ediscount-mega air-VTO?

[TCP]

Did anyone get confirmation about whether or not this fork has the VTO adjustment and if it's worth $99 to buy for my commuter?  thanks.
tom

[Carbon_Angus]

I think these are leftover forks for the hardtails and Razorbacks, not the Monkeys and such that came with VTO (my guess).

BTW here is a copy of the email from Tom..I asked the same ?

"Hi,
They could be VTO if you had the parts.  These were factory set.  We do not have the VTO kit.
Thanks,
tom"

At 09:25 AM 2/1/2004 -0800, you wrote:

Are you selling the fork with the VTO (variable travel) option? Or does the fork advertised only have one setting (~3 inches)
I thought all 2001 versions had VTO?

---
back to today...

I thought the 2001 forks w grease ports had VTO, but I guesss not...and I haven't heard of a kit to convert a non VTO fork into a VTO fork. But of course I could be wrong.

soooooo I don't know for sure either but this is what
I have/know

[smiley=beer.gif]

the fork would make a great commuter...do you need more than 3 inches of travel

[airman]

I have one of the grey/white ones that I think are takeoffs from the 2001 Razorback 4(?). It has 100mm travel and I understand it is the VTO type, but it has had the spacer removed by the factory to give the full travel. The fork was set up for disk brake since it didn't have the V-brake stud, and came with a cable guide for the caliper. I think the fork with the red/blue graphics is a takeoff from the Zed/Razorback 3 and may be set for 75mm travel. If you get that one, the spacer is in the fork and you can remove it for 100mm travel at your option. So I think these are VTO forks, but you may or may not get the VTO spacer...



For more info, go to mtbr.com and search for DeeEight's forum postings since he is very knowledgeable and has purchased several sets from ediscountbike...



BTW, cool fork...



Cheers  [smiley=nod.gif]

[TCP]

for the info.  I have no problem removing the bits and converting it to 100mm.  I have an marz. EXR 100 on my commuter right now and have no problems with that.  i've bought a couple of frames from ediscount (evo, attack) as well as numerous parts so i know their service is quite good.  i may pick one up to play with.

[Scott]

Here's what DeeEight and others had to say:

Amazing fork but production was farmed out to RST for the magnesium lowers as I recall, and part of the internals while the steerer/crown/stanchions were US made and final assembly in the usa also (dynamount on the other hand makes their rear shocks). Catch was, RST which already was licensing the Englund designed total air cartridges for their XMO products so they basically ripped off the much simpler, lower-pressure/higher-volume MegaAir internals design (which was designed and patented by Bob Girvin, whose still employed by K2 as a designer/consultant) for their Aerosa model forks (and thus didn't have to buy englund cartidges anymore). So K2/Noleen decided to get out of the fork business and not deal with RST anymore. Plus there'd been a couple manufacturing defects (a bottom out bumper issue that occasionaly could lead to the stanchion on one side slipping upwards in the crown, and o-ring issues for the air seals, they were using too cheap an o-ring basically) and all this came after the smartshock fiasco with the glitchy circuit boards that were never properly waterproofed, plus the recall on other RST made forks (like the Hi-5 which was produced also as the Girvin Chubby LT).
So that's basically why the fork went out of production, which is really bad since its an amazing fork, but then that's a good thing for us megaair loyalists who now get to buy MULTIPLE forks (I've bought 5 now over the past year, 3 of those in the past month) for the price that one fork sold for original. My last three from the ediscount auctions were for 99.99USD each. Plus ediscount has nice combined shipping rates for auctions so ya tend to end up getting a lot from them if you wanna stock up on bits. Other than the o-ring issue, there wasn't anything wrong with the 2001 version (and o-rings are easy to find and replace).
The forks they're currently listing on ebay are rated 75mm but in reality, all 2001 forks were VTO models (identifiable by the presence of WTB Greaseguard ports on the sliders) and all it takes to increase the travel to 100mm is deflating them, remove the sliders, unscrew the lower stanchion caps (2-prong park BB cup tool works best, the red handle one), pull out the shafts on both sides and remove the top-out spacers (there's a top out coil spring with a plastic spacer on each leg, the manual only shows it on the right leg, but its actually on both), then reassemble the forks and gas up up again (the range for 120-160 pound riders is 45-60psi) and there's an adjustable rebound on the left leg (2.5mm allen wrench thru a hollow bolt (remember that when reassembling the fork).
The weight for one with 8.25" of steerer (including the SFN installed in the steerer) is 3 Ibs 1.4 oz. Stanchions on the 2001s are hard chromed and nickle plated 32mm diameter aluminium alloy, 1-piece magnesium lowers, clearance for 2.4 tires just fine (WTB MotoRaptor 2.4 has room to spare), and ohhh so plush (picture a bomber fork, air sprung/air-damped, that's not 5 pounds). Rebounds a bit zippy though.
 
You can increase rebound damping ........



by pumping up the damping leg to about 5 to 10 psi more than the spring side. Also use Slick Honey lube for very smooth action.

bill

On a pdf file for the conversion from 75mm to 100mm the exposed stanchion is measured. For 75mm its 84-86mm and 100mm its 109-111mm. Mine came delivered setup at@ 86mm. Just changed it to 100mm and the exposed stanchion is right at 111mm. Pulled the v brake bosses off and re-weighed it at 1398g or 3lbs 1.3ozs.

[airman]

I'm interested in picking up a set of the VTO spacers for my 100mm fork. If you're willing to part with a set, please drop me a line...

Cheers

[smiley=nod.gif]

[Scott]

DeeEights post that follows says nothing about needing a VTO spacer-am I missing something?
 "The forks they're currently listing on ebay are rated 75mm but in reality, all 2001 forks were VTO models (identifiable by the presence of WTB Greaseguard ports on the sliders) and all it takes to increase the travel to 100mm is deflating them, remove the sliders, unscrew the lower stanchion caps (2-prong park BB cup tool works best, the red handle one), pull out the shafts on both sides and remove the top-out spacers (there's a top out coil spring with a plastic spacer on each leg, the manual only shows it on the right leg, but its actually on both), then reassemble the forks and gas up up again (the range for 120-160 pound riders is 45-60psi) and there's an adjustable rebound on the left leg (2.5mm allen wrench thru a hollow bolt (remember that when reassembling the fork)."

[airman]

Scott:

Maybe I have this wrong, but if you look at the VTO instructions http://www.k2bikes.com/01site/tech_forum/pdfs/2001_VTO_upgrade.pdf the spacer is part #28. It simply loads the fork down about 25mm to give 75mm travel instead of 100mm. If you have the 100 fork, you don't have the spacer to make the conversion to 75...

Is that not correct?

Cheers  

[Carbon_Angus]

Yes airman, you are right. If you have a 100mm setting you need to put the spacers back in to get back to 75mm.

That's what bugged me about ediscountbike's response....it didn't make sense....to me

[smiley=beer.gif]

[airman]

Right you are, I've got it apart right now, and ...there it is ... gone!

I need a spacer...

[smiley=worry.gif]

Cheers  [smiley=blankstare.gif]

[Scott]

OOOOPS-my mistake!  I read AND assumed all in one sentence, thinking everyone wanted to go to 100mm.  OK, now when I take my fork down I'll have the spacer for you Airman.  I'll do it later this week as I'm in the process of building up my Extralite F1 and that'll be front and center until I finish.  It's funny but when I measure my stanchions on the Mega Air it works out to be right in the middle of the 80mm and 100mm setting, at least compared to the pics on MTBR?