Enduro/gravity bike suspension and geo

[Thermophage]

Get your brakes set up right guy's

 

Butt...I only have 2 balls

[Capricorn]

Get your brakes set up right guy's

 

ball cable.. 

[Hairy]

Those graphics are graphic!

[Eddy Gordo]

             

[Headshot]

So after weeks of coughing up green stuff I decided to go ride anyway, before the rain hit on Sunday. Got a shuttle up Silvermine and rode down Tokai, back up a bit and then home. At some point my hated Butcher out back started losing air. Had to pump it up repeatedly and it nearly ruined my ride. Cue a Sunday visit to the Uitsig Bike Park where Clint happily fitted a new Aggressor out back. 

 

Time will tell if the Exo casing survives, but I've done well on Exo on my hard tail. Judging from my discussions with Clint, he smashes just about any tyre to pieces at Tokai but he does ride much faster than I do. He is running a new Panaracer heavy duty 2.6 or 2.7 tyre that has seriously reinforced side walls and reckons its the biz. Only available in 29 so far in SA.

[Eddy Gordo]

[Hairy]

https://nsmb.com/articles/vorsprung-smashpot-coil-conversion-fox-36-reviewed/

[RiverInTheRoad]

Guaranteed best seller in RSA

 

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/Video-Chromag-Releases-New-Chris-Kovarik-Signature-Dagga-Pedal.html

[anybody seen george?]

With all the mullet bike stuff hitting the net/forums here is something interesting 

[anybody seen george?]

Personally I feel indifferent to the mixed wheel sizes. I think its a case of rider to bike fit.

I am a 29er rider, will probably allways will be. As a tall bloke the 29er fits me well. 
That being said I have only very limited experience riding 650b so can't call myself an expert. 

I think this will have more to do with the rider, his/her rideing style and the type of trail he/she rides most often.

[Jewbacca]

Personally I feel indifferent to the mixed wheel sizes. I think its a case of rider to bike fit.

 

I am a 29er rider, will probably allways will be. As a tall bloke the 29er fits me well. 

That being said I have only very limited experience riding 650b so can't call myself an expert. 

 

I think this will have more to do with the rider, his/her rideing style and the type of trail he/she rides most often.

I reckon it has more to do with the geometry and what you want the bike for.

 

A well made 29er will feel more lively and playful and agile than an average 650b.

 

Geometry, suspension platforms and setups as well as the trails you're riding will determine how the bike feels.

 

With everything going longer and slacker, bike sizes have become somewhat washy.

 

My small Jeffsy is longer than a 2015 large Niner RIP. It just has room for a 170mm dropper where as the Niner doesn't have space for a 120mm.

 

The '29ers are for big people' is dated when it comes to trail/enduro bikes. I can understand race bikes being size specific or a 4foot5 light weight sprog or lady struggling with wagon wheels on an xco course, but as head angles have slackened and reach has lengthened, things like toe/tire overlap and stand over heights have been mostly neutralised.

 

A good bike is a good bike, regardless of wheel size. Without guys 'playing' and experimenting, development would be dull.

 

Stuff like this has been happening for years, but now with social media and multitudes of channels available to the masses, it is just a lot easier for it to reach a larger audience and immediately.

 

10 years ago you had to read about it in printed magazines....

[Hairy]

I reckon it has more to do with the geometry and what you want the bike for.

 

A well made 29er will feel more lively and playful and agile than an average 650b.

 

Geometry, suspension platforms and setups as well as the trails you're riding will determine how the bike feels.

 

With everything going longer and slacker, bike sizes have become somewhat washy.

 

My small Jeffsy is longer than a 2015 large Niner RIP. It just has room for a 170mm dropper where as the Niner doesn't have space for a 120mm.

 

The '29ers are for big people' is dated when it comes to trail/enduro bikes. I can understand race bikes being size specific or a 4foot5 light weight sprog or lady struggling with wagon wheels on an xco course, but as head angles have slackened and reach has lengthened, things like toe/tire overlap and stand over heights have been mostly neutralised.

 

A good bike is a good bike, regardless of wheel size. Without guys 'playing' and experimenting, development would be dull.

 

Stuff like this has been happening for years, but now with social media and multitudes of channels available to the masses, it is just a lot easier for it to reach a larger audience and immediately.

 

10 years ago you had to read about it in printed magazines....

the good old days of perusing the bicycle mags at CNA

[Headshot]

I am sure I'd get used to and enjoy a 29er enduro bike, but this is coming from a guy who finds his 650B Enduro a monster truck and loves the nippy, quick steering and lively feel of his 26er HT from time to time.  I doubt that adding a 29er wheel to the Enduro would make it better except perhaps in the steepest high speed trail situations. Would not stop me trying it if money was no object of course. :-) 

[Eddy Gordo]

I am sure I'd get used to and enjoy a 29er enduro bike, but this is coming from a guy who finds his 650B Enduro a monster truck and loves the nippy, quick steering and lively feel of his 26er HT from time to time.  I doubt that adding a 29er wheel to the Enduro would make it better except perhaps in the steepest high speed trail situations. Would not stop me trying it if money was no object of course. :-) 

Same here, tried some 29ers, and miss the pop lively feel of the smaller wheel. Even with 650b, I miss the lively pop and workout of a 26er when descending.

[Jewbacca]

I am sure I'd get used to and enjoy a 29er enduro bike, but this is coming from a guy who finds his 650B Enduro a monster truck and loves the nippy, quick steering and lively feel of his 26er HT from time to time.  I doubt that adding a 29er wheel to the Enduro would make it better except perhaps in the steepest high speed trail situations. Would not stop me trying it if money was no object of course. :-) 

The way they have done it would leave the bike geo almost exactly the same wouldn't it?

 

Swap a 140mm 650b fork and wheel with a 120mm 29er fork and wheel.

 

That way the geo changes by less than 5mm (taking in a sag %) which equates to less that 0.33 of a degree. (rough estimates, might be slightly more but not much).

 

I don't know.

 

29er Jeffsy is way more fun, poppy, nimble and active than 650b Giant reign. Wheel size is less and less influencial to feel over mating the geometry to the trails.

 

Our not steep trails don't mate well with 1.25m 29er long travel enduro bikes. They feel slow and rubbish and boaty. Put that same bike under you at Morzene and it's a different beast.

 

Low and slack only really works on the right trails, so ja, I think THEN wagon wheels will lose out to smaller wheels. But if you pick the right geo for the trails you ride the most, I don't think it matters.

 

As with most things, the further you step away from what something is made for, the more it's shortfalls will be amplified. 

 

It will take a fish years to climb a tree but only months to cross the ocean.... Play to a bikes strength and purpose and admit that most of the trails we ride are actually more fun on a steeper trail bike and not a massive Enduro rig.

 

The lines between 'trail' and 'Enduro' have been blurred here. Couple that with the FOMO that longer and slacker is creating and you have guys riding the greenbelts and Tokais chicken lines on massive Enduro bikes, which is silly as we spend 90% of our rides climbing here.....

 

Foot note: I am evidently getting carried away. Sorry 

[Chip]

Would love to convert my Banshee Spitfire to a mullet bike, thinking of a 130-140mm 29 fork...any suggestions or advice?