After doing Passportes du Soleil last year on her Kona Stinky Supreme (which weighs pretty much the same as a bull elephant) my nicer/better half asked me if perhaps a lighter bike might not be in order.
As I’m such a nice chap, I went about converting my Horst-Link 5-Spot into a worthy Alpine steed* for her to use in this year’s event (I’m using a Patriot). So off came the in-need-of-a-service DHX5 Air (which had never worked all that well anyway), to be replaced by a nice new PUSHed Van RC. And the well-worn Pikes came off, ‘cos they need a total rework as well. This is where the problem comes in. I happened to have a set of 36 Vanillas lying around the garage, with suitably soft springs for my wife’s somewhat minimalist weight. A few minutes later, they were on the bike, and Mrs Nickf was looking very pleased with the result.
Thing is, the frame was never designed to be run with 160mm forks, and I don’t want to run the risk of snapping it. I’m slightly concerned that the additional leverage of the forks will cause damage to the bike; I don’t actually think this is the case, given that it’s been ridden by me (same weight and level of finesse as one of the previously mentioned bull elephants), albeit on 140mm forks.
But am I wrong? Will Judith shear the headstock off the bike on the first DH run? She’s very good, but perhaps not at SurfMatt levels of awesomeness, so I’d hope that the bike will hold together. Given that I’ve stuck vented Moto V2s on, there’ll be a lot of braking forces to contend with….
So put my mind at rest and tell me that I’ve not set up a bike to kill my wife. Or you could take the piss, obviously. Your choice.
*It’s a Friday. A cliché or two can surely be allowed.