Enduro/gravity bike suspension and geo

[jimmy hardtail]

Maxxis high rollers 26x2.5!!!

Edited January 31, 2019 by jimmy hardtail

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Dude, really interested in how it rides. Those are some serious figures. And you're what, 3 or.4 years into the development cycle, if you include the hardtail?

[Jewbacca]

So I came here to read all about nuschool slack geometry. Exactly 2 posts about it then 12 pages of tyre wars!! Gotta love the hub.

Speaking of geometry, I just built the worlds longest slackest dh bike. 62 degree head angle, 550 reach,1370 wheelbase. As soon as I can get it up tokai I will let y'all know if it's super sick or super stupid. I'm hoping sick....

Sick bikes Sesh.... 62' HA, 77' SA and a wheelbase of roughly the same!

[Hairy]

Sick bikes Sesh.... 62' HA, 77' SA and a wheelbase of roughly the same!

[Hairy]

Frames are only R17.5K and around R18.5K shipped ex import duties

[Hairy]

they have some sexy hardtails!

Sick bikes Sesh.... 62' HA, 77' SA and a wheelbase of roughly the same!

[Headshot]

So I had another bike suspension and geo tyre test ride this morning ( See Jimmy). Had a peculiar front slide moment on a slightly off camber hard pack with sand over descent. Weird. No issues on any of the rocky fast stuff and the front tyre feels great at slightly lower pressures. Can't say the same for the rear Butcher which burped or flatted at the bead and lost air again after a reinflation. Time to bin it. 

 

And the geriatric hiking crew were out in force - all over the trails. It was like dodge body. 

[jimmy hardtail]

Dude, really interested in how it rides. Those are some serious figures. And you're what, 3 or.4 years into the development cycle, if you include the hardtail?

[jimmy hardtail]

I've been tinkering with geometry and sizing for a while. My goal is a 29er with a 170 to 180 fork and 160 or more rear. Basically as close to DH as I can go but still able to climb without being impossibly awkward. But actually there is no one bike that can do it all. Enduro style riding, slog up climbs and race down is one thing, but if you want to ride more varied trails it's not so good. So really you can have a race bike or a fun bike. It's very hard to get one to do both

[Headshot]

I have almost managed to stop noticing my new front tyre whcih is a good sign. It just works. My recent suspension adjustments have been the following. Setting the rear sag at around 35% . Increasing the rebound speed to 5 from full open up front and 2 clicks faster out back. I now have the kind of smooth bottomless feel I wanted over repeat hard hits and the bike seems to skip over rather than get caught up on rocks and roots. I felt that  the fork dives a bit too much under braking. That could just be the damper or a lack of compression damping up front. Will play around with that next. 

[Hairy]

good to hear the bike is coming together for you!

 

I have not been on the trails for a few weeks, and managed to get in a ride yesterday. At first I was all over the place, did some tyre kicking and soul searching ... this did nothing to improve the ride. The noticed that my forks compression was completely open (I think the youngest was "dialing in" my suspension for me) .... 3 x clicks of LSC compression on the DVO and she was sitting up tall again and not diving ... knocked it back to 2 x clicks and the bike was glued to the trail again and it had a good feeling in the turns.

 

Amazing how small things make such a big difference.

I have almost managed to stop noticing my new front tyre whcih is a good sign. It just works. My recent suspension adjustments have been the following. Setting the rear sag at around 35% . Increasing the rebound speed to 5 from full open up front and 2 clicks faster out back. I now have the kind of smooth bottomless feel I wanted over repeat hard hits and the bike seems to skip over rather than get caught up on rocks and roots. I felt that  the fork dives a bit too much under braking. That could just be the damper or a lack of compression damping up front. Will play around with that next. 

[Eddy Gordo]

Gotta love how easy it is to setup a dvo!

[Bos]

So I squeezed in a ride in Jonkershoek on Saturday morning and thought I'd share my experience. 

Its always nice to measure yourself against some trails of relevance. You might be KOM'ing your local trails but when you get faced with proper trails it challenges you on new levels. Wish I lived closer or had some proper space to build(and a truckload of freetime

 

It would also be the first time I ride there with my new bike and bigger wheels so was really keen to see how I'd go. The last time I rode the plumber on my RM Element with saddle dropped wasn't a very nice experience(the trail wasn't in the best condition to ad) One can be pretty competitive on the bottom flatter trails. One thing I noted was that Maxim Marott is KOM on a lot of the middle to lower trails and he probably rode his 4'' Cannondale FS. Mans got skills.

 

So once at the top of Saaltjie I had a choice of either Armageddon or Status Quo. I was a bit pushed for time so opted for the Armageddon 8 (bad decision). Main reason was that I've seen some of the features on Status Quo, which some are blind and since being alone and pressed for time, I wasn't keen on stopping to push back up all the time. Armageddon 8 is boring as SH*s though. 

 

But then there's Iron monkey, which I really wanted to ride (never rode it before) and the top bit of that was really awesome. Wow. Flows so well. IM 5 is however a proper test of strength and skill. Also really enjoyed it. The two doubles halfway down just before the drop(If I remember correctly) I rode around and I'm not sure I would have made since there was also a bit of headwind, but that trail is awesome. A real trail rewarding aggressive riding and a real test of the bikes most of us seem to be riding these days. 

 

Some pointers to take away for me:

1. I almost lost my grip on the bar for a second. These foam grips are not grippy enough for the rough stuff)

2. I can do with a wider front tire.. need a 2.4/2.5 for those rocks

3. I'm not so sure my fork is set up right. However It could be that I started getting tired, or that im just not use to it. Its set up quite progressively and I have a bit of LSC to keep it riding higher. My Formula 35 fork has these interchangable compression valves that serve as custom tunes. It felt to me that the combination of the slightly harsh LSC which I felt on rounderslow to medium speed hits especially Iron Monkey 5 and the sharp increase in progression from 3 volume spacers gave me a real workout. Id be keen to ride a Pike down there and see how it feels. However I think I need to swap out the Compression circuit for one with a flatter end of stroke(falling rate) and a firmer initial and mid stroke. Ride slightly higher pressure and take some volume spacers out. 

 

Felt perfect on everything else up to now..

[Headshot]

Nice. We were out Jonks way on Sunday for a party and boy was it raining. Trails must be mint after that.

 

Bos, what bike are you on? 

 

Foam grips are a no no for techncial riding. I tried them once and hated it. Some nice sticky ODI's are far and away the best. Currently I have Nukeproof Horizons on my Enduro which are also very good. 

 

Not sure that wider tyres work better on rocks. What are you running right now?

[Odinson]

Nice, simple article over on enduromtb on suspension kinematics: https://enduro-mtb.com/en/mtb-suspension-kinematics/

[Duane_Bosch]

List of words that #Enduro riders use but don't actually know what they mean.

 

1. Kinematics

 

It's a pretty short list I'll admit.

Sorry not aimed at you Odinson. I just can't with the overuse that word.

Edited February 4, 2019 by Duane_Bosch