Trying to decide what forks to get for my new hardtail (Santa Cruz Highball Alu). Looking for a do-it-all, all round bike, from XC pootling about, some trail center, to allday riding, bikepacking, Alps, and rougher steeper stuff. I am a fairly cautious rider, but have my moments.

The frame can take 100 or 120mm. 100 seems recommended for XC, 120mm for more trail type stuff.

How much would a 120mm fork compromise general climbing and JRA? The 120mm fork I am looking at has a partial lockout that drops it to 90mm, so I am thinking I can have my cake and eat it. Any downsides?

i really like my u-turn Revs for that reason. I keep the geo nice and slack for the descents and then drop the forks to steepen the head angle and lower the front end if its going to be a steep hard climb.

Depends on bike’s geo tho. It’ll drop the bb height too. So if its already quite low in the forks extended position it could end up being too low when the forks are lowered

As Jai said, really depends on the bike. I run my soul @ 120 and never felt i needed less travel on the climbs, i would guess an adjustable fork would come more into its own once you get up to 140mm then you would want to lock it down on the climbs to stop the front wandering…

I use a 140mm chameleon as my do-it-all bike, and I’m thinking that the HiBall is the 29er version? Then I’d be looking to put as long a pair of forks that the frame could take.

100mm I reckon. 120mm felt like a lot of travel to me, on a 29er. The 26″ Soul & Inbred rode best at 120mm, but given the 29″ wheel I’d say 100mm would be spot on for JRA etc. Currently running 80mm on my SIR.9 & it’s a lot more capable than I thought it would be. 90/100 would be just right.

I have been running my Highball with 100mm for a little over a year and have not really suffered at all. Riding has included a lot of UK trail centres including the stuff north of Glasgow, Skye, local Surrey and Hampshire trails and riding in the Peaks together with some XC racing.

It got me down the red at Fort Bill without issue too.

So unless you are wanting to be a hooligan 100mm may well be enough. I haven’t run with 120mm so can’t add much on the comparison front. Love the bike though

If the fork you are looking at is DT I can think of several reasons why not. Mainly around their inability to bond bits of aluminium together. Drop out an steerer issues together with challenging warranty support don’t make for good riding.

Depends on what your idea of do-it-all is. Adjustable forks going from 100-140/150 on a frame suits would probably be most people’s idea of it. A frame geared towards a 100-120mm fork won’t be ideal for DH trails but great for general off-roading. Something along the lines of an On one 456 works ok at a variety of fork lengths. Funnily enough i have one as a do-it-all hardtail with 110-150 Talas 36 forks and as a poor man’s do-it-all it’s hard to beat.

edit: didn’t realise it was a big wheeler – so you can ignore all that 😀

If I could only have one bike it would be the 120mm hardtail. Gets used for mid week rides, bike packing, racing (badly) and some big rides in the mountains.

My Flux is rated for 100-120.

I am running 120s but found it a bit waggy on climbs. I’ve gradualy increased my weight over the front by lowering the stem, increasing the stem length and finally flipping it. It climbs well now but the fork is about to be serviced by TF at which point I’ll have it spaced to 110mm and unflip the stem for the sake of my hands.

Go 120 and space if it doesn’t work out would be my advice.

Optimise for what you do/enjoy most, be that ups, alongs or downs.

I’d start with 120, for maximun fun factor, and drop it if you don’t get along with it.

My 29er HT is 120, it climbs fine tho I do tend to climb out of the saddle.

lol reading through the above 10 responses = 10 different answers!

you pays yer money you takes yer choice!

I’m running 120mm Revs on my 650b. Great amount of travel for the southern riding. Loved riding round Swinley red- happily on the heels of guys on 6” bikes. I do fancy converting them to u-turn though. Would love to have 100-1400 to cover everything.

As it was designed around 100mm fork I’d go with that. It’ll be perfect for XC, trail centers, general riding etc. Might be a bit short at 100mm for the big downhill tracks in the alps, but then it’s not really a bike for that, and you’ll still be able to get down most, albeit a bit slower than the big bikes.

fwiw I find a usually use all the 120mm of my Revs, on not-especially-hardcore Surrey Hils riding.

I tend to think if I’m using it I may as well keep it!

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

It is amazing that 2 centimeters can make such a difference 🙂

And god what a pain in the ass decision this is for me…

shortcut – Love the bike

Looks great!

How tall are you? What length of stem you got on there?

120mm:

100mm:

😕

It’s now running XTR mechs and chain set as I am getting shot of my Lynskey because I just ride the Highball all the time.

I am 6’2, frame is large and the stem is 90mm, with 685mm riser bars from Easton.

And it does everything I need from a bike. Thinking of getting a second to run SS.

Would love to have 100-1400

That’d be one hell of a fork…!!!

shortcut – thanks for the info! I see you have a layback post and riser bars. Are you generally happy with that setup? Or do you feel you could be further forward on steep seated climbs?

Think I am selling 120mm to myself, here are the pros and cons as I see them…

120mm

Pros:

* Bit slacker, slightly better on the downs
* Slightly higher BB
* Can run more sag, bit plusher
* Can lock n drop to 90mm for climbs

Cons:

* Taller front end (can be negated with slammed stem, flat bars which I use already, negative stem)
* Riding on rough flat or uphill with suspension working means taller front end by 2cm (see above)
* Not as firm

100mm

Pros:

* Slightly tighter handling
* Firmer
* Front end 2cm lower if desired (would I be running it like that though?)

Cons:

* Slightly less confident on the downs
* Less sag, less plush
* Lock n drop to 70mm is maybe too low?
* Lower BB

Layback works well for me, I can get forward far enough to get up pretty much anything. Definitely pros and cons to both fork lengths, for where I ride most of the time 100 is fine and I get by fine else where.

My Highball is finally rolling. Decided on 120mm forks after finding out Pace can drop the 120s to 100s if I don’t like the 120s. Rode it all weekend and so far totally happy with fork. 120mm feels fine even with a 20mm spacer and a 100mm stem. Feels much better on my poor upper back / neck than my previous bike with lower bars. Drops to 90mm for climbs and is good at that! And fork lockout is rock solid, like having rigid forks.:

I spent a total AGE selecting all the components, so here they are in all their glory 🙂 Only thing I may change in the immediate is cranks to XX1 with 30t chainring…

Frame – Santa Cruz Highball Large Pearl White
Wheels – Pacenti TL 28 on DT Swiss 240 hubs With DT Swiss Revolution 2.0/1.5 spokes and DT Swiss Pro Lock nipples
Forks – DT Swiss XMM 120 Twin Shot 29er Carbon Forks, Tapered, 15mm iRWS
Rear skewer – DT Swiss RWS Alu lever / steel shaft 135mm
Headset – Cane Creek 110.ZS44.Short.Top Assembly + 110.EC49/40.Bottom Assembly + tools
Tyres – 2 x Continental X-King RaceSport 29×2.4
Tubes – 2 x Schwalbe 29er Extra Light 140g Inner tube SV19a
Stem – Thomson Elite X4 100mm black
Seatpost – Thomson Masterpiece 30.9mm 350mm black
Bottom Bracket – Chris King MTB std black, plus both tools
Brake mount adapter – Hope Front 160 post to 183 post
Brake mount adapter – Hope Rear IS 160mm to 160 post
Seatpost Clamp – KCNC SC10 Lightweight Quick Release Seat Clamp 34.9mm Black
Seat – WTB Rocket V Ti
Handlebars – 3T Xida Team Ltd
Grips – ESI Racers Edge
Barends – Ritchey WCS
Brakes, leavers + callipers – Hope Stealth Race Evo X2
Front Disc – Hope Floating Rotor 160mm
Rear Disc – Hope Floating Rotor 183mm
Shifter + cable – Shimano XTR M980 10 Speed Trigger Shifter
Rear mech – Shimano XTR M986 Shadow+ 10 Speed Rear Mech
Cassette – XT 10 speed 11-36
Chain – KMC X10-SL
Cranks – Shimano XT
Chainring – Hope 32 tooth
Bashguard – BBG
Pedals – Crankbrothers Eggbeater 3 with bushings instead of bearings

Bike weight should be around 10.3 kgs (22.7 lbs), but haven’t weighed it in yet.

You should have the bigger rotor at the front.

Liking the green graphics on white.
I cannot even criticise the wall/gravel/garden…

You should have the bigger rotor at the front.

Ah yeh, I go the listing mixed up there, they are the correct way round on the bike 🙂

Liking the green graphics on white.

Yeh, and the pearl white looks nice up close. Tempted to do the green thing on all other components, but bike bits seem to be either white, black, silver, or red :-/

I cannot even criticise the wall/gravel/garden…

That because it is Hollyrood Park and a close-by industrial estate with a nice new wall X-)