Hi chaps,

Looking at bikes for the missus for next year, and wondering if you can fit an angleset in the hd3s headtube.

Anyone done this?

Cheers

Ricks

Yup – absolutely doable. The Life Cycle/Ibis EWS team have -1° Cane Creek anglesets on their HD3s.

why not get her a bike that fits her, rather than a trendy bike with the wrong headangle? Just a thought.

Adjusting the head angle is more about feel in steep stuff than fit.

Suspension performance on the HD3 is really good, as is sizing, but HA is perhaps a little conservative for some, so an Angleset sorts that.

y not get her a bike that fits her, rather than a trendy bike with the wrong headangle? Just a thought.

Because the geometry of the Hd3 is spot on for her, not really long reach and ett like on most current Enduro bikes… The ‘trendy’ bikes that you talk about.

If you have any other suggestions for a bike with a medium length top tube, a reach no longer than 430mm, a seat tube about 17″, and a head angle around 65/66 degrees, please let me know, I know you struggle beyond a Bronson and hd3.

The head angle is the only thing that is a bit steep, compared to her current bike. So slacken it by a degree will make it more comfortable for her on the steep descents she does in the Tweed Valley.

There’s not many bikes that have the right fit for a lady, Santa Cruz does, but arent on my list for her. The rest have gone longer, which doesnt work for 32″ legs and a short body. Enough seat post, and not being to run a 20mm stem would be good.

The head angle does not feel like 67deg at all. She should try it as standard first you’ll be surprised.

She will, she’ll be demo’ing one. They key for me was to find out if it can have an angleset fitted, otherwise it could be an expensive exercise.

Coming off a 65.5 degree 29er, all the reviews state it definitely feels steeper than the current crop of enduro bikes.

When Saracen relaunched with the Ariel 141, 142 and 143 back in 2011 (or ’12?) it had a 68 degree HA….slacker bikes were around like the Commencal Meta, Spesh Enduro, Spesh Pitch etc….but the low BB, short stem etc had mags like Dirt debating whether to list it in their Dirt-100, websites like Rideio/southern-DH declared it a ‘mini DH’ bike and ended up buying their long termer.
What I’m saying is a bike is a sum of its parts and more than just a HA, 67 degrees wouldn’t bother me….my Ragley is 67 degrees and feels slack as f@@k, certainly more slack than the 456 series of HTs that preceded it and were all supposed to be slacker.

I’d ride it at 67 degrees first before buggering around with anglesets.

It’s a fair question to ask given the Ibis is an expensive bike. It does ride very well in stock form though, but good to know you have an option of making it slacker.

In terms of other bikes, would an Orange Five not fit the Bill? Plenty slack and long enough, top tube and reach not too bad.

Cheers for the suggestion…

She’s got an Orange Alpine Five at the moment, while its a great bike, it’s a bit heavy, and isn’t a great climber, and requires a lot of strength to get it over in corners.

Great bike, but I think she’d be better on something a bit lighter and doesn’t require as much man handling to get the best out of it.

I’d ride it at 67 degrees first before buggering around with anglesets.

See above, she will try it before at 67 anyway. Just wanted to know if it was an option or not.

Ah!

I which case, I’d suggest adding the Nomad to your list. A medium would likely be spot on and it is up there with the HD3 in terms of climbing prowess. I found it climbed better than a Bronson, but I’m not convinced the shock was setup quite right…

Still, the Nomad was utterly superb.

Cheers for the suggestion 🙂

I’d have a look at the pivot Mach 6
Also DW suspension pedals brilliantly and available in xs, not trendy long either.

fitnessischeating – Member

not trendy long either.

Understatement. It’s ridiculously short