[Closed] My Hardtail (pics)

I dunno what it is, but i really dont like those Maverick forks. Which is strange as i love USD forks on motorbikes.

is that made from reynolds 953 or ti or neither

Looks nice.

Never seen upside down cycle forks before; they look good - but look like they should be matched with a 203 rotor. Egg beaters > smarties, and lose the crud catcher. Sod the garden, go ride!

😉

I dunno what it is, but i really dont like those Maverick forks. Which is strange as i love USD forks on motorbikes.

Genesis Altitude 853 Frame with custom build. Your views on the Mav forks purely based on looks or their performance? I'll agree they're an acquired taste for sure, but I like them and I'm sticking with them. Got a set of the DUC's on my full sus XC bike though too, been a fan for a while.

Are you very tall with short arms?

Or is my laptop making the bike look shorter than it really is?

tails - Member

is that made from reynolds 953 or ti or neither

I wish!

Everyone asks if it's just lacquered steel, or bare ti, when they see it. It's actually painted. The colour is what I'd describe as pretty much being as close to the natural colour of well finished sheet steel anyway. I like it, way more of a talking point than I ever believed a silver frame could be! That said, I wouldn't have minded the lairy lime green version they do too, that's a head turner that one!

Good choice on the silver rims IMO

Shiney that's fa sure, now ya gonna have to get it durty again.....shame you couldn't come down here tomorrow and flick it over with some dust.....

gween you say???
[img] [/img]

Never seen upside down cycle forks before; they look good - but look like they should be matched with a 203 rotor. Egg beaters > smarties, and lose the crud catcher. Sod the garden, go ride!

203mm rotors on the front of my other bikes, but it'd be overkill on this one. That's a 180mm though, it's powerful enough. Not impressed with the smarty's actually, nowhere near as good as my Candy's. Look nice, but build quality is a notch or two down from the Candy's, so they may be going soon.

Crud catcher will probably be lost soon, but it's still quite muddy where I live. And the mud round here is VERY gloopy. Rear one only got taken off before this photo as it had been needed until the recent bout of sunshine!

Are you very tall with short arms?

Pretty long legs for my height, with a short torso, yes. "Feminine" dimensions if you will, though I don't have tits and hips. I'm 5ft 11, it's a medium with a 23" TT and a 90mm stem. Seat height is spot on right for me where it is. Did contemplate going for a 19" but I would definitely have had to run a shorter stem on that, and I like smaller more chuckable bikes. Besides, a 410mm Thomson post isn't going to break, it's still got an inch and a half extra above the min insertion line in the frame.

Good choice on the silver rims IMO

Cheers, though more for cheapskate reasons than anything else. I'm a big fan of UST, and CRC were doing the rim brake version of the 819's for £35 or the disc specific for £50. No difference in weight or strength, so I decided to save £30 on a pair. Actually quite pleased I did, cos they suit this bike well as they are. Hubs are silver too, so the wheels contrast silver/black/silver/black from the hubs outwards to the tyres! Tart, moi? It's all an afterthought 😉

Shiney that's fa sure, now ya gonna have to get it durty again.....shame you couldn't come down here tomorrow and flick it over with some dust.....

Aye mate, for defo. Quantocks is one place I desperately want to ride asap. Was annoyed that the weekend dates got decided so early on, cos I was trying to get on this ride. As it is though, it's my best mate's Stag Do tomorrow. There will be other rides in the Quantocks I'm sure, but fingers crossed he's only getting married once!

mboy, welcome to ride with me down here anytime, the trails don't get much better than they are right now, so make it soon but not next weekend...and TBH you'll get alot more out of it in a smaller group, than you will out of the size groups that's heading here tomorrow/now.

don't those forks put the stanchions a bit close to the ground!

Paranoid enough about scratching my pikes and revs way up yonder. Costs more than a new pair to replace that bit!

Guess if you don't go near any rough terrain 😉

Cheers Sharki, much obliged. Will see if I can drag anyone else along soon to help pay for the petrol costs, or if I can get a job interview lined up down your way or something!

You're right, you always get more out of a place from riding in a smaller group, but sometimes a big group is good, especially for the social aspect. Just as long as the slow coaches don't get in the way on the downhills at least 😉

mav's like shivers and other upside down fork designs generally have the stanchion guard so damage is less likely than on traditional fork designs.

I normally hate big group rides but am looking forward to the social aspect of this one, too many winter solo rides day and night has made riding more of a chore, without someone there to laugh at my stacks it takes an element of the riding away.

It's always quite hard in a single ride to find the pecking order
in which to send a group down a descent, and most riders find they can descend faster when chasing someone than if they were leading the decent, hence the likelyhood in always catching the rider in front...the heckling is always fun with it though...

don't those forks put the stanchions a bit close to the ground!

Paranoid enough about scratching my pikes and revs way up yonder. Costs more than a new pair to replace that bit!

Guess if you don't go near any rough terrain [;)]

I'm a little lost as to what you mean. How/why are you paranoid about scratching the stanchions on your forks? What are you doing to make this a worry? The only time I've ever seen a stanchion damaged on a pair of upside down forks was on an uplift bus in France, when flat pedals on a bike (mine 😳 ) scratched the stanchion of the bike it was next to in transit. Certainly not seen them get damaged on the trail anyway. Also, they've got stanchion guards which protects against anything getting thrown off the back wheel of the bike in front on the trails.

Regarding cost, totally not true on Mavericks I'd say. Each stanchion is a separate item, when on a convention unit, the 2 stanchions are linked together permanently with the crown/steerer assembly, making that an expensive unit to replace.

Besides, if we were that worried about damaging our bikes, we'd never ride them. Second ride out, the front wheel flipped a big rock up which smashed into the down tube on the bike. I was doing probably 25mph or more offroad at the time. There's a nice chunk of paint missing now! It happens. At least it's steel, not ally, as that would have dented too!

wish you well for riding it,.....but

Pedals need to go, SLX good choice, Maverick's Hmmmm?! posh white fox's might look good (if you have the cash), thinner tyres might help and maybe even, sorry to say, bigger wheels ?

Sorry to be so critic but i want'd that frame, its lovely.....

Looks cool but as an Engineer, surely upside down forks result in a less stiff ride? Bending of the stanchions at the axle could be increased due to their narrower diameter, possibly...

Is that a Spoon saddle, good choice! What does it feel like?

Pedals need to go

Maybe, but only for more Crank Bros... I don't get on with Shimano SPD's very well.

SLX good choice

Impressed with it so far, only the chainset on this bike. Only a few grammes heavier than XT, but lots cheaper. Better finished than LX was too.

Maverick's Hmmmm?! posh white fox's might look good (if you have the cash)

I'm not a big fan of Fox Forks. I considered some Rockshox Revelations, but ease of wheel swapping (DUC's on my full sus) and cost (I got the SC32's for silly money) meant I went for the Mav's. Also, I don't like QR's on the front of a bike, so would've gone bolt through anyway, even on only 120mm of travel forks.

thinner tyres might help and maybe even, sorry to say, bigger wheels ?

NO WAY mate. Those are only 2" as it is, as soon as the trails are dried out a bit more (hopefully by next week) where I live, 2.2's will be on there lightning quick. I'm warming to the 29er idea though, but of course that would have meant a different frame in the first place. Not sure I'm tall enough to warrant one though, will be sticking with this frame for a while I reckon.

Sorry to be so critic but i want'd that frame, its lovely.....

Hey, we've all got individual taste. No problems. I see some bikes on here that their owners love, and I can't stand! If we were all the same, life would be boring. Frame is nice though indeed, just wish the paint was a bit thicker, that's my only criticism of it so far.

Looks cool but as an Engineer, surely upside down forks result in a less stiff ride? Bending of the stanchions at the axle could be increased due to their narrower diameter, possibly...

Stanchions are 32mm in diameter. Which is the same as most other forks stanchions, but being upside down these are stiffer front to back than most forks as there is less of a bending moment (front/back) by the smaller diameter part of the fork (the stanchions) being closer to the wheel axle than the outer legs.

There is some inherent twisting flex though because an upside down fork doesn't have an additional leg brace whereas a conventional fork does. Upside down forks rely on the axle for stiffness, in this case a 24mm. In practice, the Maverick SC32's aren't as stiff as something like a Pike or a Fox 32 overall, but they're plenty stiff enough for most XC riding, and certainly a lot stiffer than suspension forks of old.

Is that a Spoon saddle, good choice! What does it feel like?

FIRM!

Was running an SDG Bel Air before this, which was my long term saddle of choice, but I wanted to try something with a narrower back end to make getting off the back easier. Tried the Spoon upon everyone's recommendation. Have had 5 rides on it now, and it's beginning to shape to my arse (or my arse to it), and it's increasingly better than it was to start. It doesn't flex though, whereas my Ti Railed Bel Air flexed a lot which I was used to.

Will, are you sure you're an engineer?

Upside down forks are stiffer, which is why they're on racing motorcycles. Difference between holding a fishing rod at the thin end(conventional forks), and the fat end(upside downs).

mboy - Is that the 17.5 frame?

Looks lovely by the way

I hang my head in shame. Yes I am an Engineer, but apparently one with a thought process that stops after a couple of seconds. What a silly thing to say.

But anyway, they look funny. Nice bike though.

That saddle looks like it would be uncomfortable on [b]your[/b] arse.

😉

The reviews I've seen of the Maverick USD forks reckoned they flexed too much. The stanchions so close to the ground would also gather dust, dirt more around the seals I presume. If the design were that great I'm sure RS, Marzocchi, Manitou would swiftly follow .. but it's been a few years now. 🙂

On the old forum I recall the odd owner thread question marking their reliability.

Unusual design, like the lefty and down to taste.

Looks smart, but is that an MBUK chainstay protector!!

Should have turned it inside out!

mboy - Is that the 17.5 frame?

Looks lovely by the way

Yup, a 17.5 indeed. Cheers!

That saddle looks like it would be uncomfortable on your arse.

hahaha! It's getting better mate 😉

The reviews I've seen of the Maverick USD forks reckoned they flexed too much. The stanchions so close to the ground would also gather dust, dirt more around the seals I presume. If the design were that great I'm sure RS, Marzocchi, Manitou would swiftly follow .. but it's been a few years now. [:-)]

On the old forum I recall the odd owner thread question marking their reliability.

Unusual design, like the lefty and down to taste.

As I said, they're not as torsionally stiff as most "conventional" forks due to only having the axle bolting them together, as opposed to the axle and a leg brace. But they are probably stiffer forwards/backwards, ie. under braking forces, than most conventional forks because of the upside down design.

Questions around their reliability? I'm aware of all the potential issues/pitfalls. In my experience, EVERY fork has its detractors. The fact that the Maverick's can be easily fixed and serviced by a semi competent home mechanic is a big advantage for me personally. Means I don't need to spend £100 every time it needs a service, or fixing, as I would with most other forks. Also, the upside down design is actually better in terms of seal life than a conventional unit (not worse), cos what does gravity do to dirt? Makes it fall from the seals on a USD fork, but fall into the seals on a RWU design.

Looks smart, but is that an MBUK chainstay protector!!

Sorry, Yes it is 😳

In my defence though, it was free! Most likely will have it off next time I clean the bike and take a permanent black marker pen to it...