Hi Neil

Thanks for the advice on shocks. I finally did set up the bike and
the rear shock is better now even with just 1.5" of travel. The rear
shock has only 100psi of pressure when I got it and when I sit on it
it pretty much bottom out, I weight 190lb. I borrow a pump from a
friend and get the psi to 160psi and firm things up right away but
lost the plushness.

I just don't understand why Trek design a bike that have 4" travel
up front but only 1.5" out back? regardless of geometry. I would
think the front and rear should be within 1" of each other so you
get them to react to impacts in similar fashion, reaction. I would
get a soft ride up front (4" travel and a firm ride on back (1.5"
travel) with the current stock set up?

I did get a AMP F4 fork but I'm not goint to put it on my Trek Y,
it'll go on my Slingshot that I'm building up and be use for mostly
street riding. I know shock technology have come a long way but I
think they should be good for trail riding, not down hill jumping.

The bike that Girvin / Noleen forks that were on like Proflex to K2
frames didn't seem different to my eye compare to other telescopic
frame bikes. I did not see reinforce head tubes like what
Cannondale did to their lefty's fork. Is it because the Y's are
older carbon frame design back then and not up to task to take loads
other then telescopic fork?

The Trek Y-11 is my first full suspension bike as I see nothing on
the market that catch my eye and spark my interest so I look to the
past. I've alway ride street bikes and had a Cannondale 3.0 for 10
years and switch to a Softride Road Wing (beam suspension street
bike) recently and it got me back into biking.

I was told that if you want to save weight on older or mountain bike
the biggest difference is to invest in a good wheelset? Just
wondering what the consensus out there?

thanks
Frank

I'm leaving the suspension alone for now

--- In trekybikes@yahoogroups.com, "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 <mailto:trekybikes%
40yahoogroups.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
> <mailto:trekybikes%40yahoogroups.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
> > >
> >
>