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although not fast or special or anything, I find I can have a good time and handle most stuff with Rebas at 115mm on a hardtail in North Wales. I lock 'em out on a smoothish climb. I've never ridden a big bouncy bike. I'm still happy 🙂
I love adjustable forks, I really don't see how it's a 'hassle' to stop and adjust, much less if you can do it on the fly.
It reminds me of those snowboarders who used to say that they used Flow bindings in order to 'save time' at the top of lifts. Woo! 5 seconds saved.
Rock Shox Pike 454 Coil U-Turn on a Commencal Ramones 2 hardtail here.
Ive had travel adjust forks in the past but quickly decided that they were a poor substitute for proper technique. IMO it's better to adjust your riding position to suit the gradient and that way your bike always feels the same so hopefully you end up more in tune.
Fox Float 120mm, always the same height always the same saddle height. Seriously you don't need to be stopping to do these adjustments, you've just been suckered in by the marketing bollox. You dont find motorcyclists or drivers stopping to change suspension on motorway slip roads. OK you might but they are nobs.
Oh, I should have said, it does depend on the bike. Some just feel crippled with a short fork. But others, like my Soul and Hemlock, are designed so they ride well with a short or long fork so you're not choosing "Low but crap", you're just choosing one of the bike's 2 "moods" if you like.
djglover: "Seriously you don't need to be stopping to do these adjustments,"
That's absolutely right, because you can do it on the move. Think it's you that's been suckered tbh, have you actually used one of these things?
Slowrider: "Ive had travel adjust forks in the past but quickly decided that they were a poor substitute for proper technique"
Why not combine the two? This is like saying "Why get a light bike, just get fitter?" Why not get a light bike AND get fitter?
I have Pikes and use them at 120mm for most stuff. I only wind them in or out if I know I've got a long climb or descent so they're the dogs I think.
Lyrik U-Turns transform my Bullit going uphills, without taking much of the edge of the descents, compared to 888s. Makes a perfect bike for the Dark Peak, where there's hardly any flat riding to catch it out. What's not to like?
If I forget to wind out my forks I notice immediately as soon as I start to descent, because the bike feels totally wrong! Having said that I mostly ride with them in a middle setting and only wind them in for something particularly steep and technical.
But I do really miss my Pace Launch control - it was ace, and automatically released when you went downhill and hit a bump.
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I have pike u-turns on one of my bikes. I wind the forks up and down pretty frequently and I don't need to stop to do this!
Has anyone mentioned that it's not all about climbing and descending? The change in head angle can make the bike handle better for fast trail centres, steep technical trails or tight twisty wooded singletrack.
I've had U-Turn and Talas forks in the past and I gave up adjusting them during a ride as I always forget to adjust back. They were however useful for adjusting the handling for different trail types.
Have had U-turn forks on 3 different frames. DaveHinde - wrong match of fork and frame but the U-turn made it bareable on the climbs. 1st generation inbred, always dropped to 85mm for road and climbing then out to 100 for everything except tight twisty stuff when it was back to 85. Second generation inbred just ran the fork round at 100mm very rarely put it out to 115mm. Used the lock out a lot. New forks, been running around at 120mm, has a lock down and lock out never found the need for either yet.
I just figured for me U-turn has run its course as bikes and forks have move more to how I want to ride.