I recently built a Yeti 575 for all mountain use and use it for all kinds of mountain biking. Part of the build need was a shock I could adjust for trails to DH so with the budget in mind a fitted the frame with a set of 2012 Rock Shox Lyric U-Turns on a super deal from CRC. Recently I did a run down the Twrch Trail at Cwmcarn and as you can see the guide ring came no where near bottoming out and they were set to 115mm. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj1f8rfFNA8&context=C4d396e9ADvjVQa1PpcFNDZ4d4-QsePbpT-vIC28JmEb42X-HfI9E=Now I’m not the fastest rider in the world but I reckon I can at a fair pace.
I’m not saying no one needs more than 100mm just that if you only ride xc trails and don’t hit the jumps why go for more?

Just a thought ❓

Most people tend to base their bike purchases on the fact they may go to the alps for one week in the year.

I ride an orange five for pretty much everything, and I can use all 140mm front and back quite easily, so more than that would be nice for DH but I can’t afford another. Just cos you can ride something with 100mm doesn’t mean you can’t do it faster or have more fun on more travel.

Oh and it sounds like you need to either go for it more or set up your suspension properly.

Edit: just watched that video, and didn’t see anything that warrented more than 100mm, a proper DH track will deff use up your travel though!

I thought I needed all the travel on my fs (180mm each end) for the stuff I’m now riding at Woburn but I went on my 125mm forked hardtail yesterday and did all the same stuff, landings actually felt smoother/more controlled and I still didn’t bottom out my forks afaik.

“hitting jumps” is another one. The ideal bike for hitting jumps with has either rigid forks or short travel suspension forks. Alot of riders who cant jump properly seem to make the mistake in thinking they need 160mm of travel to hit jumps.

ads678 As I said, I ride all sorts including DH hence an adjustable fork I know for sure that more than 100mm would be needed it’s more a point for the guys davidtaylforth is talking about. I agree with you Dave about the jumping, one of the reasons I bought the subject up was because I thought I needed a DH bike for riding DH trails when unless your racing or are have been riding that style all your life a descent all mountain bike will do the job of the few DH trails I’ve ridden and available to me. I figured I’d try the Twrch Trail set at 115mm for a similar reason as I have read and heard plenty of people say that the descent id pretty rocky compared to a lot of trail centers, also I rarely get passed on the descents (plenty on the asscents though :oops:) but pass plenty of people.

Need… TBH for most riding you don’t need suspension at all, I had a blast on some of the innerleithen dh and enduro trails last year on my carbon-forked carrera (OK, it did have massive dualplies on 😉 )

But a lot of the time, a bit more fork is nice to have even if you don’t need it, and the downside isn’t massive either, so why not?

I don’t need more but as a bigger chap the extra 30mm means a slightly tougher frame that will accept my occasional ham fistedness with more grace. My now ageing 130 FS bike is being used mainly for confidence building on larger obstacles that after a few years of not riding so much I feel more tense on than I should. I am zure all could be ridden.on a xc race hardtail. If I only had 100mm I’d be just as happy.

Some people like more length,but a bigger circumference can often add to the fun.That extra stiffness can feel better on hard rides.
Fox 36 🙂

“hitting jumps” is another one.

Yep, I’d forgotten how much better hardtails are for jumping, FS are a bit of an effort and love to rob you of speed/momentum, whereas a Trailstar just glides through them 🙂

Some people like more length,but a bigger circumference can often add to the fun

Fnarr fnarr…

You don’t need it, just like you don’t need any suspension, or disk brakes, or tubeless, or dropper seat posts. Not sure what need has to do with a recreational activity though.

Rigid forks are great if you always land perfectly on the transition. This post is starting to echo old ones where we have some “perfect” riders here lecturing us how they ride real gnarly stuff on rigid bikes and everyone else are wimps. Im sure the rigid jumpers will tell us they never wear pads too.
For mere mortals some suspension, either front, rear, or both is actually quite useful and comfy. Your bones will appreciate it! Bike choice is normally want not need! Live and let live, if someone likes to have longer forks than you don’t worry…it’s what you do with the travel…not the length 🙂

Spotted you were quite rear brake heavy in the vid, is this habit or some technique I’m unaware? I’m quite the opposite with the rear as an additional control when needed.

I digress.

I think if you only ride XC and don’t jump a rigid is better, they don’t weigh much and transfer everything. I personally have a rigid 69er for this very reason! My other bike gets used on more demanding stuff and as such I use a fair bit of it’s travel.

“Need” is relative. for a true all rounder I’d say a 100 – 130mm forked HT with gears, discs and maybe a dropper post is the set of compromises I personally would be most happy with, but thats me and if a 5,6 or even 7″ FS suits your general riding needs who’s to say that is right or wrong…

Just enjoy riding it and let someone else fret over the numbers.

a Trailstar just glides through them

You ride a Trailstar, therefore you know what you’re on about!

Herman, it’s probably bad technique and being over cautious, I haven’t long had my collar bone braced and have had a bone craft to bridge the gap. The video looks worse than it is, i’m literally feathering the rear controlling the speed a little.

As above, “need” can mean different things.

I currently ride 2 mountain bikes. One is a simple hardtail with 80mm MXC air forks (run at low pressure, but with a lot of oil added to prevent too much bottoming-out)and 2.35″ tyres. The hardtail is obviously not very forgiving and the forks occasionally bottom-out, but with a bit of thought it can be hustled downhill and along our technical, Pennine trails quite effectively.

Jumping back onto the full susser is good fun and more forgiving, but it sometimes feels almost like cheating in comparison.

I rented a Demo 8 II at a German DH centre last year. That was fantastic downhill and very forgiving, but I wouldn’t want to ride it 30 miles around the mountains.

A lot of people think that they need much more bike than they actually do.
I’ve met people who can ride rigid 29ers very quickly on technical terrain.

As somebody once said,
“It’s not about the bike”

I’m crap, and will never be rad to the power sic, or a riding god.

The longish travel forks on both my bikes (140mm and 120-150mm) make the downs more fun.

When I had 100mm forks, I didn’t find the downs as fun as I do now.

So for me that answers why I “need” longer forks. They’re funnerer.

I ride rigid, claiming its ‘purer’ and helps ‘hone my skills’. I guess it will over time, but anything with a downward gradient and a bit of speed has me rattling along like a shopping trolley. Get to the bottom, chuck the bike down and leap in the air shouting “Yes! I’m still alive!”. Love my bike, but can’t help thinking 100mm of travel wouldn’t be a bit less wearing…

That said, I think I filled my tyres up with gravel instead of air.

When I ride my XC bike on the same trails as my dh bike it feels almost as quick. However, I am a sh*t judge of speed and timing it would seem because whenever I bump into my riding buddies on big bikes I end up getting completely and utterly smoked on the short travel bike. Not so the dh bike.

If you ride relatively non technical trails, or ride with people who are slow and clumsy, 100mm is more than ample. If you ride steep technical/rough trails and want to keep up with the fast boys then no, it’s not.

If you ride relatively non technical trails, or ride with people who are slow and clumsy, 100mm is more than ample. If you ride steep technical/rough trails and want to keep up with the fast boys then no, it’s not.

muddyfunster, that’s the point I was hoping to see people discuss, I’m not talking about DH runs or steep terrain just

I’m not saying no one needs more than 100mm just that if you only ride xc trails and don’t hit the jumps why go for more?

muddyfunster – Member

If you ride relatively non technical trails, or ride with people who are slow and clumsy, 100mm is more than ample. If you ride steep technical/rough trails and want to keep up with the fast boys then no, it’s not.

You could stick the fast boys on a 100mm hardtail and they’ll still be faster than 99% of this forum’s members on the bike of their choice tbh.

You could stick the fast boys on a 100mm hardtail and they’ll still be faster than 99% of this forum’s members on the bike of their choice tbh.

That’s actually why I ride rigid! Feeling that speed and/or fun is a factor of personal skill more than equipment, I like to think that by putting the onus on myself, I’ll learn more in the long run. To put it another way, I’d rather be slow from a lack of skill, than average with an equipment boost!

100mm is all I need for what I ride but I do the majority of my riding on a rigid bike. For rides less than an hour I prefer the rigid in many ways because it constantly reminds me that I am actually riding off road even on bridleways. I’ve got a 5 mile section of my commute which is off road and I love the way the bike bounces all over the place and rattles my fillings loose but at 46 more than an hour and the smile starts to turn to a grimace.

I don’t need more but I want more.

Ran the matador at innerleithen a couple weeks back on my core hardtail with 120mm up front n was still only a couple of bike lengths behind the guy i was following on an orange 5 (we didn’t hit the big 8ft drop tho).
Skills that kills.

I’ve got 36mm stantioned 160mm forks on my new hardtail as I was frightening the crap out of myself with the skinny flexy 32mm x 130mm forks on my last one (The forks eventually broke inside). I’ve used all of that 160mm travel according to the O-ring of truth 😈

As pointed out above it’s got little to do with jumps, and far more to do with how fast your willing to hit rock gardens and the really rough stuff, and if you want to control where the bike is going. I disliked having my forks dictate how fast I could go or where I was going when the going got gnar, with the big forks on I’m back in control of my destiny

I’m male. They’re bigger which means they’re better. Obviously. That and I’m a clumsy rider so wanted the safeguard that 170mm offered me and judging by the o-ring of destiny, I made the right choice.