After a good ride at Cannock this week I’ve decided the front of the Codeine needs slacking off a bit, however I would like to do it without losing any reach or bottom bracket height of possible.

What are peoples thoughts on either a slackset or offset bushings.

Which would be the best in this situation ?

Cheers.

Slackset will do that (slight loss of BB height, reach will stay pretty constant – one change cancels the other). Offset bushings will drop the bottom bracket and decrease reach.

Cool.

Thanks for that.

How about the seat angle. Will that change at all.

What effect am I likely to get from a slackset ? More stability at speed etc.

I put offset bushings in my Turner Sultan.
Bike felt way better but on very narrow rooty trails I got lots of pedal strikes.

Bushes are cheaper and an easy DIY fit, so try first and see how you get on?

+1 for offset bushings. I put some in my Cannondale Trigger they are cheap and easy to install and they work, so would go that route first.

If you think a Codeine is too steep for Cannock you might be better off spending the money that a slackset or shock bushes on going to some trails that are a bit steeper and frightening your self.
You’ll then be able to ride round Cannock without any fear of the trails and concentrate on the real danger of cumming off on the pebbles or being dogged to death.

Not just Cannock mate. Couple of steep bits at the Wyre forest I’ve rode too.

The Whyte 529 I had before this was quite slack in comparison. Just killed my back lol.

Somewhere in between the two would be ideal.

How about the seat angle. Will that change at all.

What effect am I likely to get from a slackset ? More stability at speed etc.

Slightly steeper seat angle.

More stability, heavier steering, needs leaning more in turns.

Slackset over offset bushings imo, unless your BB is quite high in which case offset bushings could work quite well.

hang on a mo….

How have you reached this conclusion…

I’ve decided the front of the Codeine needs slacking off a bit,

When you’re still (after in fact) asking this question?

What effect am I likely to get from a slackset ? More stability at speed etc.

Shouldn’t you try to get an understanding of what geometry changes will do to your bike before you go deciding to mess with it? I’m not saying a degree or so off you HA is a bad idea, just that you appear to have jumped the gun a bit, and without explaining what you think is wrong about the way it currently handles. There is of course a chance that it’s something else that’s causing whatever that issue is.

Sorry, don’t know what came over me there, of course the default STW answer is “MOAR SLACKERER!”, it fixes everything, for trails everywhere 😉

Just speaking for myself and maybe helping the op, I’ve just bought an offset bush for my 2014 Anthem.

Itll be my 2018 marathon/trail bike, is lightened to 26lb and with the bushing and 120mm fork will sit with a 69.5 ha and -5mm BB hieght.

My reasoning is that I find my race HT geo superb at 10mm lower BB and 69 ha same length TT and am chasing that.

The Anthems pretty close now so I have an HT and a full suss with her similar geo and the same cockpit setup for 2018.

Advice to replicate geo and fit and particularly cockpit across bikes was taken and I’ve found that to be a revelation although now somewhat obvious.

hang on a mo….

How have you reached this conclusion…

I’ve decided the front of the Codeine needs slacking off a bit,
When you’re still (after in fact) asking this question?

What effect am I likely to get from a slackset ? More stability at speed etc.
Shouldn’t you try to get an understanding of what geometry changes will do to your bike before you go deciding to mess with it? I’m not saying a degree or so off you HA is a bad idea, just that you appear to have jumped the gun a bit, and without explaining what you think is wrong about the way it currently handles. There is of course a chance that it’s something else that’s causing whatever that issue is.

Sorry, don’t know what came over me there, of course the default STW answer is “MOAR SLACKERER!”, it fixes everything, for trails everywhere

Not at all mate I know where you are coming from.

So on some of the twistier and steeper stuff I’m finding that I’m steering to quickly and then backing off and end up messing the corners up. I’m not sure if it’s also due to the 800mm bars as well.

The 529 felt much more stable at speed compared to the codeine.

I understand the offset bushes drop the bottom bracket height and slack the bike off that way just not sure how else a slackset would affect the bikes geometry.

It’s all a learning curve.

I’ve had a -2º slackset in my Codeine – running 150mm pikes – (using an angle finder app it looks like a 65 degree head angle) . for a few weeks . imho it’s improved the climbing -steeper seat tube and longer front so its not lifting anywhere near as much on steep climbs .
Point it down and thats improved laods – longer front end / wheelbase.
Double win so far and haven’t found anything negative .

Just to say I’ve had excellent service from Offset Bushings this week.

After placing my order they email to confirm the sizes. I did that Tuesday morning and they milled/sent and the bushes arrived Wednesday morning.

Also I discovered my Anthem has a 6mm bolt giving me a .75 reduction (single bush) in HA leaving it at 69.25 HA with a 120mm fork. Yet to see if I can tell the difference in how it rides.

Slackset.

It slackens the HA, steepens the seat tube and therefore theoretically at least improves the bikes climbing ability while making the front more stable….yes the bottom bracket will drop, if it becomes a real pain then reevaluate the length of your cranks, I’d rather have a stable slack good climbing trail bike that needs shorter cracks than the other options.

Offset bushes tend to drop the rear of the bike, yes the effect on the HA is the same but at what cost?…in my experience the seat tube slackens out too making climbing less enjoyable, on a gravity bike it’s fine but I like trail bikes to be able to climb….you can get a similar effect by just whacking a smaller wheel in the back (drops the rear and slackens the front) but it will be a pig to climb on.

I’ve done both. My HT has a slackset as I tend to use it for all day rides and climbing but my FS has a smaller wheel in the back to make uplift days and racing more enjoyable without having to bugger about with bushings and headsets…it doesn’t climb nearly as well but then it’s only used for gravity stuff so it doesn’t matter.

cumming off on the pebbles or being dogged to death.

lol!

Anyone got a link to a geometry calculator thingy?

The offset bushings webset has a list of geo changes that occur based in different single / double bushings in place.

Put an offset bushing in my 26″ Turner Flux. Hated it – made it feel low at the back and sit up and beg at the front. It’s an XC bike so I want my weight over a less twitchy front. It didn’t work and I took it out after the first ride.

..in my experience the seat tube slackens out too making climbing less enjoyable

Nudge saddle slight forward, problem solved

…made it feel low at the back and sit up and beg at the front

Well I rode my Anthem today not thinking I notice the difference. Yet, wowsers. IMO even at 120mm mine felt like there was always a danger of tuck at low speed tight turns – not any more. It feels ridiculously planted and dare I say it for a bike with “out of date” long seat stays it felt way more manoeuvrable. No desire to change this bike for Trail for XC Marathons. Best 12 I ever spent.

If only Giant made their new bike with a 69 degree HA. Oh wait…

Good to hear that Kryton57

Was it easy to fit ?

Could you feel that it had lowered the back of the bike at all ?

Cheers.

Steve.

They’re very easy to fit. 10 mins (first time I’ve ever taken a shock off a bike too), a couple of allen keys, a shock pump and maybe a wee pin hammer and GT85 if the bushes have bound in a little.

I noticed the back of my Turner Sultan being lower.

Yes what YGH ^^ said. The hardest bit is pushing the new unworn bush in but i have the tool for that, although its not necessary to have it. It does feel lower – 5mm according to the web site – but for me thats fine as the Anthem is pretty high and certainly higher than my HT anyway.

Fwiw i never clipped pedals on the ride though.