I have a fox alps5 on my Y-11.  I updated to fox RP23 recently.  The noticeable changes that were apparent to me are as follows:  Much less pogoing of the bike (if you were to ask me if this was occuring before installing the RP23 I would have said no.  But after installation of the shock it was apparent that it was occuring--my climbing improved will additional stress on the knees.  Shock obviously absorbed bumps more effectively than the alps 5-this was most noticeable on small bumps that were grouped close together.  I primarily ride cross country hard pack .  My alps5 rear shock was air oil with preload adjustment only--no compression or rebound adjustment.

Neil Bolton <n.bolton@...> wrote:

Hi Frank,

Lets nip this in the bud before you go spending any more money on stuff that is not really suitable.

I have a 96’ vintage Y22, and I’m running the standard shock (a Fox Alps 4!). I find it fine, and I am 95kgs in weight. Obviously I have to adjust the pressure in the shock correctly, but after having ridden it quite hard for over 6 moths now, its fine. I’d like to upgrade to a newer Fox air/oil shock, but seeing as this one is great, I’m in no rush. Also a friend of mine whom I ride with, who must be maybe 100kgs or so, still rides his Y33 on the standard Stratos shock – albeit adjusted for his weight.

Let me reinforce this fact. Set up correctly, your shock is more than adequate at both suspending you, and coping with any terrain. I have done some significantly DH style trails on this bike, and she more than coped, keeping up with people on longer travel bikes. It is more to your level of riding that you feel you need more travel than anything else.

Add to this, you cannot fit anything longer in there – it simply won’t fit. Additionally, as previously mentioned, it would also significantly alter the geometry – something you DO NOT want to do.

Fork wise, give up looking at kooky stuff like AMP’s, and just bite the bullet and get something new, or at least something newish off Ebay. Any Rock Shox, Manitou or Fox will work perfectly, but a word of advice – make sure it’s NO MORE THAN 130mm – you’ll really upset the balance of the bike.

AMP’s were ok to ride, but suffered from diving under braking very badly. Also, they break easily, and bushes are a real problem – anything with linkages will suffer badly and these things did (I know I had a set). Also, DO NOT bother with the Girvin forks – you won’t be able to run them on the Y frame, and if you did get them to fit, they would stress the frame heavily in a way that the OCLV Y frame was never designed as they are triple clamp (in effect) – a big no no on OCLV frames.

SO to summarise, buy a new 3 to 4” front fork, and keep the shock throw the same at the back – Y’s were designed as 4” travel bikes, and anything different will bugger the handling up. Get a Fox air/oil shock (coils are a bit too heavy for a Y) – maybe an RP32 if you can afford it as these are supposed to rock…

To counter your comments regarding the steering, what were you riding before? An XC bike is wholly different to an XC bike – namely a DH bike has a BB height maybe an inch or two lower than an XC bike – this will make the Y feel higher, additionally, why would knobbly tyres slow the steering down? Perhaps try pumping them up a bit? 35/40 psi should do it…

Additionally, whilst Y bikes are still the sexiest looking bikes ever designed, and they DO ride well for a 15 year old design, there were many advancements in bike design giving more efficient riding when climbing and descending, and additionally, Trek had to be seen to be moving with the times. As great as the Y was, it simply became old fashioned, and only now, with a resurgence in fashion for lightweight nimble XC full sussers, do we find people keen to get back on them.

If you accept the Y frame for what it is, a 15 year old design, and ride around its faults, then you will find that you have an incredibly fun ride. No amount of money can change that, only the kit you hang off it J

Cheers

Neil

From: trekybikes@yahoogroups.com [mailto:trekybikes@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of fjyang69
Sent: 12 November 2006 06:26
To: trekybikes@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [trekybikes] Re: New member & Shock Questions

Hi Glen:

Thanks so much for your reply. You're right that both of my fork
and rear shock are stock as I do more research and confirm they do
have disk brake tabs on forks way back in 98'. The rear shock for
sure will need to be replace as its 2" travel and by the time I sit
on the seat it pretty much have 1.5" effective travel and that isn't
much room to absorb shocks. I'll definitely check out the Manitou
SPV Air 4 Way shock you mentioned, by the way what is the
difference between SPV 4 way or 3 way? Any preference between air
over coil over(spring) rear shocks?

As I research about front shock I found there are some vary
innovative fork designs back in mid 90's like AMP Research F2-F4
front forks then the Girvin/Noleen linkage front fork on K2 Proflex
bikes. There are Upside down forks I see that migrate from
motorcycle trends to bikes. Wondering how those shocks might perform
on the Trek Y frames? I got a sense that the Golden Age of Mountain
bikes are the 90's. All the new bikes I see out there all looks the
same, how many ways can you do a double diamond design? (its been
rehash to death) The only thing that differentiate among mountain
bike are the shock travel, "my bike has 9" how long is your
bike?" ;) I guess men will be men.

I just take a test ride on my Y today and the handling feels really
quick responsive, not quite what I expected from a mountain bike,
the only thing that I feel is slowing down the steering is the nobby
tires. Center of gravity is high for sure.

have a great weekend,
Frank

--- In trekybikes@yahoogroups.com, "glen8459" <g.toy@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Frank
>
> I also ride a '98 yellow Y-11 myself & still have the original UK
> Trek range brochure so hopefully can help you on some of your
> queries. The original forks were RS Judy XC with 80mm travel in
> black with yellow stickers. From memory I don't remember mine
having
> disc brake fittings, however looking at the pictures in the
brochure
> the '98 Y-22 did have them, so I wouldn't rule it out for
different
> markets around the globe. I've replaced mine with RS Duke Race
100mm
> which are OK & the extra travel definitely helps over some of the
> larger bumps.
>
> Your rear shock is definitely original & whilst they were OK back
> in '98, it could probably do with a decent replacement now as you
> suggest. I changed mine to a Manitou SPV Air 4 Way 165mm which I
> think is 5mm longer than the Vanilla. As long as you spend some
time
> setting it up correctly then the Stable Platform Valve helps
> eliminate most of the 'bob'. If you want to go down this route you
> require 16mm & 22mm bushes for it to fit correctly. Regarding your
> question about a rear shock with more travel, obviously you risk
> altering the whole geometry of the bike so I'm not sure about
this.
> Perhaps somebody else can help on that one.
>
> Happy Riding!
>
> Glen
> --- In trekybikes@yahoogroups.com, "fjyang69" <fjyang69@> wrote:
> >
> > Hi all
> >
> > Just got a yellow 1998 Y-11 off ebay the other day and finaly
have
> a
> > chance to play with it. I always have a soft spot for Y-bikes as
> it
> > was one of the bikes I lusted over in grad school but never can
> > afford it until now and ebay. I got it for $430 (a good price?)
> and
> > the shop I bought it from waive the shipping after it took them
a
> > month to figure out how to package this thing and ship it to
me.
> > When I received it it was cake in dirt and took me a while to
wipe
> > it down and clean it up. The previouse owner ride the thing
pretty
> > hard & good. I got a feeling it will be a labor of love for me
> and
> > my wallet :)
> >
> > The front shock is Rock Shox Judy XC long travel. Black with
> Yellow
> > stickers It seem stock (original shock that come with the bike)
to
> > me but I see that it has disk brake tabe already built in to the
> > fork legs. Do they have disk brake tabs on Rock Shox back in
> 98' ?
> > Is there a way to determine what year and spec. of my shock?
> >
> > Second question, If the inner upper tube is 3" long then its a
3"
> > travel so 4" is 4" travel? shock or there are different
variables?
> > Mine is 4"
> >
> > Third, The rear shock is Fox air Vanilla seem original to me
and
> it
> > only have 2" to travel. If I upgrade the rear shock to have 3"
or
> > more travel to match the front shock does that cause any issues?
> > beside the bike might sit a little higher.
> >
> > Hope you guy's can help me out thanks.
> >
> > Frank
> >
>