"David" wrote in message
...

"Alan McClure" wrote in message
om...
Also, how badly would the
geometry be "messed up" with an 80-100mm fork, and in what way? I
really don't know much about the geometry of my bike let alone bikes
in general, so I can only learn, but since the LBS said that a
80-100mm fork would bring the front of my bike up too high probably I
wanted to see what you guys/gals say.


Most people seem to like 71 degrees for their XC bike's head angle. You
can go as
slack as 68.5 degrees and have it work pretty well in most circumstances,
but you might
find giving up 1 degree to be annoying.

David.



Well theoretically, if an 80 mm travel fork like this:
http://makeashorterlink.com/?J2BC12E05
changed the geometry by a few degrees, couldn't I counter that change with a
with a stem that has less of an upward angle. Or am I missing something
else too? Anyway, I realized that my current travel is 63mm, not 68mm. So,
to go to 80mm would be adding approximately 3/4 of an inch rise to the front
end. Anyway, I should do as you suggest and have things measured, but I'm
wondering about the stem idea.

Alan