Hi guys I currently have a Yeti asr7 built quite weighty, hammerSchmidt, dropper post, running saint gears and brakes with air Totems. I picked it up the other day and realised just how front heavy it is with the forks. Would swapping them out to air lyriks or 36’s make a noticeable difference or am I wasting my time? Thanks

More rigid forks around here than you can shake a stick at. Try asking on pink bike. 😉

My guess is yes, a bit.

possibly way cheaper and easier to loose the 200-300g(?) by changing your tyres to something single ply?

Have you got the totems at 180mm or shortened?

Tyres might be worth looking at, probably not trad singleplies but there’s some lighter downhill-suitable options now like Specialized’s SX range, and some folks swear by schwable supergravity (haven’t used ’em myself).

If nothing else you could easily test the effect of a 500g weight drop off the nose by switching tyres and tubes and going for a spin? Not exactly the same as a fork swap but should be useful.

Thanks guys I have nobby nics on it at the moment so I will look into the weights etc. And yes I do have the forks shortened to 160mm.

It’d make a big difference IME.

I’ve ridden two identical bikes back to back, one with a Totem and the other with a 36.

But the Totem was way better for the intended purpose – which was freeride/DH.

Thanks guys I have nobby nics on it at the moment so I will look into the weights etc. And yes I do have the forks shortened to 160mm.

Yes, shift to Lyriks. I think even coil Lyriks will make a difference.

Huge difference! Picking the two up side by side and you’ll notice. Agreed the Totems are dh dual crowns in disguise – but hell if that’s what your doing then save the money and spend it on going somewhere to ride!

Also – as an aside- nobby nics seem an odd choice for such a beefy build? If you’ve just over built it for durability/peace of mind (i have!) then ditch the forks – you’ll get a nicer ride up – and something like th 36’s or even the new pikes can handle a proper thrashing by the pro’s on the way down 😀

fd3chris – Member

Thanks guys I have nobby nics on it at the moment so I will look into the weights etc.

Whatever works for you but this does seem weird, xc tyres on a massive blunt axe of a bike. Sounds like switching to Lyriks could work well for you but are you sure the rest of the bike is right?

Course, you could just be one of those dudes that can get excellent results from stuff that makes no sense to other people, in which case don’t listen to me 🙂

To be honest I use the bike for Woburn which is nothing extreme but I love the bike even though I know it’s an odd build in parts. The only reason I fitted the totems was when I was building the bike up they were available and reasonably priced! Looking back now I should of waited for some lyriks or 36’s but I’m in a better monetary position now and I was very disappointed with the nose heaviness but definitely not the stiffness of the forks! I think I will hunt out some decent 36’s or air lyrics.

Air totems, about 2.6kg?

Sounds quite light already TBH. I’ve got 66s on a similarly unsubtle bike – they’re 2.9kg IIRC…

Personally, I wouldn’t bother swapping – with saint drivetrain you really don’t have a bike made for pedalling uphill.

Spend the money on uplift days 🙂

I know it’s a sit down and granny bike up hill but I was hoping a lighter front end would make it feel more poppy. If you know what I mean?