Show me your Long Travel Hard Tail Builds please… It's friday after all

Its friday and no photo thread yet, so show me your long travel hard tails

long travel, hard tail =

Isn't that rigid rather than hardtail (or is rigid just a sub-set of hardtail)?

Anyway here's mine although it's not particularily long-travel at the moment as I've recently switched it from Talas to Float 100's:

he he he. It is a rigid (with a hard tail) that obviously goes for long travels with all the panniers etc.
Nice soul.

Does 160mm count as long travel these days? (bike thankfully gone, now, it were awful!)

I tried a Pace 303 with RC40 XCAM's but it didn't work. Or put another way I didnt get it.

Short travel HT I do understand (and enjoy) and Long travel Full sus I understand (and enjoy)

But what I cant figure out is how having a front end capable of a 20 foot drop off, and rear incapable of taking a direct blow from a 3" kerb, is suppoosed to be good at anything.

from a climbing sprint POV the HT is great but the front end is to high even on RC40's dropped to 100mm and on the down hills even a cheapo FSR XC would be quicker!

I just dont get it, I know all bikes are a compromise, but long Travel HT? thats just a step backwards.

i like the qwerty bike! ?

lol fotorat something about your post made me chuckle, competely disagree with you thopugh im afraid.

my lt ht is in the post…

finally finished this last night with a nice bottle or 2 of Ale, just waiting for a full Ti seat collar to arrive (if it gets through customs)

currenly waiting for a shorter stem from mr.postman

Sorry about the quality for the pic (camera phone), but the bike is fabulous!

Ok "calls your bluff" please list the MTBing situations where LT/HT is wins over LT/FS or anyhting else.

Come on, enlighten me, I am open for persuasion, so long as now tells me that Pace 303 with XCAM's is anygood, cos they are usless.

i used to think that fotorat but ive now changed my mind 😉

Foroat

Now LT HT, just means you have to use your legs more as rear suspension while the forks take up most of the front… quite simple, just a different riding style. The bike is lighter, easier to maintain, costs less to maintain, cheaper to buy, is stiffer, easier to set up, will survive in bad weather better than a FS and will have better pedaling efficiency.. need more ? 🙂

and I have seen a lot at cwm carn DH on hardtails keeping up with LT FS, in fact they were a lot more on the ball and acurate (but then you would need to be as a HT wont forgive any mistakes unlike a FS)

Ok "calls your bluff" please list the MTBing situations where LT/HT is wins over LT/FS or anyhting else.

A LT/HT is cheaper than a LT/FS, so for me it was great while I saved for the FS!

CrAsH…tEsT..RiDeR…wins the best fire-guard award. 🙂

My old Pace 303 with Pikes. That was nice, but too harsh for my old bones.

Soul was excellent, but too small.

please list the MTBing situations where LT/HT is wins over LT/FS

"a quick blast round the local woods" , "ragging it something silly" , "keeping it real" and "riding the trail not the bike" apparently 😉

I have the ONLY fire guard 🙂 do I win a prize?..

trust me I cannot wait to snap some shots on a nice trail and not my front room

so long as now tells me that Pace 303 with XCAM's is anygood, cos they are usless.

Hey, stop dissing my bike 🙂 I'm pretty sure it's taken blow from a 3" kerb once or twice and survived. Never done a 20 foot drop on it though…

Crash test rider's list above pretty much covers it.
I've never got on with FS bikes – ridden a couple and they just feel odd to me. Different strokes for different folks and all that.

But what I cant figure out is how having a front end capable of a 20 foot drop off, and rear incapable of taking a direct blow from a 3" kerb, is suppoosed to be good at anything.

It's not really about whether its the best tool for the job – sometimes its just the most fun tool for the job. My LTHT only gets used for downhill, though I also have a downhill bike. Which doesn't really make sense, but sometimes you just want to keep it real, yo.

I do agree on the huge travel part being a bit silly. I seem to have settled on lyriks at 140mm – though the frame is technically capable of much bigger forks it feels nicer with a bit less travel.

and I have seen a lot at cwm carn DH on hardtails keeping up with LT FS, in fact they were a lot more on the ball and acurate (

And i've seen rigid riders keeping up and beating LT HT riders 🙂

Sounds like singeltrackworld marketing BS to me 🙂

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Pace 'n' Pikes. 😀

Oh, and qwerty's is brill. 8)

Oh I have…. in fact one of them was my mate Ant, he was on his DMR with 120 forks down cwm carn, he was at the front of the group! seen quite a few down there flying on a HT, but they were very skilled unlike a lot of the 8" FS riders just ploughing through and letting the bike do the work

its about smooth riding and using your body more than relying on the bike. Im not saying it is better etc etc and as you know I have had DH bikes, me personally I could not keep up with a FS as I dont have the skill, and I would only ever be fast on a full DH bike as it makes up for my lack of skill so can plow through stuff! but a good rider on a HT can keep up with a FS.. just take a look at a lot of 4x riders, very smooth, very fast and pull huge jumps.. it does take a skilled rider though

Anyhow each to their own, i think every bike has its place and all bikes can do any job, some better than others… FS you pay the price upfront and for maintenance, HT you have lower costs, they both do the job; some like one and not the other, and vice versa, but they are both bikes at the end of the day.. you choose what you like

Bonesetter – How you getting on with the Paradox, still liking it ?

I'm giving serious consideration to getting one myself 😕

CrAsH…tEsT..RiDeR, I've just noticed that this whole tread is a sneaky way of you saying 'look at my shiny new bike' without actually saying 'look at my shiny new bike', very subtle 😆

ps, it is a very nice shiny new bike.

true but I also wanted to see other set ups, I have never build a LT HT… so a 1st for me, always done DH bikes and 6" FS bikes, or a 100mm HT. Venturing into LT HT is a big change for me, just hoping I have done it right (colour scheme aside)

What actually counts as long travel these days? Anything over 100mm?

Justification for a LT HT?

Mine is my DH bike, I used to have a more expensive, heavier, “proper” bouncy DH bike but I couldn’t justify it to myself let alone the missus, didn’t have the skill talent or strength to haul it around corners, didn’t really have the money to keep it running as well as my other bikes and it didn’t get the use it should have really I actually find the LT HT easier to ride in some ways obviously a big rock garden is where it runs out of answers and you do get more tired simply because you are doing more work…
Long travel FS is for proper DH riding/racing or IT consultants to spank over and that’s about it really, why bother with it otherwise?

Plus riding a HT Downhill makes you more of a Man; Fact!

I have a shorter travel (4”) HT for everything else not sure I’d want more travel (front or back) for all day/trail rides…

Horses for courses…

Ok then why is it in every race I do:

Kona Cheddar
Kona Bristol
are you tough enough
Honc
ect

I always get stuck behind some numpty on a HT in singletrack sections, they have to pick thier way through the rocks and roots and I can simply pile straight through.

How can being slower than your mates be any fun?

yes LT/HT is cheaper and less mainentance that Full S, but thats got nothing to do with the ride.

there is no way a skilled rider would be faster downhill or over the rough stuff with as much control and poise on HT than FS, I think the problem here might be the cost of decent FS bikes. lord know you have to be in the 4000-5000 bracket nowadays to get UST as standard. and yes getting them set up right takes hours.

But for me FS is to HT like SPD is flatties or FS is to the flex stem.

Come on chaps in 2010 not 1990!

oooh that curtis is nice.. which is it?

I also started this thread as a mate is selling his nomad for a LT HT (I put a thread up a while back to see what frames he should consider ) so was hoping to get some ideas for him.. he is looking at Cotic Bfe, Dialled, and a lot of others. Always good to get more ideas and see what set ups people have

Oh and how can spds be a step above flats? most DH pros use flats no issue, easier to get the foot out and rail, dab instead of a wipe out, you can lean the bike over further… flats just mean you need better bike control to stay on them, however it is damn funny seeing an SPD user try DH on flats… instant superman attemps. Ok SPDs on a short travel XC bike fine for more pedaling efficiency, however on long travel where you are jumping, or going DH flats are simply better. Proofs in the pudding, anyone use spds at worlds DH or at crankworks? not many

fotorat tee hee trolltastic. 😆

I'd be quicker on a fs but still seem to get held up by lot of dh fs going downhill on my lt ht, perhaps your faster than all of us on here 😉

anyone use spds at worlds DH

erm…. Steve Peat ?

It's a Freeride – recently sold to a bod on here so no doubt will pop up soon having been refreshed. Rode beautifully with a surprising amount of back end compliance – absolutley spot on for natural singletrack and was never out of its depth until things started to really point down when it's 71 degrees HA started to show.

anyone use spds at worlds DH or at crankworks? not many

WC DH, probably 40-50% of the field I’d have thought, Crankworks is a totally different kettle of fish, flippy, jumpy teenagers don’t need any pedals they seem to all use psychokinetic abilities to control their bikes…

Chumba HX1

let me phrase it again, all the Dh pros and all the freeride stars, how many use SPD's? 10%-20% perhaps? how many use SPDs on the XC scene? perhaps 95% personally I dont care what people use, but they are not a step back.. now take spd's away from a rider and givem them flats.. a lot will loose their footing, slip or esp when jumping.. crash, so SPD's dont teach you bike control (staying with the bike naturally), you are just anchored there which is fine for XC.. now whats the lose with flats? you loose pedaling efficiency.. nothing else, hardly an issue on a DH track. I have only really ridden with those into DH and freeridy stuff… never was into XC. only 2 use spds, even on uplifts the odd 1 once in a while… but hey im not saying which is best, just trying to say they are not a step back! the majority of DH and freeriders use flats for a reason.

Anyhow show us your LT Ht's 😉