6" fork on Norco fluid?

[max123]

I put a 6" fork on my 04 norco fluid and I was wondering if it is too much for a 5.5" travel bike. When I rode it with 5" in front and turned the bars slightly they had no tendency to move more or less. Now when I turn the bars slightly it seems to try and turn more. Any opinions or suggestions?

[maximofreridr]

could be your damping?

[q_ball2]

When you put on the 6 in fork, in place of your 5.5, your headtube angle is now changed, and because the frame is raised, the angle is lower, because of that your bike should handle sluggishly and that might make it feel like its 'turning' more.
Also what ever you did might have given the bike less rake. Its like caster on car. when your axel is further forward than where it is supposed to be, the tendency of the wheel is to stay straight. So when your turning, your wheel automatically wants to go straight. (think of shopping cart wheel). but if you do have less, the feel of bike should be more 'twitchy' and when you turn, it won't go back straight as easily.

I hope that helps... or even address the problem... :-P

its just your messing with the geometry, so the handling should feel different.

[max123]

is this bad?

[q_ball2]

Well it should be ok, I mean, you are putting something bigger than the frame designers antisipated. so it should feel different.

I was looking at thre 04 fluid specs, depending on what you have... the fork that is stock is 130mm zoki or if its the Fluid 2/3 then it uses a even smaller 120mm zoki. Thats is about 4.7 in to 5.1 in of travel depending on your fork. so going from 5 in to 6 in is alot

your bike should feel different, it should be fine. if you had it done at a LBs and the fork is new, then I wouldn't worry too much about it

if your fork is adjusted right, then its just a change in geomtry that you'll have to get use to. but...

if not, your rebound me be set to high is set too high, so your fork is 'tucking'. The fork isn't extending back quick enough and your bike will feel unstable
make sure your sag is 20-25% of the fork length, your rebound is quick enough to react to what ever your ride, but not too quick to 'kickup'
and make sure your spring rate and compression is high enough to prevent you from bottoming.

if those are set correctly, then nothing to much to worry about.

[Raacerx]

These days everyone is going slacker and slacker so I wouldn't worry about it unless you like a steeper head angle and a shorter wheelbase. Me personally, I always liked slack angles but for instance, 67 degrees on my DH was plenty. Now people are running 64 degrees! Slacker your geometry is, and longer the bike, the more stable it will be on fast stuff. For slow technical riding, the bike will feel more cumbersome and harder to handle. I dont mind it on slow technical stuff because as long as you keep your speed up, its relatively easy to manage and on the fast stuff the bike is on rails.

I would run 67.5 or 68 on an all mountain bike. Less if its downhill specific, regardless of how much travel it has.