You Wanted it Stiff?

A few weeks ago I noticed my new Rock Shox Reba SL wasn't getting full travel. At 1st I thought I was getting hydrolock but a quick check to see if there was excess oil in the lowers put that thought to rest. I took the fork to Golden Bike Shop for a look over and after scratching their heads a bit they decided to send it in to Rock Shox.

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Last week I got a call that my new fork was in. "There's a problem though", Adam told me. Its white, its a U turn model and its 20mm thru axle fork only. Thinking for a moment I realized I had the Industry Nine Enduro hubs that can be easily converted over to 20mm and I couldn't give a damn about the color as long as it wasn't pink. Telling Adam this, he told me to bring in the bike since he had the 20mm thru axle adapters in stock for the Enduro hubs. Sweet!

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Keep in mind I arrived at the shop at 6pm and the shop closes at 7pm. I have no special ties to Golden Bike Shop other then being a regular Joe customer. As soon as Adam saw me he pulled one of his wrenches aside and set him to work on installing my new fork. Not being one to dawdle I asked for a few tools and set to converting the wheel over to 20mm.

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Of course, all this was after I got a chance to ogle my fork. A 2010 Reba Team complete with a Black Box Damper complete w/ a handlebar lockout(Titanium spring tube thanks), U Turn 120-90mm Air Spring, power bulges and of course, a 20mm Maxle Lite Thru Axle. Bad Ass, I think so!

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Today I got to test the fork out on one the Front Range's more techy trails, Dakota Ridge and the Red Rocks. Just a short under an hour loop but full of jumps,ledges and small bumps. I can already feel a noticeably stiffer front end over my old 9mm quick release and having adjustable travel along with a handlebar lockout will be great for those multi-thousand vertical feet ascent days.

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4 comments:

  dicky

October 14, 2010 at 5:49 AM

Loving my Maxle Lite. Never, ever wanna sport a QR on a squish fork again.

  the original big ring

October 14, 2010 at 10:32 AM

why you such a pink hater?!?

hater.

if you wanted it stiffer (lol - you said 'stiffer') you should be on a rigid pansy boy . . .

such a hater

  The Evil MGE!

October 14, 2010 at 10:42 AM

I'll leave pink for my girls ride. I need manly red to rage on my machine.

Rigid, pfft. I'm old man. Arthitis and shite to go along with my gray chest hair.

This fork opens up new bike options..perhaps a duelie in my future, we'll see.

  Kevin aka. PBR

October 15, 2010 at 9:00 PM

OLD?? shit im what 10yrs older and still pushing the goat around (or at least once in a while! ;)