Here in the south downs i’ve found a shorter travel bike is more fun for me. I now have a 160/130 bike and it is brilliant for the majority of riding I do.

It is not as fast downhill as my old enduro or a full on dh rig, but much better overall 🙂

How about you?

Erm how is 160/130 short travel were you on an MX bike before?

Here in the south downs i’ve found a shorter travel bike is more fun for me. I now have a rigid and it is brilliant for the majority of riding I do

😀

he said “Shorter” not short

Erm how is 160/130 short travel were you on an MX bike before?

Where did I say it was short travel?

There’s no right or wrong. 😉

Just what you feel like riding on a particular day. 8)

Dunno, my Pitch is a heck of a lot of fun at trail centers where you can let it rip opn the downs and isn’t too bad on the up.

Comparably my completely rigid steel hardtail is a hoot, but in a completely different, slower, way.

I don’t subscribe to the short travel/slack being better than long travel/slack idea, simply because the traction comes from the softer suspension, so if you run the short travel as soft as the long travel it just bottoms out. And the slack geometry would make it just as ponderous on the climbs/allong bits.

I’ll admit to hankering after an anthem-x though as they make climbing technical stuff almost as much fun as decending it on the pitch!

There’s no right or wrong.

Just what you feel like riding on a particular day.

Sorry you are wrong.

I think not. 8)

horse for courses.

I think not.

Think what you like buddy, but I know the truth. Here on STW, everything is black and white.

🙄 😉

I don’t subscribe to the short travel/slack being better than long travel/slack idea, simply because the traction comes from the softer suspension, so if you run the short travel as soft as the long travel it just bottoms out. And the slack geometry would make it just as ponderous on the climbs/allong bits.

I subscribe to the theory that magazines talk a load of bollox for the most part and what is ‘better’ is whatever suits the individual person.

Some like a bit more travel, some less. I found 160mm a bit too much on the back. Having 130mm and an adjustable fork on the front is brilliant for me 🙂

OP – why ask about others’ preferred geometry when you haven’t even stated your own?

but FWIW with the exception of DH race tracks, I choose my short, steep 100mm DJ hardtail for pretty much every ride (I don’t ride in the South downs tho) 😉 .

TINAS/Kudos – you’re both talking pish.

GW – because I am interested in what other people like to ride in relation to where they live. What suits one person is different to another.

Damm I wish I could be like you, riding my dj hardtail everywhere except dh race tracks 😉

Whatever bike i’m riding could always do with a lot more money spent to improve it for the terrain i’m riding…… Guess that’s life..

prk

LT hardtail around the green hills of Surrey (Kobe ti) a rocketship…
Nukeproof mega trips away

TINAS/Kudos – you’re both talking pish.

And you are being a tool, as per usual.

According to brands, mags and the general ideas of what travel goes with what terrain i should be riding 110-130 mm on a 68-70 head angled bike. however i tend to throw in any fun along the way so ride a longer travel and slacker angled bike. in my world it goes without saying that i´d rather be able to ride anything along the way without it feeling like im on cancelaras time trial bike, than backing down because some trail has a drop or two.

funny thing is, you don’t actually need any travel at all or a slack H/A to do a drop or two

of course your right.. of course. you must be a riding god. im not

GW – you do if you’re never happy unless you’re riding trails as fast as your abilities allow. Some people are racers, some aren’t.

GW is actually one of the faster riders I have seen – well until he runs out of puff on the flat / climbs anyway. I’d back him against most folk on here

Myself I ride a 100 mm forked hardtail – plenty for me for anything I ride – from XC stuff to Glentress red stuff to a bit of wandering around the scenery. couple of foot drop is all I have the bottle for if that

I mainly ride XC in the South Lakes, with occasional trips to trail centres and the odd jump sesh.

My Cotic BFe with 110mm forks is perfect for this. Short stays, not to slack, but longish TT and ST so I can get the miles in.

you do if you’re never happy unless you’re riding trails as fast as your abilities allow.

Is it your ability or the bikes that’s allowing you to go fast though?

I’ve got two bikes, one’s a 27.5lb 140mm at the front 130mm at the back FS with a 68deg HA/73deg SA and the other is in bits in my lounge.

When it’s done it’ll be a 100mm 71deg HA/73.5deg SA wagon wheeled HT.

The FS flattens everything on my local rides, but speeder bike territory is achievable, bit risky considering a lot of the trails are natural developed ones through a forest i.e. walkers use them too sometimes. But at Trail centres and for natural big stuff like the Peaks it’s awesome, it also covers ground very quickly on big days out.

The 29’er I’m hoping will be around 25lbs, equally quick across the ground on big days but not a smoother of everything on local rides.

Look. I used to surf for a few years. some prefered small boards so that they could whip around and make as many cut backs as possible before blowing up in a huge air trying to do a flip. some would ride medium sized boards that alowed for some quick handling but also had the characteristics of a longboard which again others prefered. they all rode the same waves on the same day, in the same weather, but on different boards. it all came down to what personality you had or what mood you where in, in choosing what board to ride. the same goes for bikes and riders.
insisting on one way or the other is limited and useless. The approach resembles what a communist would do if he or she was a mountain biker: try to force a certain view upon others. and how did that go i might ask?.. heard there´s some great riding in Siberia by the way…

If it has 2 wheels and stops/gos I’m happy enough. My fave bikes have no travel but are comfy and handle well in the places I ride. Simpler is happier for me.

mwleeds – Member

GW – you do if you’re never happy unless you’re riding trails as fast as your abilities allow. Some people are racers, some aren’t. 😆

if I get you right, you are saying your ability to ride trails fast is let down by your equipment 😕 . I feel exactly the opposite, I can push my 100mm hardtail much closer to as fast as it’ll go than I can my 8″ DH race bike these days.

funny thing is, you don’t actually need any travel at all or a slack H/A to do a drop or two

I tend to agree with GW with most of what he pens. You just need to learn how to jump and land properly. Drops and jumps seem to be easier (upto a certain size obviously) with shorter forks and a steeper head angle.

Hamsterley table top on a biek with about a 70degree head angle and 100mm forks. Far better than some daft long travel hardtail with a horizontal head tube and 160mm’s of travel

having also ridden that ^^ quite a bit on both my DH bike and hardtail I can also confirm it’s not only much more fun but way less effort on the short/steep 100mm HT.

never know which bike to ride at Hammers, they could do with a pitstop at the cabin 😉

I like that GW can be right, but in a manner that makes me want to argue with him

I like my big squashy bike but then I like my rigid bike and my swiss-army adjustable 456. No such thing as “right” but of them all it’s the dh-slack, 160/120mm Hemlock that I like the most in the most circumstances, it’s almost always fun even when it’s absurd overkill, and it’s never once been too little bike. But this is because of personal taste, not because it’s best.

Double post

I like that GW can be right, but in a manner that makes me want to argue with him

😆

I do enjoy discussion 8)

Well I just do XC really, but include riding down a few DH track, sans jumps, and seek out techy bits when the mood takes. I’m always surprised how much fun the tricker stuff is on my light skippy HT with a flimsy F120 fork. Yes, it’s bit twitchy when it gets steep and isn’t fast on rocks. But it is blinking fun for the rooty dirt trails we have here and has some advantage on climbs.

Cyclocross bike ss or fixed I’m easy 😉

I prefer riding my Penny Farthing down glaciers. Whilst eating a Chomp.

Well, it does say Yorkies are not for girls…