# What to do with old 26" hardtail? 27.5 front maybe?



## SpeedoJosh (Mar 12, 2018)

OK, this will be long.

Recently getting back into riding. Have a couple older 26" hardtails. One being a 06 Jamis Dragon (steel frame). Hydro disc brakes, 1x9, nice ripper. Really no need to upgrade for my style of riding. It's been well used, and I'd like to continue. Front fork is a 2006 RockShox Sid 80mm travel (according to SRAM). It needs a new lockout knob, and seal. Parts, other than seals, seem impossible to come by. Direct replacements are all used and look equally beat at the price of $300+ online. So was thinking of upgrading to a newer fork and maybe stocking up on a few parts for the future.

Question being, will the newer forks (as long as the travel and top tube are same) work? Did they change brake mount locations, or anything else over the years that would prevent a newer era 26 fork fitting? Even if direct swap is possible, is it even worth it? Seems nobody is doing 26" stuff anymore. Parts aren't being made and LBS looked at me like an alien. So if I do replace it, I could end up back in same boat if an issue came about with the newer one.

Also, while thinking I remember seeing "mullet" bikes. 29 front and 27.5 rear. So that got the juices flowing. 27.5 seems to be staying for the foreseeable future. So would be a safe platform to invest in. What about 27.5 front and 26" rear? I've read about it being done, and seems like it should be simple enough since I won't be touching the rear. But the issue I'm worried about overcoming is going with a 27.5 front would lift the front. To combat that I've read people go with a less travel front. But it's already at 80mm. Think stock the bike came with 100mm travel, so would combating the 27.5 larger wheel with a 80mm travel shock even things out to about stock front height? If so, did anyone ever make a nicer 27.5 fork with 80mm travel and non-tapered? All I can find are suntour or lower level stuff. Really just kind of spitballing ideas.

Any advice or thoughts?


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## thegildedgopher (May 17, 2020)

IMHO skip the mullet. Don’t get too cute. Get a 100m 26” RS recon air fork for $250 and enjoy the bike.


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## xcandrew (Dec 30, 2007)

Manitou Markhor comes in 26" for $234 (Universal Cycles) and is said to perform well. It can be upgraded to the ABS+ damper to perform even better.


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## r-rocket (Jun 23, 2014)

What do your current brake mounts look like? I'm going to bet they are round tab style mounts, which have been replaced with post style mounts on modern bikes. What are the axles? 9mmX100mm quick release with the notch where the axle drops out? Those aren't found on nicer modern forks. 

New, high end, and non-tapered doesn't exist for 26 or 27.5 forks (or 29). Finding a used/good condition "nicer 27.5 fork with 80mm travel and non-tapered" XC style fork similar to your SID with the correct length steering tube, and the same brake mounts probably isn't going to happen. (Definitely know what length steering tube you need before buying a used fork). Even at 80mm travel, the 27.5 fork will be longer axle to crown and will affect your geometry.

Lots of front axles have gone from 100mm to 110mm wide also, so that has to be factored in when shopping.

Best case -- new front brakes, new front wheel and tire, lower level straight steer 27.5 fork with 100mm travel. The brakes and wheels will mis-match front to back. You may have pedal/tire overlap where your toes touch the front tire when turning. And the seat angle, head angle, and bottom bracket height will be thrown off. This may make the bike unstable (bottom bracket too high) and shorten the reach. Seat will have to be moved forward, might need a different seatpost if there isn't enough adjustment room. Stem and/or bars may have to be changed. Probably won't be able to match modern brakes to the rear if you have old style round tabs on the frame too, so the mismatched brakes will feel very different from each other. Rim and tire width and volume will probably mismatch front to back due to frame clearance limits and back rim width limits. Traction probably won't match at the limits. The significantly heavier front end will really change the feel of the bike.

Trying to modernize old bikes will always run into some limitation, like rear tire width, headtube size, wheel size, brake mounts, geometry, drivetrain, axle width and type, etc that makes it impossible to fully modernize a bike that is too old. The "investment" in upgrading eventually hits some dead-end you can't fully modernize.

I'd keep it as is and just fix the seals on the existing fork, and live without the lockout. Love it for what it is, and know what type of trails it is good for, and what trails it isn't. If you really, really must have the lockout for performance reasons, then you will REALLY like the performance benefits of a new modern 29" hardtail.


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## thegildedgopher (May 17, 2020)

I mean, you’re right to an extent. But if you know what you’re doing and have access to some used parts it can be done for less than you’d think. I put 1,000 miles of single track on this 20 year old 26er this year. The 1x10 drivetrain I got almost free, so it was really just the fork and wheelset. No issues with the old brakes or any of the other pitfalls you mention.


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## SpeedoJosh (Mar 12, 2018)

thegildedgopher said:


> I mean, you’re right to an extent. But if you know what you’re doing and have access to some used parts it can be done for less than you’d think. I put 1,000 miles of single track on this 20 year old 26er this year. The 1x10 drivetrain I got almost free, so it was really just the fork and wheelset. No issues with the old brakes or any of the other pitfalls you mention.


Yea, bike is already 1x. Figure front wheel and a fork is all I'd need. The geometry I'm not too worried about. Older MTB are setup way different. Raising the front should slack it out. Came factory with over 70. BB height from factory is also 11.75, so room for play there as well.


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## SpeedoJosh (Mar 12, 2018)

thegildedgopher said:


> IMHO skip the mullet. Don’t get too cute. Get a 100m 26” RS recon air fork for $250 and enjoy the bike.


Thought Recon's were coil?


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