Ideal travel for a -98 GT LTS 1000 DS?

Hi everyone!

I got myself a -98 GT LTS 1000 DS, great bike btw, which currently got a Marzocchi Bomber fork with 80 mm of travel (same amount of travel as the original fork I believe). At times I do experience that the front end "disappears" beneath me in an unnerving way, when there is an sudden descent or the like, more so than my Cdale F500 (which is a hardatil and all, don't know if that matters).

I've read about people findning the bike a bit unbalanced with the original 80mm Judy XL whom also found the bike more balanced as they fitted a fork with more travel.

So my question is, are there someone whom fitted a fork with more travel than 80 mm on a GT LTS frame and what are your experience? What would be the ideal amount of travel?

Cheers!

/Markus

100-130mm would be about the maximum. The Judy XL they ran was 100mm AFAIK.

You can adjust the trunnion in the back to make the head angle less nervous, it will drop the bb somewhat though.

Unfortunately the LTS design has a habit of 'jacking' under braking wherein the brake force tries to extend the rear suspension and this is part of the design. It can only really be minimised, not cured.

Ah, maybe the judy XL was 100mm, thanks for clearing that out!

I have adjusted the rear travel back and forth, can't remeber which setting I got at the moment though.

I'm thinking a 120-130mm fork would be interesting to try. 100mm seems like too little of a difference to be noticeble, but I have no real experience so I wouldn't know. Anyone got a clue?

/Markus

Just as a general observation, I am interpreting a "disappearing" front end to mean that you feel nose heavy when riding. If so, it may be worth just double checking the rebound setting on the fork to ensure you are set up correctly. I think it's correct that turning the rebound knob to hard counterclockwise gives the maximum rebound setting.

But also, old contaminated oil, or incorrect/heavy weight oil in the internal oil bath will slow down the rate of rebound on bombers. If the fork isn't rebounding quickly enough, it could contribute to a feeling of being nose heavy.

Just a thought!

@fjpshaw - I'd say the fork works as it should, its lovely when going over loads of roots or through rock gardens. The "disappearing" is more a sensation of the front end being a bit too low in some situations, as in the fork being too short or the like.

/Markus

No worries. I'm guessing 80mm bombers = you have Z2s? Z1s will give you an extra 20mm up to the original specced Judy XLs which would correct your geometry (if you prefer the look of single crown bombers). Failing that, I see a set of Judy XLs for sale on the forum this morning...perfect timing!

Good luck.

the bottom-of-range 98 DS bike had an RST hi-five which was nominally at least, a 5 inch travel fork.

Hi five was about as long as a Judy XL because the crown was somewhat lower profile; both would be shorter axle to crown than an equivalent travel length single crown fork of the era.

4" Bomber would be perfect. You may be able to extend the Z2s with the right bits or just buy a Z1, slide one out of the crown and slide the other in!

Re:

My STS have 130mm Z1's and it works like charm. I've adjusted a good amount of sag there so it compensates the longer fork a little. With this setup I can just ride ahead thru obsticles and the suspension does it's job just like it should. As said earlier, the rear ride height should be adjusted near minimum so it makes the bike less nervous. Try to adjust the rear shock eye-to-eye to 108mm, sag to 30% and enough rebound that the rear doesn't kick your arse. So, I vote for a bit longer fork for you. Cheers! Here's my ride: viewtopic.php?f=21&t=291780

Re:

Thanks everyone for all replies!

My current fork is a Marzocchi Bomber Z.2 with 80mm of travel. Is there a (somewhat cheap) way of increasing it's travel to 120-130mm?

@fjpshaw & anybody - Will I benefit from getting a Judy XL other than having a bike closer to original spec?

@xam1 - That's a nice looking bike! Now I want a 130mm fork even more

/Markus