at new parts.

 

[Gethy]

Morning all , sorry to crash the party , also thinking of changing the Recons on my jam . Any thoughts on the Rockshox 35 golds ? I see Chainreation cycles have them on sale for £299.99 and I believe an extra £20 off this with clearance code . Or am I better off spending more on a Yari or Pike ? I should be out riding this morning instead of looking at new parts.

Morning,

That looks a good price on those forks; a pair I was watching on eBay sold for more than that….

There are so many reviews and opinions out there I found it was a bit of a mine field; I ended up going for the Yari's due to being able to upgrade the internals, in years to come, to get them close to the Lyrics... should I ever want to..

 

[Gee tomac]

Morning,

That looks a good price on those forks; a pair I was watching on eBay sold for more than that….

There are so many reviews and opinions out there I found it was a bit of a mine field; I ended up going for the Yari's due to being able to upgrade the internals, in years to come, to get them close to the Lyrics... should I ever want to..

Cheers Gethy, that’s what stops me pulling the trigger on 35’s the upgrade potential on the Yari’s . I’ve tried some Fox 34’s on Focus Jam but didn’t like the feel compared to the Yari’s on a different brand bike. But let’s face it any are better than the stock Recons .

 

[Gethy]

Cheers Gethy, that’s what stops me pulling the trigger on 35’s the upgrade potential on the Yari’s . I’ve tried some Fox 34’s on Focus Jam but didn’t like the feel compared to the Yari’s on a different brand bike. But let’s face it any are better than the stock Recons .

I am coming from some 2010 Revelations so anything will be beaut to me ha ha...

That being said; it was interesting reading a number of posts regarding the 34's flexing etc... That surprised me and made me think 35mm stanchions were a minimum.

When I read that the Yari & Lyrik forks were designed with longer travel in mind (150mm plus) that made the decision for me a bit easier. The extra weight of the E-bikes, plus the upgrade potential made me go for the Yari.

I am sure there are many people who are more than happy with the Fox's etc but the 36's are at a premium.

 

[Tooks]

Morning all , sorry to crash the party , also thinking of changing the Recons on my jam . Any thoughts on the Rockshox 35 golds ? I see Chainreation cycles have them on sale for £299.99 and I believe an extra £20 off this with clearance code . Or am I better off spending more on a Yari or Pike ? I should be out riding this morning instead of looking at new parts.

Well, I’m happy with my pair of 35 Golds, although I’ve read the issues some are having with them.

Damping is as good as the Recons that were factory fit on mine, but a lot stiffer.

If you do get a set, be aware the disc mount is PM7, the recons are PM6 IIRC so you’ll probably need a disc adaptor.

Or you can do what I did and take the mount of the rear and stick it on the front, and go down to a 180mm disc on the rear.

 

[Gethy]

Well, I’m happy with my pair of 35 Golds, although I’ve read the issues some are having with them.

Damping is as good as the Recons that were factory fit on mine, but a lot stiffer.

If you do get a set, be aware the disc mount is PM7, the recons are PM6 IIRC so you’ll probably need a disc adaptor.

Or you can do what I did and take the mount of the rear and stick it on the front, and go down to a 180mm disc on the rear.

Hi Tooks,

You wouldn't happen to know if I would need the PM7 on the Yari's?

I am just trawling google and I am struggling to find which they use.

Thanks

 

[Tooks]

Hi Tooks,

You wouldn't happen to know if I would need the PM7 on the Yari's?

I am just trawling google and I am struggling to find which they use.

Thanks

I don’t know for sure, it depends on whether you’re talking 27.5 or 29, and 2020 forks?

The Rockshox website suggests most Yari’s are minimum 160mm rotor size, which would be PM6 but some mention 160/180, which suggests PM6 or 7 depending on the exact model fork you’re looking at?

 

[Gethy]

I don’t know for sure, it depends on whether you’re talking 27.5 or 29, and 2020 forks?

The Rockshox website suggests most Yari’s are minimum 160mm rotor size, which would be PM6 but some mention 160/180, which suggests PM6 or 7 depending on the exact model fork you’re looking at?

Thanks Tooks,

My fork is the RockShox Yari RC DebonAir Forks - Boost 2018 - 29er.

Your powers of research obvisouly eclipse mine somewhat..... ha ha...

Quick update..... My serial number throws up the min rotor size is 160mm so would this mean its a PM6?

 

[Tooks]

Thanks Tooks,

My fork is the RockShox Yari RC DebonAir Forks - Boost 2018 - 29er.

Your powers of research obvisouly eclipse mine somewhat..... ha ha...

Quick update..... My serial number throws up the min rotor size is 160mm so would this mean its a PM6?

PM6 equals 160mm, yes. The Jam factory fit Recon is a PM6 as well, so your existing PM6 to 203mm adaptor should work on that fork as well.

 

[Gethy]

PM6 equals 160mm, yes. The Jam factory fit Recon is a PM6 as well, so your existing PM6 to 203mm adaptor should work on that fork as well.

Cheers Tooks...