Enduro/gravity bike suspension and geo

[Odinson]

I'm on the fence with this type of thing. When I bought my jeffsy 2 of my mates told me that the stock rim width was basically unusable and that I should immediately throw away the stock wheels. I could honestly not feel a difference between ZTR's on hopes over the stock wheels the bike comes with.

 

I'd want actual measured data from a rider I respect before I'd commit. And even then I'd weigh that cost up over another performance upgrade such as a few days with a shock wiz for example. If I destroy a wheel then yes.

 

The only non stock items on my bike are the rear shock and the cockpit. But the cockpit is just personal preference rather than any perceived performance advantage.

 

I have a set of Minions in WT and a set of Rekons in WT. The Minions feel great on my rims and I can run fairly low pressures and not have them squirming on me. I think the DD casings play a big role in that regard though. The Rekons on the other hand, in EXO casing, need high pressures to prevent them from rolling. 

 

Bah, I guess my gat brand net for some new wheels. If I bust a wheel, then maybe I'll look into it. 

[Duane_Bosch]

 

If I bust a wheel, then maybe I'll look into it.

 

Same.

[Bos]

While on the subject of tyres, who here has gone from around a 25mm ID rim to about a 30mm ID rim. I'd like to go slightly wider to make full use of Maxxis' WT tyres, but I'm gonna be pissed if I replace perfectly good rims and then feel virtually no difference out on the trail. 

 

Went from 23ID to 30, and it was well worth it. Stiffer /more stable sidewalls giving more confidence. tyre didnt get much wider though. maybe 2mm a side. 

 

Also got the Shwable Razar Rock on the back @BAGEAR  asked for a semi slick (came from a Ardent Race) and I'm very impressed with this tyre. Sure I'm not coming from DHR country, but believe it or not, this weigh's the same as 2.25 Ardent race, it rolls faster, the casing feels much stronger and It really grips well. I just took a chance since it was at a bargain at evobike but I'm over the moon. It has solid shoulder knobs and I have not lost the rear since, and I live in loose over hardpack country. I rode it in loamy Knysna and in the wet and so far so good. I really think its a worthey option. Its a 2.35 and similar to Maxxis 2.4's

 

Here's some photos:

[Headshot]

A tasty HT with Agressors front and rear!

[Jewbacca]

Rim ID.... 

 

Funnily enough, on my Mercer I was fastest on 23mm ID rims. Went to 30mm rims and they felt 'stiffer' but they also felt wooden.

 

On the XC dual suss I went from Crests to Spank 345's and definitely noticed improved cornering.

 

My humble opinion is that sommer going wider isn't always better. The WTB i29 A-sym felt wooden on the hardtail, but the Spanks felt great on the dual suss....

 

Good enough to spend thousands on? Nah.... not until you wreck a wheel

[Headshot]

My HT has 23mm Flows on it. They work just great with the 2.4 Ardents I am running and before that with MM 2.35 and Rock Razor. 

[CdT85]

Went from 23ID to 30, and it was well worth it. Stiffer /more stable sidewalls giving more confidence. tyre didnt get much wider though. maybe 2mm a side. 

 

Also got the Shwable Razar Rock on the back @BAGEAR  asked for a semi slick (came from a Ardent Race) and I'm very impressed with this tyre. Sure I'm not coming from DHR country, but believe it or not, this weigh's the same as 2.25 Ardent race, it rolls faster, the casing feels much stronger and It really grips well. I just took a chance since it was at a bargain at evobike but I'm over the moon. It has solid shoulder knobs and I have not lost the rear since, and I live in loose over hardpack country. I rode it in loamy Knysna and in the wet and so far so good. I really think its a worthey option. Its a 2.35 and similar to Maxxis 2.4's

 

Here's some photos:

 

Awesome. Just put a 2.35 Rock Razor on my bike last night, still to go try it out on the trails. Still rocking the ZTR Flow Ex rims (25.5 internal, 29 external), but  the tyre is sitting quite "fat". as wide as my current P.O.S Onza 2.4.

Still have to get a better front tyre to replace my 2.4 Onza.

Edited January 29, 2019 by Otero

[stefmeister]

While on the subject of tyres, who here has gone from around a 25mm ID rim to about a 30mm ID rim. I'd like to go slightly wider to make full use of Maxxis' WT tyres, but I'm gonna be pissed if I replace perfectly good rims and then feel virtually no difference out on the trail. 

Going from 23 to 29 mm ID, the only difference I noticed was less twangy pings when cornering over rough stuff. That could just be down to a better bead design.

Edited January 29, 2019 by stefmeister

[Thermophage]

Awesome. Just put a 2.35 Rock Razor on my bike last night, still to go try it out on the trails. Still rocking the ZTR Flow Ex rims (25.5 internal, 29 external), but  the tyre is sitting quite "fat". as wide as my current P.O.S Onza 2.4.

Still have to get a better front tyre to replace my 2.4 Onza.

Yeha Schwalbe tyres actually measure properly ITO their stated vs. actual width. Maxiss for example measure WAAAY below their stated tyre width.

[Bos]

Rim ID.... 

 

Funnily enough, on my Mercer I was fastest on 23mm ID rims. Went to 30mm rims and they felt 'stiffer' but they also felt wooden.

 

On the XC dual suss I went from Crests to Spank 345's and definitely noticed improved cornering.

 

My humble opinion is that sommer going wider isn't always better. The WTB i29 A-sym felt wooden on the hardtail, but the Spanks felt great on the dual suss....

 

Good enough to spend thousands on? Nah.... not until you wreck a wheel

 

I was running a lightweight 23ID rim (WTB KOM23) which was fine for my riding except I kept dinging them. I also got a bit of tire roll when going hard into berms, however a stiffer sidewall tyre might have been slightly better. 

 

I couldn't decide If I needed ZTR FLOW's or just a lightweight Rapide/Spank/LYNE 30mmID rim, so I pulled the trigger on the Rapide because if they were to soft they would be cheap to replace. I am yet to even ping the rear while my previous rim would have been written off by now, however I have the RazorRock on the back now. but, all in all, a nice lightweight option for medium to light riders for average trail use. I am yet to race a proper Enduro on them, but I live out in the Breerivier so my daily grind is rockville.

Edited January 29, 2019 by Bos

[Headshot]

Fitted super easily and measures at the same size as the 2.6 Butcher albeit at a higher pressure...

Edited January 29, 2019 by Headshot

[Yo-Yo]

Rim ID.... 

 

Funnily enough, on my Mercer I was fastest on 23mm ID rims. Went to 30mm rims and they felt 'stiffer' but they also felt wooden.

 

On the XC dual suss I went from Crests to Spank 345's and definitely noticed improved cornering.

 

My humble opinion is that sommer going wider isn't always better. The WTB i29 A-sym felt wooden on the hardtail, but the Spanks felt great on the dual suss....

 

Good enough to spend thousands on? Nah.... not until you wreck a wheel

 

Fastest wheels I've had and the toughest were Spanks and they were 650b 23mm ID with a 2.4 Wolverine - Bronson combo. I did tell the 30+ ID people they were 28 ID just to seem cool. 

Edited January 29, 2019 by Yo-yo

[Rigardt@Scott]

Wide rims, I buy into it completely.

 

But... going from 23mm to 30mm, would I spend money on it? No. If my rim was wrecked or I was buying a new bike though I would buy wide rims.

[RiverInTheRoad]

I upgraded from 22mm ID to 29mm ID and I think it was worth it. The tire still collapses during hard cornering at probably the same pressure but it all just feels more controlled when folding. If you run new school tires which don't have DH sidewalls you need wide rims. Or you should just run narrow tires.

 

Back in the day I had maxxiss 2.5 DH tires on my DH bike on Mavic 721 rims and they worked perfectly....

[Headshot]

I managed to get a short ride in on some sections of my test track. So far so good. The first thing I noticed was how fast it seemed to roll. Grip and steering were very good. I felt slightly nervous at first but that disappeared quickly. On flatter sweeping bends where I usually pedal and feel the front give a bit there was no such thing. On Strava my times were good despite not pushing and encountering walkers and bikes Long the way. I think the pressure could be lowered from 25 to say 23 quite safely. Off the wheel, the casing feels stiffer than the Butchers despite a claimed lower weight. Weight was 929 g which is slightly heavier than claimed but still 30 less than the Butcher. More test rides to come but so far it seems to be working as I expected...

[Bos]

Fitted super easily and measures at the same size as the 2.6 Butcher albeit at a higher pressure...

 

This looks good! Someone mentioned it in a debate on one of the threads, but this does look much different at 2.5''. I'd try this out on the front with those corner knobs any day. 

 

And then some feedback on the RazarRock.. Murphys law, I have not ridden for 2 weeks and decided to ride up to the local radio tower. The trail down is a hiking trail, mix of riverbed style rocks and jagged reef like rocks. Needless to say, I flatted and had to plug. Was to low on pressure though, running 26PSI on that was asking for it. It was also mega windy, also into the sunset which made it even harder to pic and hit a line. Was pretty irritated with myself, luckily no ding.