looking to figure out why the front end of my ’13 Reign lifts when climbing steep trails,I’ve dropped the stem under the spacers,i drop the elbows when pedalling but the front still goes pretty light,would the position of my saddle i.e. being to far back on the rails be a major factor or should i swap out for a longer stem,its a 50mm thats on it right now,with low rise 780 bars,

I’m kinda stuck on to what is the root of the issue

Shorter travel forks would drop the front end

If you haven’t tried sticking your saddle forward slightly (or tilting it very slightly up at the nose), that would be my logical (and cheapest) next step.

Make sure you’re sitting right on the nose of the saddle for really steep low gear climbs, and lower your chest down towards the bars to bring your C0fG further forward. Also, make sure you have nice smooth circular pedaling, not horrible snatchy pedaling that tends to jerk the front end into the air

Whilst set up makes small differences it’s more about technique imo…..

Is it cos you’re so fat your butt has its own postcode?

…actually more likely to be a weight distribution thing.

Move forward on the saddle , lean forward with your thumbs on top of the bars .

More air in the shock, moving your saddle forwards, standing up and forwards and putting a smaller chainring on the bike will all help.

stand up

Thanks lads,going out tomorrow so will shift the saddle and try that,
I do tend to drop the elbows and move thumbs over grips and sit at tip of saddle but when it’s tight steep techy corners I forget,
Might swap out the 32 NW for a 30.
I’m running the X2 rear shock but still getting with it so still getting to grips with all the HS/LS stuff,I’ve turned a few clicks of LSC and LSR but might need to drop a band in too.

Check your bar position too. If everything else seems right maybe rolling it forward a degree or too might help. As elsewhere, the issue is where your weight is, it’s probably too far back. A very slack setup with a long fork doesn’t help this but it can be made to work. My Nuke TR275 with 150 pikes climbs beautifully. At least as well as my old Zesty 314.

It’s a giant reign originally 150mm but swapped the Revs to pikes then swapped the air shaft to 160mm from 150 but I wouldn’t have thought 10mm would be that much to cause this

Just my experience, so bear with me..! Main bike is a Pitch Pro running 170mm Lyriks, with a 32×36 lowest gear. Hard work on steep climbs, but stopping the front end lifting is easily manageable. Bought a 120mm HT on a whim, it was running 3X9 with a 22×34 granny gear, and whilst it was easier pedalling up steeps in such a low gear, could I get the front to stop lifting on steep climbs!? Could I hell.. Too much torque – went back to the 170mm FS and hey presto, I can get up stuff again.

Do you have a lockout/propedal thing on the shock? Not only will this reduce bob, it’ll also make the shock sit higher in the travel which may help.

Ultimately though, it’s a big travel bike. The compromise is that it’s gonna be a bit of a dog on the climbs.

No propedal but the Meastro system on the Reign is meant to be pretty excellent in not bobing that much,I would need to either buy the new climb switch for the X2 or run more low speed compression
Will have a mess about with the seat,bars etc and see how I go

You need to be perched right at the front of the saddle and leaning forward also try not be in the most spinny gear, attack the steep bits and ease off on the easy parts of the climb.

lightly dragging on the rear brake can help on steep switchbacks.

Also, make sure you have nice smooth circular pedaling, not horrible snatchy pedaling that tends to jerk the front end into the air

Very much this as well as the weight stuff.

I actually think I climb smoother with an oval ring.

It’s a giant reign originally 150mm but swapped the Revs to pikes then swapped the air shaft to 160mm from 150 but I wouldn’t have thought 10mm would be that much to cause this

Why did you think lifting the front of the bike wouldn’t make a difference? You need to alter a few weight and cog things to compensate.
When I swapped my original damping cart for an avalanche one it meant my forks didn’t sag as much so lifted the front slightly and it had to compensate on the steeper stuff.

You say that you drop your elbows, but you also need to drop your wrists down ie rotate your hands on the handlebars so that your wrists are pointing down. That way you’ll only be able to pull down on the handlebars , not up. Try this with the other stuff above about shiftng forward onto the nose of the saddle and dipping your chest (you probably have no choice to drop the chest in order to drop elbows and wrists)