Reaction Pro fork & dropper post upgrade

[Tubby G]

So I’ve been riding my Reaction all weekend rather than the full suss just for a change and must say I really enjoyed it. I reckon with a decent air fork and dropper post this could be a real beast of a machine. It’s such a stiff frame, it makes me feel really planted and in full control

Just wondered if anyone has upgraded their forks and if so what fitted ok ? Looking at a RockShox Judy perhaps, or could splash out some more for a Recon, but if the Judy is fine then I’ll just use that. Don’t want to spend a fortune as I have a full suspension which I use the majority of the time, it’d just be nice to make the Reaction a bit more gnarly

Also, anyone put a decent dropper on and if so what brand / model ? Thanks

 

[Trip Hazard]

So I’ve been riding my Reaction all weekend rather than the full suss just for a change and must say I really enjoyed it. I reckon with a decent air fork and dropper post this could be a real beast of a machine. It’s such a stiff frame, it makes me feel really planted and in full control

Just wondered if anyone has upgraded their forks and if so what fitted ok ? Looking at a RockShox Judy perhaps, or could splash out some more for a Recon, but if the Judy is fine then I’ll just use that. Don’t want to spend a fortune as I have a full suspension which I use the majority of the time, it’d just be nice to make the Reaction a bit more gnarly

Also, anyone put a decent dropper on and if so what brand / model ? Thanks

Exactly what I am looking at to upgrade on mine. Been getting out on my acoustic bike that has Rockshox Reba forks and they put the Suntours on my Cube to shame. Any idea if the forks on the Cube have a tapered steerer tube before i take it apart to have a look? ?
Managed to find that it’s a tapered steerer. Think the trouble is finding stock of Rockshox at the minute ?

 

[Tubby G]

Exactly what I am looking at to upgrade on mine. Been getting out on my acoustic bike that has Rockshox Reba forks and they put the Suntours on my Cube to shame. Any idea if the forks on the Cube have a tapered steerer tube before i take it apart to have a look? ?
Managed to find that it’s a tapered steerer. Think the trouble is finding stock of Rockshox at the minute ?

I haven’t found any forks in stock yet and I’m after 34 or 36mm with 120-130mm travel. Probably going to cost £400+ too which is more than I expected

Dropper post stem height needs to be quite short too as the water bottle holder bolts housings are quite high on the inside of the frame

it’s my other half that’s using the Cube mainly and I have to say I’m really impressed by what it’s capable of for a hardtail emtb. She’s been learning to ride on it but is going everywhere my full suss 160mm travel takes me. Steep gnarly descents , rock gardens, small jumps. We bought a kicker ramp too to practice on locally sending it off the top of grass banks, so gaining quite some height . The cheap suntour forks are dealing with it well, just want to upgrade to turn the Cube into a little beast and give her a smoother journey !

 

[TheRealPoMo]

My Reaction Pro came with a Judy silver air fork and while basic, is perfectly adequate...as in, never noticed any issues. I fitted a dropper myself and just got the underseat lever option to avoid more cables, which works fine for me.
Glad the HT's are getting the respect they deserve....much more competent than some would have you believe.

 

[Tubby G]

My Reaction Pro came with a Judy silver air fork and while basic, is perfectly adequate...as in, never noticed any issues. I fitted a dropper myself and just got the underseat lever option to avoid more cables, which works fine for me.
Glad the HT's are getting the respect they deserve....much more competent than some would have you believe.

Thanks, I was looking at Judy’s originally but then started looking at Recon’s and that’s when the price escalated for 34mm. I’ll get searching for Judy’s again! Yes the Reaction is a great bike, I really like how stiff & solid the frame feels and it’s really agile & nimble too for a 25kg ride

 

[TheRealPoMo]

If you're upgrading anyway then get the best you can justify. I didn't realise I was using all 100mm until I put a cable tie on the fork leg and measured the travel after my usual green and blue trails. Would not have known otherwise.

 

[Tubby G]

Yes, as the bike was orginally 100mm travel I don't want to go too far with say a 150mm fork as it can alter the geometry and make the bike feel awkward to ride, hence why I''d be happy with 120mm. I'm sure 20mm won't make too much difference to the geo

Also, when looking at dirt jump bikes, they tend to favour 100 or 120mm travel, so if that size is good enough for these guys then I'm sure it'll be good enough for the Cube!

 

[Whitey]

I've been riding a Reaction Performance since the end of March (an unplanned purchase).
Loving it, but agree the shocks are a shocker.
I'm just getting all the parts together to implement a swop out.
A friend has offered me their Rock Shox Yari (immediately taken off a new bike last year, and untouched).
They're a boost, so the shopping list so far has been.....

Forks (free)
Boost axel
bottom headset bearings (just incase)
Boost thru axel wheel
tyres x2 as going tubeless.

Hope to fit this week all going well, I'll be reporting back how it's gone.

 

[Beekeeper]

I have a Cube reaction with Judy silver forks and wife has the Suntour coils. There is a world of difference between the two. One is a smooth plush ride while the other is like a bag of nails on a pogo stick

 

[Tubby G]

I have a Cube reaction with Judy silver forks and wife has the Suntour coils. There is a world of difference between the two. One is a smooth plush ride while the other is like a bag of nails on a pogo stick

Are your Judy Silver’s 30mm stanchions ? Such as these:

RockShox Judy Silver TK Crown Adjust 29" 15x110 Solo Air Fork | Tredz Bikes

RockShox Judy Silver TK Crown Adjust 29" 15x110 Solo Air Fork £323.00 or just £10.77 per month with 0% APR finance. All Suspension 80 - 130mm Travel are delivered free to the UK mainland*, 365 day returns & Price Match. Buy Now.

www.tredz.co.uk

 

[Beekeeper]

Are your Judy Silver’s 30mm stanchions ? Such as these:

RockShox Judy Silver TK Crown Adjust 29" 15x110 Solo Air Fork | Tredz Bikes

RockShox Judy Silver TK Crown Adjust 29" 15x110 Solo Air Fork £323.00 or just £10.77 per month with 0% APR finance. All Suspension 80 - 130mm Travel are delivered free to the UK mainland*, 365 day returns & Price Match. Buy Now.

www.tredz.co.uk

mine are definitely 30mm stanchions with 100mm travel. Here are the specs..

RockShox Judy Silver TK Air, Tapered, 15x110mm, 100mm, eMTB Approved, Lockout

They came with the bike as standard because I have the Reaction Race version of the bike

 

[Tubby G]

mine are definitely 30mm stanchions with 100mm travel. Here are the specs..

RockShox Judy Silver TK Air, Tapered, 15x110mm, 100mm, eMTB Approved, Lockout

They came with the bike as standard because I have the Reaction Race version of the bike

Cool, I’ve been looking for 34mm stanchions, only as the pogo stick Suntours are 34mm, but a smooth plush ride is exactly what I’m after so the 30mm Judy’s could be the ones!

I rode the Reaction today instead of the full suss, makes me laugh how much I rattle, my teeth were literally banging together! Spend most the time standing on the pedals. It’s a fast bike though, feels light & nimble too, hence why I want to upgrade

 

[Beekeeper]

Cool, I’ve been looking for 34mm stanchions, only as the pogo stick Suntours are 34mm, but a smooth plush ride is exactly what I’m after so the 30mm Judy’s could be the ones!

I rode the Reaction today instead of the full suss, makes me laugh how much I rattle, my teeth were literally banging together! Spend most the time standing on the pedals. It’s a fast bike though, feels light & nimble too, hence why I want to upgrade

the wife’s reaction also has 34mm Suntours. Eventually we will replace them with the 30mm Judy Silvers I think. The suntours don’t even have a lockout feature as for some unknown reason the 2019 bikes did not have them. I can’t remember the exact wording but the Suntours actually have a sticker on them saying do not jump with these forks!!! That says it all!

To be fair, on roads and fire tracks the Suntours are not bad.

 

[Tubby G]

the wife’s reaction also has 34mm Suntours. Eventually we will replace them with the 30mm Judy Silvers I think. The suntours don’t even have a lockout feature as for some unknown reason the 2019 bikes did not have them. I can’t remember the exact wording but the Suntours actually have a sticker on them saying do not jump with these forks!!! That says it all!

To be fair, on roads and fire tracks the Suntours are not bad.

I’ve been jumping on the Suntours and I’m a heavy guy, 110kg. They bottom out each and every time with a massive loud clang, but they’re still going strong. when my girlfriend uses them though they don’t bottom out, but she’s much lighter (68kg) and not jumping as high. It’ll be luxury for her riding on air shocks

Judy’s are currently out of stock though, just like everything else!

 

[Trip Hazard]

Due to the lack of fork availability, I opted to try a pair of Suntour XCR Air Forks. I had a voucher for ebay and managed to get a pair new for £91 (seller usually sells for £114). They are nearly 1kg lighter than the XCM and they feel a lot better (come with no decals) . They feel very similar to the RockShox Reba on my analogue bike, so they will do me for now. The money I have saved will go towards other upgrades (already switched to tubeless). Was surprised at the rust inside the old forks when I removed them.

 

[Tubby G]

Due to the lack of fork availability, I opted to try a pair of Suntour XCR Air Forks. I had a voucher for ebay and managed to get a pair new for £91 (seller usually sells for £114). They are nearly 1kg lighter than the XCM and they feel a lot better (come with no decals) . They feel very similar to the RockShox Reba on my analogue bike, so they will do me for now. The money I have saved will go towards other upgrades (already switched to tubeless). Was surprised at the rust inside the old forks when I removed them.

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Cool, I presume they are air rather than coil sprung ? I’ve been offered some Suntour Aion forks but don’t know much about them and need to check the spec to see if they’ll fit, which I haven’t got round to yet. Can’t find any Judy’s anywhere!

 

[Trip Hazard]

Cool, I presume they are air rather than coil sprung ? I’ve been offered some Suntour Aion forks but don’t know much about them and need to check the spec to see if they’ll fit, which I haven’t got round to yet. Can’t find any Judy’s anywhere!

Yes they are air. You can get them in coil but keep away from those as they will be no better than the XCM forks.
The Aion will be even better than the XCR.

 

[Whitey]

My removal of the XCM's and fitting of the Rock Shox Yari's went like a dream.
Luckily I had ordered the bottom headset bearings as they came with a split crown to fit to the shocks!
Everything was fitted in less that half an hour, now a smoother ride is being enjoyed and not looking back.

 

[Tubby G]

My removal of the XCM's and fitting of the Rock Shox Yari's went like a dream.
Luckily I had ordered the bottom headset bearings as they came with a split crown to fit to the shocks!
Everything was fitted in less that half an hour, now a smoother ride is being enjoyed and not looking back.

View attachment 61762

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What travel have you got on those Yari’s ? The bike looks great in that sand colour

 

[Whitey]

What travel have you got on those Yari’s ? The bike looks great in that sand colour

They're set to 120 at the mo, though 140 is easy with token removal (apparently).
With the aid of the Rockshox app set them up for the bike and my weight all seemed spot on wish on my 33 miler today.
just added x1 click of rebound (faster) and 'smooth as' now.

PS. Got to be honest, the colour of the bike was the decider for me. Some nice orange flashes on it too, though many on the other side.

 

[Tubby G]

They're set to 120 at the mo, though 140 is easy with token removal (apparently).
With the aid of the Rockshox app set them up for the bike and my weight all seemed spot on wish on my 33 miler today.
just added x1 click of rebound (faster) and 'smooth as' now.

PS. Got to be honest, the colour of the bike was the decider for me. Some nice orange flashes on it too, though many on the other side.

120mm is just what I’m after, although my quick google search is only finding 180mm travels in stock. Nice forks. More than I wanted to pay but no doubt worth the upgrade. Enjoy your ride!

 

[Whitey]

120mm is just what I’m after, although my quick google search is only finding 180mm travels in stock. Nice forks. More than I wanted to pay but no doubt worth the upgrade. Enjoy your ride!

Stock levels out there are shocking (no pun intended) at the moment.
I was so lucky to have the shocks given to me and have the steerer length long enough to only lose 1 cm of spacers.
Just keep looking and something will drop for you.

 

[Trip Hazard]

My removal of the XCM's and fitting of the Rock Shox Yari's went like a dream.
Luckily I had ordered the bottom headset bearings as they came with a split crown to fit to the shocks!
Everything was fitted in less that half an hour, now a smoother ride is being enjoyed and not looking back.

View attachment 61762

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Looks great. ?