Just whacked ’em on, not ridden it yet due to the biblical conditions outside.

Whaddya reckon – too long?

Dunno but I’m loving mine with 120mm 🙂

I had 160mm 36’s on mine, felt far too steep for me with 130mm forks on.

Depends on what amount of steep descents you ride, but should feel fine and not over slack for most ridding.

Tried ’em out Sunday!

With a 65mm stem 120s are definitely nippier on flatter XC and I’d not go longer, but they seem pretty OK at the moment… Can’t help thinking about 130mm would be ideal.

Anyone running adjustable forks? If so, what travel are you running at and for what sort of riding?

I have Pikes which go from 95mm – 140mm. For long descents I put them at 140, for long climbs or flat at 95. The bike feels fine with them at 140mm though. I have a 50mm stem and low rise bars.

Cheers – Pikes (or Revs) are probably the direction I’m going to go in.

Time to save a few pennies.

Not the same frame but I have (air) pikes on my 456SS and find that with the right stem length for 130-140mm (70mm stem) it feels too fast steering on the flat at 110mm (shortest setting). Only ever use 110 for steepish climbs, and fiddle between 125-140 for flat/fast singletrack to steep and technical DH. I measured the head angle and it varies from 68 with them at 110 to under 66 at 140. 130-140mm feels fine for 95% of the time, but it gets too wandery and light on steeper climbs.

There’s no way my 853PA had a 66 degree head angle with a Pike on it! If it did, then my Chromag must have a 63 degree HA……

indeed. summer season is very slack

Oh yeah, it’s early over here 😀

The PA/morning glory was originally designed around an A-C of 495mm with sagged length of 475mm.

I used to run 130mm Z1s with an A-C of 521mm and have moved to fox 125s with an A-C around 495mm. The difference is quit noticeable. It is definitely better/more playful on rolling and flat terrain being much quicker. I have noticed on bumpy steep stuff that its a bit more nervy. I do notice pedal strikes now mind. To put into perspective the A-Cs fox 32 150s have an A-C of 522mm so not far off those old z1s. I think there is a happy medium in there somewhere.

What forks are they? A-C is way more important than travel.

Docrobster – it’s similar enough. 😉

Balfa – They’re ’07 Manitou Nixon ITs, which an A-C of 520mm.

What you’re describing is exactly what’s happened moving from a 120mm Manitou Minute to the 145mm Nixon – it’s less ‘fun’ on the flatter stuff, but definitely more confidence inspiring when it gets a little steeper, which is as predicted. I think what’s surprising is how marked the difference is. Interesting that you’ve noticed getting more pedal strikes.

I’d also agree with your idea of a happy medium – it’s time to watch the classifieds for something a little more adjustable.

I have rev u-turns on mine and find when they are on the longest travel that the front end is a bit “flappy” on the climbs so I would say either 120 to 130 forks or U-turns imo.