Fashion?

Nahhh, definately function (IMO)

The difference between my sanderson and my 456 is the line choices, the sanderson makes anythign but the smoothest lines a challenge, not unrideable, but it does like the well ridden/smooth line. The 456 will happily take a more agressive line. Partialy that’s geometry, partialy travel.

peanutmeerkat –
I use to have an inbred with 100mm forks and loved it, currently got a 456 with 140mm while I like it I much preferred the inbred.

Upgraded from an Inbred with 100mm to a 456 and running u-turn pikes 95-140. Run it at 95mm 95% of the time!

steel hardtails – is 100mm travel soo last year ??

yes.

and it’s the future.

someday soon, we’ll realise that we don’t like long* forks, we like the slacker** head angle that fitting longer forks creates.

and then we’ll realise that we have nice slack head angles, and sensible 100mm forks (lighter, stiffer, cheaper).

it’ll be ace.

my ragley blue pig has 140mm pikes, but they’re silly soft and divey if i set them up soft enough so that i use all the travel. so i pump them up a bit, i only use about 100mm of travel, and they feel great.

(*for sake of argument, long is more than 110mm)

(**and slack is 69 or less)

Soft long travel forks. Shite on a hardtail. If you want to do a jump or bunnyhop over something you have to wade through loads of travel to do so. Fairly stiff short travel forks are where its at, everyone’ll be using them soon.

someday soon, we’ll realise that we don’t like long* forks, we like the slacker** head angle that fitting longer forks creates.

Isn’t that what the 456 Summer Season does – gives a slack head angle when running shorter forks.

Davidtaylforth’s ongoing obsession with pigeonholing specific bikes and insisting they have the One Correct Fork Size fitted…

I’m riding a Pha5e with Fox 140’s on and I’m loving it. Reduced to 100’s and it feels really wrong, all the frame obviously…

A well set up 100 fork can handle anything a 140 can though, it’s all about fork set up I reckon.

Stay safe everyone!

avdave2 – Member
Isn’t that what the 456 Summer Season does – gives a slack head angle when running shorter forks.

yes, why more bike-designers haven’t done it is a total mystery.

obviously, not everyone wants a slack frame – but those of us that do have had to make-do by fitting silly long, largely innappropriate forks.

my next bike may well be a kona honzo, which has a slacker than average head angle, and i’m thinking that i can shorten the fork, which will steepen the seat angle and lower the bottom bracket. maybe we’re close to seeing fork-shortening as an ‘upgrade’ – this idea amuses me.

Its why i bought a Kona Caldera frame….not niche or glamourous but lightweight aluminium and a 68.5 degree head angle on a 100mm fork…only £150 from CRC too…superb.

since whe was 69deg considered slack?

well, for the sake of simple conversation…

(and it is – compared to the 70/71 that most hardtails still feature)

Most hardtails are still being made with 70/71 degree head angles so anything that kicks the front wheel out a few more degrees is welcome….especially as it means long squishy forks dont have to be fitted to achieve the same thing….its all relative anyway, an old Saracen i once owned had a 73 degree head angle, a lot of cross country specific mountain bikes still do.

the Rebas on my steel hardtail are reduced to 100mm. I might try them at 80 some time soon, it’s closer to what Mr Dekerf intended, and I’m interested to see how much difference it makes to handling and what I feel like riding on it.

I’m a massive jess/incredibly gnarly but incredibly smooth* so I should be fine with 80mm.

*delete as you feel appropriate.

Currently running a 120mm Reba on my 29er Inbred. It does feel like an awful lot of suspension. It ploughs its way through just about anything that my Ventana FS would have done.

I found that 120mm travel on the 26″ wheel Inbred I had before was just about perfect for that bike, for me.

I find hardtails with anything much over 100mm very odd to ride, there’s nothing at the back to balance it out. My jump bike is 100mm the other two mtbs with longer forks have rear suspension…

I have to say I agree with GW, it seems that long travel hardtails are popular with riders who sit down too much…

I have to say I agree with GW, it seems that long travel hardtails are popular with riders who sit down too much…

Are you talking riding style, or lifestyle?

Run 200mm on my DH bike, 130mm on the geared 456, 100mm on the SS 456

Horses for courses

Most hardtails are still being made with 70/71 degree head angles so anything that kicks the front wheel out a few more degrees is welcome..

Isn’t this what the Charge Blender does, and it got a bit of a slating in the mag? Might be thinking of the wrong model.

so 70deg is steep and 69deg is slack? had no idea the transition from steep to slack was so acute 🙄

You’re being a pedant with the example of 1 degree.

….my previous Trek had a 71 degree head angle, my current Kona has a 68.5 degree head angle, the 2.5 degree difference is noticeable and i think its fair to consider the Kona to be a slack hardtail.

even 0.5 deg is noticable but my most ridden hardtail has a 69deg head angle and is not slack in the slightest and an extra 0.5deg would not suddenly make it slack.

if you think 68.5deg is slack you need to ride a lot more bikes.

GW – Member

so 70deg is steep and 69deg is slack? had no idea the transition from steep to slack was so acute

like i said, for sake of an easy conversation…

don’t like the number 69? – pretend i said 68/67/65/64/63 (pick the one you like)

but i think my waffling is valid, one day soon (maybe it’s already happened and i didn’t notice), you’ll be able to buy frames/bikes, which have slackish headangles, with cheap short* forks.

(*100mm ish)

even 0.5 deg is noticable but my most ridden hardtail has a 69deg head angle and is not slack in the slightest and an extra 0.5deg would not suddenly make it slack.

It’s not going to be slack with your 100mm fork – whack a 160 on there, and see how that rides.

Manufacturers stated head angle means nothing without taking into consideration the fork length you’re running.

http://cotic.co.uk/geek/

er.. read back through my previous posts on this thread, that 100mm 63deg HA hardtail I mentioned? the frame was bought off the shelf back in 1999/2000.

(it’s still going strong but barely used anymore, as my Ex has it now)

adstick – Member

I have to say I agree with GW, it seems that long travel hardtails are popular with riders who sit down too much…

Can’t make any sense of this comment, long travel hardtails are just as awful when ridden sat down as short travel hardtails.

Davidtaylforth’s ongoing obsession with pigeonholing specific bikes and insisting they have the One Correct Fork Size fitted…

I thought most people knew the only correct fork length was the one I/they use.

😀

Went out yesterday on My Genesis Altitude with 120mm on the forks and shock horror a longer stem.

Not so long ago I had a 150mm FS which wore me out just for the advantage of getting some extra confidence on the tiny amount of rough stuff I encountered. For my riding and my local area, this bike is ACE! Turns really well and quickly , the front picks up easily, it climbs nicely and I can ride it for much much longer.

The short travel revolution 🙂