I was thinking of changing the Reba’s that came on my 2015 Camber Evo 29er for a set of 120mm Pikes. According to Specialized the correct offset for the forks is 46mm (standard offset I believe), however the only ones I can find (CRC) have the 51mm offset, would using these uduly effect the handling of the bike and/or does anyone know where it is possible to buy the forks with the standard offset.

I believe all the 120 and 130 mm are 51 mm offset only. However Loco, TFTuned etc. can convert a 140 mm / 46 mm offset to 120 mm easily. I think TFTuned charged me £30 for a non reversible change.

Yep, you’d need to get the 140mm ones with a 46mm offset and swap the air assembly. Any LBS with a Fisher account, or certainly any Rockshox dealer, could help you with this.

That’s what I needed to know, thanks.

I have the same bike and am going to go for 130mm Rock Shox Yari’s

I did the same on mine. 51mm offset absolutely fine. The pikes made a huge difference.

I have the same bike and looking at 130mm pikes, i was reading about the offset thing the other day somewhere and i’m sure it said that the 51mm offset was specifically for 29ers to make them handle more like a 26″ bike?

let me try and find the link…

Seems to me a year or two back all the mags were saying increased offset forks were the way to go for 29ers. MBR appears to have done an about turn in the last couple of months and are now saying standard offset is better. Which leads me to believe they don’t know what the f they are on about. Bought a pair of e13 wheels on the basis of one of their reviews a few years back too. Fortunately the cheap subscription I have runs out soon.

Chris Porter seems to have changed everyone’s mind about fork offsets

Yeah it was this article

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/To-the-Point-Wheel-Diameter-VS-Fork-Offset.html

Linked from THIS STW thread.

So according to these sources, 51mm offset is what you’re after to make your bike handle BETTER.

EDIT Sorry Davo/SWH, I didn’t see your post before i posted mine. Confused now!

Within the last couple of hours I’ve ordered some 32mm bottomless tokens for my Reba from Amazon

Is everyone having the same problem with the Reba on the camber Evo? That it just doesn’t quite cut the mustard?

MBR appears to have done an about turn in the last couple of months and are now saying standard offset is better

MBR have always been anti offset I think – certainly when I have spoken to them. They are quite heavily influenced by CP too though….

That’s an interesting article with CP alright. I don’t automatically believe everything he says but certainly food for thought (when I haven’t been drinking). Will need to look back through some old MBRs if I can be bothered, was sure they were in favour of increased offset for 29ers though.

Offset is a bit of a case of if I didn’t tell you you’d not know. We run 2 different offsets on the forks we sell. No-one has ever mentioned the difference between the two. Even experienced riders running both are just as surprised when you tell them theres a 4mm difference in the offset. No-one can tell!

CP article is more about trail figures than offsets. The offset is the means the have chosen (rather than changing HA) to vary the trail figure. It’s also about him being contrary just for the sake of it. It is CP after all…. 😉

I was surprised actually when I read that more offset makes a 29er handle better, I would have thought making the wheelbase longer made it more stable but harder to turn. Imagine the extreme – a 1m offset. Would be a nightmare!

Anyway it seems we might be splitting hairs.

I was contemplating lowering a pike to 130 myself, looks easy enough.

Has anyone tried the new Rockshox Yaris?

Yeah I’ve got a set of 150 Yaris that I put onto a Trek Remedy. 51mm offset , the same as the Fox 34s that came off . The Yaris have better small bump performance without diving through their travel easily . Only had a couple of rides but they seem good to me .

Interesting. Wondering now…. second hand pikes with a 130 air shaft or new Toyota i mean Rockshox Yaris!?

130 Yari up front with 120 Rear is perfect for the Camber. Nice big thick stantions. The Reba forks are really quite bendy.

Benpinnick has it absolutely spot on. Elite level riders might notice but most won’t. But if you are told about the change you think you notice it.

130 Yari up front with 120 Rear is perfect for the Camber

I bet the Yari is nice but there’s no reviews on them yet, read that they don’t have the charger damper of the pikes? I could probably save £100 by lowering a s/h Pike to 130.

You’re right about the Reba fork, it’s an excellent bike but the second time i rode it i got thrown off into a wall because the front end freaked out on me. It’s just begging for a slightly better fork to set it free!

What’s the rational in using the 130mm rather than the 120mm?

The bike can take 130, you can run a bit more sag and it slackens the angles a bit.

More cush

benpinnick – Member

Offset is a bit of a case of if I didn’t tell you you’d not know.

Totally this. I’m sure some people can tell the difference and I’m sure many others are convinced they can. But I’d bet money you could change the stickers on a fork and certain people would tell you it was X% better.

You could probably use the same argument for QR vs bolt through , 32mm stanchions vs 34 or 35mm stanchions , tapered vs straight steerers , bottomless tokens , alloy vs carbon bars and various other improvements that have been made over the years .Bottom line is that there’s a lot going on on a mountainbike so it can be difficult to tell exactly what is different even if you know something is but if you put all of these small improvements together you get bikes that are noticeably better than they used to be . I do generally trust big bike companies to know what will work best on their bikes rather than journalists so If a bike was designed to work with a 51mm offset fork and I was replacing it I would use the same offset if it were available .

I kind of agree and disagree. The bike journos said the fork didn’t really match the bike and it doesn’t, which is why it now comes with a Rev instead of a Reba for 2016. What the OP gains in control from the better fork will offset the difference in the offset. Sorry about the pun. Sometimes it’s about budget not what’s best for the rider. But yeah re offset and angles etc you are probably right. But a stiffer 35mm fork with better damping should make a big difference.

I’ve just installed two bottomless tokens in the Reba and dropped it from 80 to 70psi. I am hoping you are wrong about the bottomless tokens thing and then I can stop dreaming about a Pike.

MBR appears to have done an about turn in the last couple of months and are now saying standard offset is better. Which leads me to believe they don’t know what the f they are on about.

….This!

I’ve tried a 46mm offset Revelation 120 and am now running a 51mm offset Pike 120 on my Camber Evo. Expected to feel some difference in handling/turn in speed between the two, but couldn’t tell any difference. However, the extra stiffness (and possibly better damping) on the Pike is very noticeable indeed – it really improves the bike, although it does show up the crummy evolution shock a bit.

For info., I tested both forks on a local circuit that includes a decent length of flowy singletrack slalom cum pump track (Lady Cannings trail), followed by a couple of rocky Peak District descents.
The Pike is in a different league to the Revs.
I’ve now settled on one, rather than two, extra bottomless token in the Pike to try and match the rear shock in trail setting. Oh, and FWIW, I weigh 90kg.

HTH

p.s. If you look on the Specialized ‘Masterlink’ FAQ webpage, I think you’ll find the 46 vs 51mm offset on Camber Evo question has been asked before – one reply from their tech team says 46mm and another 51mm! That’s when I decided to bung my existing 51mm Pike on the bike! :))

Thanks for that Bowglie