Well id just like to see your views on this tipic please.

I have Marzocchi drop off 4's on my steel hardtail, with 150mm (claimed) travel.

Going downhill is brilliant, but when it comes to the technical stuff, its really difficult to control the front end. Due to the bobbing of the forks. Maybe i should stiffen them up.

Anyone else suffer from this?

you need to shift your weight forward. sit on the handle bars that will help!

what hardtail is it?

You mean it bobs going downhill? Damping needs adjustment perhaps

no going downhill is fine! pleanty of travel ect. But once i hit the technical uphill stuff, where sometimes i need to trackstand, i find getting my balance really difficult due the the forks.

Its a DMR Sidekick frame. Not the best frame out but does the job for my needs.

right, so you are riding a frame designed for a max 110mm fork and a head angle to suit and you're wondering why it handles like poo with a 150mm on? 😯

if you want to go that boingy on the front isn't the exalt the DMR long travel frame with a suitable adjusted head angle for the forks and enough bracing to make sure the frame doesn't fail.

your prbabaly right on that one tazzy. Im only using it for xc anyways. Maybe this fork is well out of my league. Do you think the frame would fail even under XC stresses?

Might do

no idea, possibly not as the sidekick is a jumpy frame so should be sturdy. Why not get a cheapo second hand on-one 456 at least it'll take the fork and handle nicely?

i have an On-One 456. Ive got Reba's on that. I might just have a play around and swap the forks over, see which works best. Maybe its just me getting used to the fact i have alot of travel up front, the drop off's are my first "long travel" fork.

I'd do a fork swap and try that. the sidekick is meant to be a nippy agile jump or 4x frame not a gravity barge. the 456 is designed to take a big fork but i'd still run a lot of sag on the forks otherwise it's still going to be a barge in anything technical or tight singletrack IMO. Have fun playing 🙂

Going uphill – there will be hardly any weight on the front wheel if the fork is too long for the frame – thats why it bobs around.

how much sag do they have when you're stood & also sat on the bike?

well when im on the bike, about half an inch of sag.

Thanks alot for all the info guys

That is a ridiculously small amount of sag for a 150mm fork 😆 To be fair it's partly personal taste but you're reducing your bike's ability to track the ground there, forks don't just soak up blows. Some people like to ride on top of the travel but it does impair how the bike will perform.

Walleater always recommends a toestrap for climbing on a long forked bike.

Wrap it round crown & brace, tighten it so the fork drops right down and release it at the top.

well its a dual air fork. i weigh about 95kg. 11 stone. What kind of sag am i expecting??

35-40 mm as a starting point – 25% of travel. Even 30% which is 50 mm or two inches would not be outrageous. That will help drop the front and bring more weight over the wheel.

95kg is not 11 stone, it's more like 15

my poor maths. im not 15 stone :p

Ill try letting the pressure down in the fork legs, set the sag. see if this helps.

What you'll hopefully find is that with a bit more sag, you get more control when climbing- the front will still bob but the wheel will keep contact with the surface better.

You might want more rebound damping as well. But set the sag first and fiddle with that until its right. Another thing to look for is how much travel you use – put a tiewrap around the fork leg to measure it. you want to be using most if not all of the travel on the biggest bump you normally hit.