Hardcore Hardtail Owners – travel adjust fork

Got a RS Lyrik Dual Position 160mm to 130mm on my Slackline 853. Only using the 130mm when I am going to hit long fire road climbs or very technical climbs, to keep the front end low down. For the rest of the time, 160mm all the way. I used to run 120mm on my Slackline. It was so snappy and punchy in terms of handling and power transfer. However, the BB height was so low which you can catch some rocks underneath you. For smooth trails, 120mm is so good. I am now using my Slackline to do DH runs. 160mm fork on the Slackline is simply sublime.

I used to consider the new Pike over Lyrik. However, my Slackline 853 cannot fit tapered fork. So i end up with the Lyrik and never regret about it. Loads more adjustment than the Pike, Low/High Speed Compression + Rebound + Lockout Threshold rather than just 3 position (CTD like). Also, Lyrik use 20mm axle rather 15mm on the Pike, so it must be stiffer. Lyrik wins.

I’ve used travel adjust forks in the past and they are good for one thing IMHO… finding the sweet spot fork length for a frame 😀 . I’ve had a couple of pairs of 120-150mm Revelations and when I first put them on I think they are great; they are light, they seem to work well and go where I point them, and I can fiddle with the height…

after a while with them on I find I’m pushing them harder and feel the flex, and overwhelm the damper, never use the traval adjust as I’ve found the sweet spot, and end up swapping them again for my heavier Fox 36’s which feel so much better (set the Fox at the height I liked the Revs… 130mm for the Mmmbop).

Having said that I like long travel forks on hardtails which are designed for long travel. I ran this with 160mm forks for 6 months (the frame cracked 🙁 ).

This bike was great fun, very slack head angle, relatively low bottom bracket, and a seat angle that was steep enough to climb. The only time the forks being 160mm was any kind of issue was when “honking” out of the saddle, but even then if you weight the front they didn’t bob too much (they bob even less now they have an Avalanche Speed Sensitive Damper in them). With the low bottom bracket it feels great when cornering; you might think the payoff for this is hitting the pedals of the floor but I didn’t find that the case as when your using all the travel your not pedalling 😈 (if your forks are crap or set up badly I’m sure they will cause pedal strikes!).

I think people say things like “too much travel for a hardtail” based on their own experience of bunging a fork that is too long on a frame designed for a shorter fork… if the frame is designed for a long fork then it will work well with a long fork. IMHO travel adjust forks are a crutch for frames with over long forks, or poorly designed frames 😉

Coming off the last Mmmpob onto this Blue Pig the Fox 36 fork is still set at 130mm, I think there is room to lengthen it a little but I’m really enjoying how this rides at the moment… long, low and slack at the front with a seat angle steep enough for techy climbing. The stiff fork feels great and I can really keep the bike where I want it on the muddy techy trails I ride often… it puts a huge grin on my face.

If I was getting a custom hardtail frame for where and how I like to ride I would base it on the Ragley Troof I broke. It would be designed for a 160mm fork and be slack head angled with a low bottom bracket, and a seat angle steep enough for climbing. Fork wise I would want a 160mm fork that rides high in its travel rather than being soft and wallowy, that way it will perform well most of the time but have the big travel available when needing it. From my experience this would be a Bos Deville or the Avy Fox 36 I have… although I have heard the new Pike rides high due to the mid-valve technology (like the Bos and Avy). Enjoy!

Stanton Slackline here with X-fusion Velvet RL2 DLA 110/140. I love it! 140 with the boys, 110 with the wife.. 😀

Messiahs pretty much covered it. Ride a frame designed for the travel and its not really an issue. Got a Shan with 160mm Lyriks, and it climbs well, inst divey, doesn’t pedal strike. It’s not a massively fantastic jump bike though 😉

Thanks messiah! That was a proper breakdown of user experience-great help! Sadly I cant afford going f oute a travel adjust/then a nice fork – so I think i’ll risk the 160, it’s what it is designed at, what the builder is running his version at and should make it a DH destroyer 😆 now, pikes or devilles 👿

Pikes or Devilles?

Pikes, BOS are race forks. Massively brilliant performance but they need stripping and servicing on a very routine basis to get the best from them. Pikes on the other hand are forks for everyday use, not quite in the same league performance wise, but heaps easier to live with

I ran a set of 120/150 Sektors on my Sovereign for a while. I could see the merits of both settings on that particular frame, especially as I was using it as my only bike at the time. It was nice to be able to run the fork at 120 for longer xc days out, steepening up the head angle, making it turn a bit faster, and it was nice to run it at 150 when the going got more tough and steep, slackening the head angle, adding stability and allowing bigger hits.

Ultimately, I replaced the fork with a 150mm Revelation, and only occasioanlly miss the ability to reduce the travel.

I’ve got a slackline with xfusion slants 130/160. The travel jumps from one to the other with a quarter turn of the dial on the top of the left leg. Ride most of the time at 130, popping it into 160 when the downhills get rocky/steep/fast. I find the slight geometry change makes a greater difference than the extra travel

I have a blue pig mk1 that ran 140mm pikes and it worked well. Upgraded to a set of 160/130 lyriks and after some initial use of the 130 mode for climbs I got used to 160 and found it better than the pikes. Awesome descending and not really any difference on climbing once you got used to it. It has now become my second bike with the lyriks moving to my new frame. I got a set of 150mm Marzocchi 66s for it from ebay which turned out to actually be 170s. Its only a 2nd bike so I just slapped them on anyways. Its an absolute beast descending. I tnink it’s about 64 degree head angle like this. Cimbing is ok as well, again just a case of getting used to it. Due to the 2.9kg weight I dont get much lift on hills either!

John