Pros and cons over 32’s

Love mine on 160mm for where I ride. I tired these – nicely lent to me by three fish on here :

64641_481382316412_696151412_7444757_5783115_n by H2O Foto, on Flickr

But ended up with Coil Uturn Lyriks instead. Easier to maintain myself and the travel adjust is used on large lakes climbs. Also cheaper second hand.

Cons – none – i now have a fully adjustable fork in terms of dampening and travel whereas the 32 was basic.

Pros – stiffer, confidence inspiring, weight is no issue – not now i have a van rc coil on too.

Demoed a 2011 Five AM and it felt excellent, but I haven’t ridden one with 32’s so can’t give a comparison.

I put 36’s on a 2006 and it felt awful – lost all its ‘zip’. I think 140mm is the sweet spot. personal choice of course.

2006 geometry is different. Putting 36’s on that would have made it the same as a 2011 with 32’s.

I’ve run 36s on two Fives, my previous (an 09) and my current MY2010 one, in both cases Float Rs.

On the first one and set to 160mm out of the box they were fine on lift-assisted stuff but the bike felt sluggish and, like Mildred says, lost its zip. Solution? I chopped the travel down to 140mm with a spacer from Mojo (a quid or something) and best of both worlds – burlier front end and extra stiffness but geometry back to where it should be. Felt like a different bike.

I’ve got my current ones set to 150mm and that feels fine too so seems a fair compromise but I’ve got the 20mm spacer too should I want a more trail-friendly set up or the option of removing it totally for 160mm of goodness for the Alps.

If you ride hard I think 36s are a good choice and certainly bulk the bike up a bit.