The only rough rule of thumb I can see is slacker head angles with steeper seat posts suit longer travel forks far better than steeper angled established XC geometry frames. Having said that I plan to put a 150mm fork at 530mm (ish of course) that will slacken out the stock angles and modify the handling in an acceptable way. Morewood Kwela We then go on to provide a more detailed look at how suspension works. My riding skillz are also more important than 20mm of travel. And just to confuse things further, you can also get 'fat bike' hardtails which have mahoosive wheels and are best suited for adverse terrains like sand and snow. Im a policeman, so congratulations on coming second . As one can imagine, when taken to excess, these changes in geometry can lead to some pretty major alterations in performance. This bike looks very, very good. Singletracks may receive compensation for purchases made through any affiliate links in this article. So if you like the geo at 120mm, dont then stick 150s on it. Theres room to play there within reason. Buying a new mountain bike? These 120mm (or 100mm) forks also keep the bike responsive, efficient and nimble. Trail bikes are one of the most popular types of mountain bike. Crown: connects the 2 stanchions together. I am frustrated by these questions, but Im not bitter or angry about them- theyre valid in todays mountain bike industry. A narrow tube will flex more under the same force than a wider tube. Theyre also motorsport engineering grads so they know a hell of a lot more about these things than most of the monkeys on here. With the amount of leverage involved at 200mm of travel, and considering how slack the best downhill mountain bikes are, the dual-crown design is crucial. A longer fork will raise the bottom bracket and cause the front end to slacken a little. Brilliant! For cross-country trails, you ought to be looking for travel between 100mm - 120mm. Too much travel can also dull the feedback of your trail bike. Cheers! He also enjoys bike touring and has completed numerous travels on the west coast of Europe, most recently riding from Lisbon to Roscoff. and perfect for me , prince albert prototype with 44mm headtube and 150mm marzocchi FR forks. Some manufacturers will design frames with flex points in the rear triangle, allowing for vertical compliance in the frame. Dont own a hardtail at the mo but the Transition Trans Am with Domains up front was a riot check the pic below anything less wouldve made the head angle silly steep. So, youve had your mountain bike for a while now and realize your fork is no longer sufficient. Locked lowered for a lower centre of gravity on the steep uphill sections (front and rear suspension), that would be useful to me. BA1 1UA. Also, with longer forks, you need to fit dual ply tyres and strong/heavy wheels to really cope with the damage. Downcountry is a relatively new mountain bike discipline and isnt that well defined as a result. https://www.dirtlabs.com/fork-travel-change/. I would say +-10mm of travel is about the max you can get away with before you go too far in any direction. Nick has built many of his bikes from the frame up and has a keen eye for technical detail. [offer keyword=FOX 36 FLOAT FACTORY 27.5 2018]. RockShox has reacted too with its latest Pike range, blending 35mm stanchions with low fork weight. The geometry and quality of travel more important in my opinion. Too much is a bad thing, but 20mm or so should be OK. Be careful about trying to make a silk purse from a sours ear though - an entry level XC hard tail will never be a great down hill machine. Some brands run demo days at bike parks and trail centres where you can get advice and take a bike out for a spin on the trails. it makes no sense.. Any increase in fork travel will slacken the bike and shorten its reach. The best trail mountain bike market is probably the most competitive category in mountain biking and these bikes are often ridden right up to their design capabilities. Hardtail Max fun on the trail. Thats not to say that a hardtail cant work properly with 160mm travel forks, but its definitely more difficult when you have to achieve a balance between efficiency and performance on a hardtail. This refers to the amount of distance the suspension will move before it is fully compressed. For the most part, the slacker the head tube, the more stable a bike will feel going downhill. Current mountain bikes are fairly complex, so a simple travel number seems like an easy way to assess their intent or capability. We have a few more hardtail-related resources below should you want to become a self-taught expert on them! The change in steering tube angle is also small, to give it bad handling habits you would need to be trying to turn it into something like a Harley Davidson chopper. A mountain biker at heart, Nick helped create a community of trail builders in his local forest in North Wales. Depends on the geometry of the frame and how/what you ride as to the compromise that will best suit you, as everything in the biking world is a compromise, stating the obvious I suppose. This added frame construction makes the frame heavier, impacting efficiency when going uphill, but the pay-off is worth it when coming back down. Aluminium is cheaper, heavier and more robust than its carbon fibre counterpart. 2023 Recreational Equipment, Inc. All rights reserved. A longer wheelbase has the same effect. Stroke travel: This is how much a rear shock compresses. I want to explain why, not so much for my own gain, but for the good of any mountain bike consumers who actually read this. It used to be the case that for more cross-country riding, the larger 29 wheels were better suited. Pyga 160mm aluminium prototype, Cross-country forks need to balance weight, suspension travel and performance in order to excel on the climbs and descents, Trail forks are often pushed to their limits due to the progressive nature of modern trail riding, Enduro forks must be capable on the descents without hindering climbing efficiency too much, Downhill forks require huge amounts of suspension travel to deal with technical terrain, Ass Savers Win Wing review a simple, effective clip-on solution, Pro bike Cameron Masons 2023 British Nationals winning Specialized S-Works Crux, Tifosi Rail Sunglasses review huge coverage and three interchangeable lenses, POC releases two new Omne helmets, one for performance and one with cargo capabilities, Giant introduces new adventurous Revolt X gravel bike with a suspension fork. All material Farrelly Atkinson (F-At) Limited, Unit 7b Green Park Station BA1 1JB. Boasting 130mm of fork travel, the ARC is a modern trail slayer for those that prefer the raw feeling of a hardtail. Made out of the best tubing on the planet for making steel bicycles, Reynolds 853, the Tweedy (Brady Tweedy pro-model) is ready for lift-off. A move like that may also void the frame manufacturer's warranty since they didn't intend for riders to write gnarly 160mm checks that their frames can't cash. Thats proper basic stuff so Im calling you out on being a biologist too. And as you would expect, it needs a fork with more travel and stiffness than those 100-120mm options. on the topic of HT fork length is ill thought through bollocks, which is why you get the people that argue for opposite sides of the argument when they may be talking about real world differences that are tiny. 150mm 650b Revs on my 26 Transam. Its not the same bike. In mountain biking, there is misplaced confidence in longer-travel forks. BikePerfect is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. However I would not recommend going over 20mm over your default travel as this article suggests. A short-travel bike is more responsive to steering input, which can translate to twitchiness going downhill. However, rim brakes aren't suitable for fast trail riding, and performance can be impeded when wet. The shock allows the rear wheel to soak up impacts, helping to keep the tire in contact with the ground, increasing rider control and decreasing rider fatigue. DOES THAT TAKE 160MM FORKS? IS THAT 160MM TRAVEL? CAN I FIT 160MM FORKS? THESE ARE QUESTIONS THAT WE HEAR/READ AT BTR ALMOST DAILY, AND YOU KNOW WHAT? And the amount of metal thats been removed from the drive side chainstay to make room for the chainring? Thats what hardtails are all about imo. All it really comes down to is, if you want a bike with decent non-xc geometry and stiff forks theyre almost always designed for longer forks, so you end up with that by default. They can be seen in a variety of disciplines, though are mainly represented in the cross-country and trail disciplines. Advertising and commercial: [email protected], Mountain bike, bikepackingand gravel bikes. Downhill mountain biking is solely about descending, with huge dampers that react intuitively to terrain impacts and help maintain the front tire's contact with the ground when cornering and braking. Whereas, for all-mountain trail riding, you may want to look for travel of around 130mm - 150mm. Isnt that a great idea? Unlike the useless fully extended locked position they come with. The trade-off for this weight saving comes in the form of fork flex, which impacts the directness of steering inputs and the overall ability of the fork to perform in gnarlier terrain as friction levels build on the seals. This helps to keep the overall fork weight down. Adjustments may be available for both the compression and rebound. Play or knocking between the stanchions and the lower sliders. Now my own bike, a classic 2005 Cannondale Prophet, was designed around a 140mm lefty at about 520mm (ish) axle 2 crown. We'll send you a few emails every week. As a forks suspension travel lengthens, set-up becomes crucial. in my fork to get more travel out of it. Best MTB Gear | Cross-country hardtails typically have 100mm of travel, but more aggressive hardtails can have suspension travel of up to 150mm. Bike shops are another great place to see the bike in person and feel how it fits. Downhill riders are less bothered by weight or climbing efficiency. At 150mm of suspension travel, you are probably pushing the limits of what a 34mm stanchion can deal with, especially for aggressive trail riding. Here is what may be worth paying more for: Less weight: This is primarily achieved by moving from a coil to an air spring. Either way, the pressure to go long is real. There has been significant development with the Fox 34 in recent years. The Ranger uses 120mm travel forks (100mm for the 29er) primarily for stability. It pretty much requires 160mm minimum and 36. Head Tube Angle: 67. Many XC race hardtails are not set up with 120mm forks in mind and it may screw up the geometry and/or void your warranty. Preload: A coil-sprung fork often has a knob on top of one of the stanchions to allow for the unweighted tension on the spring to be increased or decreased. Head tubes have to be stronger to deal with the extra force coming from the long-travel fork, while the rear linkage has to be able to support the extra articulation. That said it went uphill more easily than my old 130mm equipped Cove Stiffees. For a full-suspension bike 160mm travel can be great; there can be no denying that many 160mm travel full-suspension bikes exist which are incredibly capable down hills as well as being plenty efficient up them. They were hard on bikes as well. Each has its pros and cons on how it affects a bikes ride quality. These bikes feature some of the longest suspension travel, ranging from 180 to 200mm, helping to protect riders from large, repeated impacts. I know who have been building bikes for longer, but do you reckon theres anything in BTRs reasoning? This helps riders race up the kinds of inclines that characterise XC races. Your warranty important in my fork to get more travel and stiffness than those options! Manufacturers will design frames with flex points in the frame can translate to twitchiness going downhill available both! Bikes for longer, but Im not bitter or angry about them- theyre valid todays. 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