Thanks for the replies, lots of options to consider.

I’ve always thought of Yeti of being high end xc bikes, guess they’ve added to their range and the 66 looks good.

TBH the spitfire would have been the one to go for, but I was just put off by a review I read which said its very long. However it doesn’t look overly long compared to any of the others mentioned. I want something nimble and chuckable if possible.

Also love the look of the nicolai!

Lots to consider and a few I’d not heard of…is there any one of these that stands out as being better at downhill? Or is that just very much subjective?

Thanks for the replies…

I do like the look of the bandit, but it doesn’t look slack enough.

TBH Although I’ve heard of the Mega, I’ve not heard of the Ariel or the Mondraker Foxy so will take a look

Chakaping – Not 160mm because I have a DH bike that id use when I need bigger travel. 140mm I’m open to if there’s a good one out there that fits the bill

Sag if I remember correctly is at about 25%, as I understand it you can have it as high as 33% for DH, but hopefully I’m right in saying that 25-30% is ok.

Bigdan6 – rebound is at about half, so will definitely also have a play with that. High speed and low speed are both fully off, but I think it’s only bottomed out once on a particularly tough landing. I do drops etc each time I use them and am using about 125mm – presumably this is because they’re ultra progressive.

You’re right I think TF would have picked up on that, they said internally they’re in good shape.

Thanks everyone for the comments, sounds like removing the floodgate is worth a go

Interesting thanks, I’ve heard about that mod and did ask TF Tuned about it – they advised against it because it can put the seals under too much pressure, causing leaks.

I guess I’m just after a set of forks that are plush and tackle everything from small repetitive hits to big hits. Many years ago you just picked the z1 and it worked. These days I’ve tried a 32 float which just flexed and dived everywhere, and now these lyriks which just feel too harsh. Am I asking too much?

This is an old thread, but a bit of an update/question.

I’ve discovered that my lyriks have a red spring in them, which looks to be the correct one for my 12 stone 7 weight. I’ve also had them serviced by TF Tuned who’ve said they’re perfect internally.

The problem I’ve got is that they just don’t feel plush enough and ramp up way too quickly, feeling harsh. I got them because I favour dh performance over weight and specifically wanted a coil fork. But they just don’t feel as good as my old marzocchi z1 drop offs for example! I know some people say run a softer spring – should I go down to the yellow or is that ridiculous with my weight?

Or is there a better performing 160mm fork for DH stuff that would be better for me, eg bos deville? As mentioned weight is not an issue whatsoever.

Thanks…not sure in general that they’re going to work for me having considered these replies. I see they only offer around a 125mm drop, which doesn’t seem enough. I currently carry out a manual drop (with a QR) of at a guess 250mm. That’s just a guess, I will measure when I get home, but I use most of my 400mm post for uphill but then probably only have 10% of it out for downhills

Thanks…limiting the drop is really not a concern, I would want it fully dropped if doing downhill. It’s limiting how far it goes up that’s the concern

Thanks for the help I think I get it now. Gravity dropper and fox seem to have the option of fixed positions, reverb does not.

Ok so am I able to set any of these posts to my preferred maximum when installing the post? Eg its maximum may be 300mm out of the frame, but can I set it so that its absolute maximum out of the frame is 260mm for example?

Yep pre set positions is what I’m after. Click a lever and its down. Click another lever and its up high again. Can that be done with any of the dropper posts?

Steer clear of simply electronics! I ordered a phone from them and it never turned up! Getting a refund took about 8 weeks also!

Maurizio – I’ve just got a Shan – and I couldn’t be happier with it. I don’t know how they’ve done it, but it feels like it absorbs a few bumps for you without the feeling that its going to twist and bend. I’ve owned a few hardtails (Chameleon, Soul and Cannondale) and the Shan would smoke them all on a downhill. It feels planted and stable, accelerates out of bends and the angles feel perfect – I couldn’t recommend it enough.

I’ve only ever bought strong, more expensive tubes eg the maxxis free ride ones or I’ve got an mx style one on my dh bike. Both were around £12 each but I’ve not had a puncture for about 10 years on them, touch wood.

So the amount you’ve paid for an unbranded one does sound a bit steep to me

They may well be going 650b on the bikes in the link, but thankfully I don’t see any evidence yet that the Session is going to be 650b

Thanks for the replies

No back seats in mine even, but not so keen on a tow bar rack, esp as I don’t have a tow bar.

Caddy van might be a good idea, will check out ebay

I would say vaults. I’ve just switched from v12s (which are excellent IMO) to vaults and the vaults are even better. Grippy, low profile and most importantly for me the extra size massively helps with stability.

I’m in the same boat as you Waller. Bought a soul to replace my chameleon but have just really struggled with it. I really don’t what it is, it feels great on the ups but not so good on the downs. Nicely made frame, but just nowhere near as good as the Cham for any sort of DH riding. I’ve lost my patience and have just replaced it with a production privee shan

I’d suggest 521s, I’ve just bought a set for the same purpose and am very pleased with them.

Thanks for the tips. I’ve had a go on a set a few years back which felt great, so there is hope! I will attempt to take the spring out in the week to see what colour it is

Thanks, I was going to ask how to change the spring so that’s very helpful. I’m curious to know what spring is in there, so I will follow the above and take a look

Matlockmeat – the issues I had with arch exs were: kept getting punctures, tyres wouldn’t sit straight, only drilled for presta and I found them near on impossible to get tyres on.

So in the end I just got p***ed off and thought: I’ve never had these sorts of issues with mavic, so I’m going back to mavic. Stans are light, ill give you that, but far too much hassle for me

Not had that problem, but did switch from mavic to stans based on recommendations last year. They were absolutely awful so I’ve gone back to mavic!

go into my lbs and tell them that, one of them would have a heart attack and the other would splutter and froth (both ht racer types who think you should only have fs for the alps!!!)

I completely disagree with this. I go down stuff much quicker on my trek session than my little bike. I still do 90% of the trails on my smaller bike, but I go faster, do bigger drops and have much much more fun on the session!

So I personally think overbiked is a ridiculous phrase, and you should just buy whichever one you like best.

https://vimeo.com/22691773
typical surrey riding and why a 100mm short travel 4x type bike is perfect.

Wouldn’t agree re Surrey. There are loads of rocky & rooty trails, I guess you just need to know where to look. The one in the video isn’t bad, but I guess thinking about it I can see why trails involving loads of pedalling such as Barry knows best might give Surrey that sort of reputation.

Hora,

Tried it with a guy from http://zulubikes.co.uk/ – only place you can get it, unless you fancy going to France!

Maybe check out the production privee shan. If you’re after a medium then it’s just over 5lb and its specifically designed for 150-160mm.

I tried one last month and its convinced me to get rid of my soul, my new shan arrives in June

Thanks a lot.

Did see those ones but assumed that they only do QR to 20mm, due to the description. Good to know that they’ll convert my 15mm also

Oops sorry just realised I made a typo. I have a 15mm bolt through pro 2 evo and need to convert it to 20mm. Does anyone know if that’s possible?

26er for DH, 29er for XC style riding IMO. Will be interested to see where 650b goes…

Interesting thread, I’ve heard the 55R is pretty good but heavy.

I personally don’t care about the weight & specifically want a coil fork, want to avoid air. I went for a coil lyrik in the end, but considered the 55R. I’m curious if there’s any review comparisons between the coil versions of these forks?

Thanks for the help, starting to understand this a bit better now, it does sound like a pain!

I already have a decent HT2 BB so getting an adaptor to press into the frame sounds like a good idea

Thanks….but the road/cross country use only puts me off, this bike will take a fair beating, so want something reasonably solid

Thanks for the help,

Would like to keep the SLX as they’ve been solid! CRC have a great deal on those at the mo BTW!

thefallguy – you say its a minefield – is there any one in particular you’d recommend? Or has anyone else had experience with these adaptors?

So does anyone own a Shan in XL that I could try?

Thanks for all the input

A longer wheelbase is yes in theory better for DH, for stability according to my understanding, but a smaller frame is more chuckable and manoeuvrable. Hence the tradeoff really I guess.

I currently run a 60 on the Soul, so yes would definitely change that if I got an XL shan, but would keep it if I got the Large Shan.

I’m not too hot on what the difference is between the BB30 it has and whatever BB I currently have. As I understand the BB will take my Slx cracks so that’s good enough for me

I’m 6 foot 2, so am quite borderline.

I currently own a soul which has a TT of 600, so close to the large shan. I want it to be manoeuvrable for dh etc and I’ve learned the hard way that having a bike that’s too big for you is a recipe for disaster once things start pointing down.

The large shan feels pretty good size wise but I’d like to try the XL just to be 100% sure