Thinking of changing forks – advice please?

Hi guys,

I ride a 2008 Felt Compulsion, which has 140mm Rockshox Pikes. The head angle is quite steep, so the bike feels twitchy. Im going to get a shorter stem, and was thinking of changing the forks for 160mm ones, as my mate said that more travel would mean a less steep head angle, so less twitchy?

With regards to the axel, as mine has a 15mm axel now, what happens/what do I need to change if I get forks with a 20mm axel?

Thanks,

Chris

69 degrees isn’t steep.

Can you get a 15mm axle to fit Pikes?

What length is your current stem? – Twitchy can also be d.t. wide bars & long stem – also your weight maybe too far forward with a long stem?

I’d start with the cheap option so try (borrow if you can or classifieds cheapies maybe) a shorter stem and maybe some wide bars. 160mm over 140mm forks will only take around 1 degree from the head angle so not a huge change. The cotic website has a little calculator thing for their frames but it gives you a good idea of what happens with the changes in fork length etc.

changing the forks to change the geometery isn’t always the best move imo. a longer fork will also raise the bb, which will make the bike less stable; counteracting what you are looking for being twitchy.

pikes are all 20mm

Shorter stem, wider bars even a bigger front tyre can all help without splashing out wads of cash.
Or maybe a Cane Creek Angleset, not quite available yet but it’s a headset that allows you to change head angle.

Nice one cheers guys! Will get a shorter stem 1st off then, as I think the Pikes are quite a good fork! And thanks for correcting me on the axel size 🙂