Or is it another marketing myth?
I've got 2008 5spot with the relatively steep HA. If I fit one those new fangled headsets that lobs a degree off will their be any real world difference to how the bike rides?
I understand the perceived changes, just wondered if anyone had used one and if the difference was noticeable and/or beneficial.
If the 5 spot is the only bike you ride, and you ride it lots, I think you will feel a difference. But I also think that you'll adapt to it in no time, and it will feel "normal".
I base this on my experience of swapping bikes and forks around.
SB
short answer? yes you will.
more complicated answer? the combination of a slack head angle + wider bars + short stem and sometimes even the rake on the seat post (in effect changing the seat angle) will all change how the bike handles. IMHO the number one improvement you can make to your bike is getting all of these dialled in to your taste and riding style. It may take a few rides and change of set-up to get it right, but it's sooo worth it. 😀
Quick question, do you feel the 5spot needs to be more stable at speed?
or are you just buying into the hype? 😉
If HA is all you're changing, then try running the bike with slightly more sag on the rear suspension to try it out. I reckon it'll give you a good indication as to what it'll feel like, although you may have to up the compression damping slightly to compensate for the extra sag.
no
I put a shorter stem, wider bars, and 160mm 36s on my 5-Spot and noticed the difference. The longer forks altered the head angle by just about 1 degree. Not sure that I noticed that much of a difference, but it now feels sort of half way between its original incarnation and my Patriot.
So, general consensus is that yes, I will notice a difference in a 1 degree shift.
bikeryder, yes a bit more stability at speed would be nice. I've got my Lyriks on there at the minute and these make it a different machine but tbh, these are overkill for most things and hauling an extra couple of pounds in fork weight is a pain on long rides.
Was thinking if I drop a degree off the HA and put the Pikes back on it might be a decent compromise.
I'm running 2.5mm offset lower shock mounting hardware on my 5Spot & 6Pack, slackens the Spot by about 3/4 of a degree & about 1.0 degree on the Pack, it obviously slackens the seat angle too & drops the bb by about 5/6mm which you may not want. Alternativly I think you could hunt down a set of shorter seatstays from the '06 non asymetric chainstay TNT spot which will have a similar affect.
I slackened my hardtail singlespeed by 1? and yes, I noticed the difference. I've also slackened a bike by 2? and that's a really noticeable difference, though I also fitted a shorter stem to that to keep the steering sharp. I doubt you'd notice less than 1?.
Beneficial? Yes. More stable and better on steeps without hitting climbing ability by messing with the seat angle.
I actually changed my bikes partly because I was mostly riding a Ragley and found it quite hard to adapt to steeper angles on my other, less ridden, bikes. Kept over steering off the trail. I've ended up with a pretty slack 150mm/130mm Pace RC405 which I rather like, though it's still a little steeper up front than the Ragley.
2 made a massive difference to my Hemlock, so I'd assume you'll notice 1 degree unless you're one of those oblivious riders.
Oblivious, maybe, more gormless tbh but I try to get by on awesomeness alone 😉
Interested in the shock mounts - any details?
Crag, sorry it took me a while to get back...got wrapped up in work!
if you are wanting to drop fork travel while keeping it slack then I'd def go for it, a long fork=higher bars and slacker seat angle...dropping to a pike should help put your weight more forward for climbing without sacrificing much when going down the steep stuff. If I were you I'd go for it.
Hope that helps 🙂
(edit) if you go that route you should update and let us STW's know what ya think!
Try this fella for offset shock mounts
dirt.mpora.com/news/slacken-head-angle.html