SO

Has anyone traded their full susser for a hardtail

I’m considering binning off the anthem I’m currently riding round on for a rigid giant xtc ,I ride round with the lockout on most of the time

secondly

Handlebars, is this wide bar thing complete bobbins, I find I am riding with my hands about 2 inches in from the end to get the bike not to be

a – TOO twitchy

b – TOO floppy

It seems the sweet spot is about two inches in from the ends to get nice balanced steering.

1) Yes, went from a Pitch to 456 and recently a Solaris.

2) Sounds like your bars are too wide for you.

Although narrower bars generally are more twitchy than wider ones.

I used to ride a 26″ Anthem as pretty much my only bike. Now I mostly ride my XTC Advanced 27.5, mainly because my daughter has run off with the Anthem. But TBH I don’t really miss it – the XTC works as well or better for most of what I ride. When I’m not on the XTC I’ll be riding the fully rigid Sanderson Soloist – which does help me appreciate the benefits of suspension forks.

Ah- forgot the bar element of the question. The Anthem has 580s, The XTC 690s, and the Soloist has 720s. If I was still riding the Anthem I’d probably put 720s on it, but I’m also pretty comfortable with the 690s on the XTC.

If you’re riding with your hands inboard for comfort then they’re just too wide but if it’s twitchy/floppy, remember how much of a part the stem plays too, you can’t just change one and expect it to work really. Wider bars shouldn’t normally be twitchy, though- the opposite, they usually give more stability but slow steering a little (because you physically have to move your hands further, for the same result). All in all it’s something that’s been driven by downhill and #enduro, it really comes into its own for big bikes ridden hard but it can work anywhere I reckon. My rigid Soda had 760mm bars, my fatbike has 780s 🙂

But if you don’t like it, change it, it’s your bike.

The slow steering is the thing that’s causing some chagrin

on singletrack the steering feels slow almost wallowey <——not sure if thats a word

stem is currently 70 mm bars are 700mm

I’m wondering if I should drop the fork to 100mm as even climbing the steeering wil flop side to side

Yes gone to fully rigid and narrow bars and longer stem but where I live is very flat, my bike does not need down hill type configuration.

Just cut your bars off 2 inches each side. Just because it seems everyone is riding around on 800mm bars they are probably either not riding what you ride or have them because they feel they need to be have a “current” bike.

Having said that I went from 620/100 to 690/70 a month or so ago and I do prefer the slightly wider bar but then 690 is considered narrow these days anyway. The steerer became quicker rather than slower as guess the ratio between stem length and bar width favoured that (This is on a fully rigid bike with steep angles)

either not riding what you ride or have them because they feel they need to be have a “current” bike.

Yawn at the fashion dig….

It’s preference really, most of the rigid riders I know are SS so prefer the bigger leverage wide bars give them. about to build my HT back up and it’s getting the 760’s which are now the narrow bars in the spares box.

Try some jones type bars , very natural hand position and work well on a rigid .

stem is currently 70 mm bars are 700mm

Before cutting your bars I’d suggest trying a 50mm stem. You may like it and if not you can still cut the bars

Anthem 26 720s (80mm stem) for messing about, trail centres

Inbred 29er SS rigid 780s (65mm stem) for long distance xc stuff.

Just gone wider on both of them keeping same stems (720 was on the inbred before) both are improved. Rode the SDW SS on Saturday with the 780s, comfiest I’ve ever been on any bike ever.

(Still weird bar curious though)

Oh yeah, rigid. I like rigids, don’t have one just now as the fatbike’s doing that job but I’ve had a few. TBH these days it’s just worse than suspension, the weight reduction doesn’t make that much difference but losing the front bounce slows you down all the time, on anything but smooth surfaces… you’re basically constantly riding into stuff you wouldn’t have really noticde. Even a locked fork’s not usually the same, they tend to still have a little movement.

But that’s OK as long as you’re into it, worse can be a lot of fun. It can be a really nice way to ride, picking your way through things or holding on for dear life, and the feeling of. I couldn’t have one as an only bike, even though I’m happy enough to ride one in places most folks wouldn’t, but it’s good.

Oh and bar, tyre and grip choice can be a bit different for them, they can all add a bit of comfort/control. It was actually my rigid that first sent me out to 760 bars, just because it made it easier to manage through rough stuff. They were wider than what was on my dh bike 😆 If i had one today, I’d stick my silly crank bros cobalt 11 bars on them, they bend like they’re made of rubber but man do they take out sting.