A nicolai, 5 year warranty and they build them strong. And they’ll build most of them stronger if you ask (e.g. put the stays off the beefier FR models on the XC ones instead etc. or even full custom with different tubeset).
depends a lot on how much travel you are looking at i guess but im pretty chuffed with the maxle rear end on my five which stiffens stuff up pretty good. not sure how much pressure a rp23 can take, i run mine at 180psi and im about 13 stone. i reckon that might be a good excuse to go for a cane creek shock on a five or possibly an alpine 160.
i had a blur 4x which was tough and stiff but i found it a little too short and the seat angle was pretty slack. im 6ft so if you are as tall or taller than me i wouldnt go for one of them.
maybe a nicolai? they are pretty over-engineered arent they?
If a trail bike, of course i am biased, but i think the Chumba XCL, 140 rear travel will take upto 160mm up front, VERY tough, even for a big bloke and laterally very stiff, choose a coil DHX and bingo, perfect!
Or the EVO, not everyones cup of tea and a bit of an ugly duckling, but again really stiff and super tough 6″ travel, some of the Chumba race team have even raced DH on them.
Both frames use large oversized conventional tubing with over sized inverted bottom brackets for a really stiff frame. Plus i can do both frames for just under 1K at the moment.
i had a heckler in size xl last year, fitted with 140 mm forks.
i felt like i was being pitched over the front on steep downs.
i figure if i get a set of 160mm fox talas 36 fitted to a similar type of bike i should be ok.
Putting longer forks on will help, as will having a slacker HA, which a longer fork will help with, just make sure the frame you choose is corrected for a longer fork.
I had a large 05 enduro with 36r’s, felt great on the down’s, and fine for general “trail riding” (im 6’2 ‘n’ a bit, but a mere 15 stone)
The review in the mag of the Heckler mk2 (that’s the “not the new one” I think) suggested that a soft fork would exacerbate diving issues etc or something…I would agree with that totally. Mine felt like shit until I put a firm spring in the fork. An old 36r, or I guess a Talas, would be perfect for it.
Ton. I’m riding an XL meta 5.5, and don’t ever feel like I’m getting pitched over the bars, however, I’m getting fat bastid blowing through the travel problems.
I think you should buy one, stick a coil shock on it, and tell me if it works 🙂
He had his chance with a supermoto and didn’t take it!
Anyway, enough of my whingeing, most single pivots are good for “sitting back” into their travel when it gets steep. I sold my patriot to a mate last year and realy missed it, so ended up with another. That one had dhx air shock and 36’s and was only 30lb including pedals but could take a right beasting, so good for all day, and for going daft – I did the mega on it last year and it carried so much speed through the switchbacks and woods compared to a mate’s 224.
The great thing about the Patriot is that you can alter the head angle; slack for Alps style riding,then steeper for normal stuff.
I would go for something with a coil spring rather than air if your a big dude and your gonna be throwing it about a bit, same for forks, get pikes or something more robust.
Ton – I’m the same weight and height as you and ride a Blur LT (older model), **** awesome. Had the shock tuned by Mojo to stop it pushing through the travel and the RP23 will take 300psi without any probs. Had a slight feeling of twisting at the rear end initially but had a beefier piviot linkage made up and now its as stiff as ****.
i run a rp23 on the ventana, initially at 300psi, i have dropped it to 270psi and it feels a lot nicer.
i will be building my new project up with a coil shock.
ton go with a nicolai, i’m 6ft 4 and well over 20stone, but my nicolai helius fr last year was really good, untill it got nicked. however just oredered a nicolai helius st, the main reason was that i could run a 2.5inch stroke shock and only have 160mm rear travel so you could have a low leverage ratio and run a light spring reducing pressure on the shock. nicolai have a few frames which you could do this. a helius st with a totem would be good, or mybe the am with a fox 36 would also be nice