Some advice

[Prince Albert Cycles]

I bought a DTSwiss fork F 232 on Bikehub to fit on my own Tallboy .

Reason been wanted a bit longer steerer tube and save weight .

Fitted the fork and was disappointed as now the front was very skittish.

Then did my homework and saw that those forks come in 44mm and 51 mm offset .

I suspect that I bought the 44mm version.

Two questions:

does that difference in offset really make that big difference in steering feel ?
and

To counter that is a longer stem the way to go ?
Admit that I must still set up the fork properly.

thanks

Edited June 17 by Prince Albert Cycles
Typo

[thebob]

Shorter offset means a higher trail figure, which should make the bike more stable

[Jimmy 2.0]

When it comes to suspension. 1st thing you do is setup the correct sag and rebound for XC thats 10 to 15% sag with the rebound setup in a way that the fork doesn't feel like a pogo stick plus some adjusting to preference.

DT Forks are absolutely amazing and i personally think they go underrated. 

Is the DT the same amount of travel as the previous fork?

 

[MORNE]

ive found the opposite, short offset forks are more stable but i guess it depends on other cockpit setup too. I try and match stem length and fork offsets as a general rule of thumb for modern geo bikes. In the end it shouldn't feel that much different. Just different. 
 

You say you wanted a taller steerer.

That tells me you mounted your bars higher on this new fork right?, essentially also moving your weight bias rearward. It will take grip off the front wheel and a small amount can be very noticeable. In this case a longer stem may help get more weight back over the front again. Need more info though. 

as touched on above already, if the new fork is taller, the exact same as above applies. Set sag, open compression settings and set the rebound around middle depending on your weight. Go from there. I would assume you probably put similar settings on the new fork as the old one, so it shouldn't be vastly out anyway. 

Also, quick / free test will be to mount the stem in the same spot as the old fork and try again (if you raised the bar) Or slam it and feel if the front grip returns. Usually a good indication. 

 

Edited June 17 by MORNE

[Prince Albert Cycles]

18 hours ago, MORNE said:

ive found the opposite, short offset forks are more stable but i guess it depends on other cockpit setup too. I try and match stem length and fork offsets as a general rule of thumb for modern geo bikes. In the end it shouldn't feel that much different. Just different. 
 

You say you wanted a taller steerer.

That tells me you mounted your bars higher on this new fork right?, essentially also moving your weight bias rearward. It will take grip off the front wheel and a small amount can be very noticeable. In this case a longer stem may help get more weight back over the front again. Need more info though. 

as touched on above already, if the new fork is taller, the exact same as above applies. Set sag, open compression settings and set the rebound around middle depending on your weight. Go from there. I would assume you probably put similar settings on the new fork as the old one, so it shouldn't be vastly out anyway. 

Also, quick / free test will be to mount the stem in the same spot as the old fork and try again (if you raised the bar) Or slam it and feel if the front grip returns. Usually a good indication. 

 

Thank you for all the useful input .

@MORNE  I think you put your finger on the nail the bar is now 20 mm higher which explains the very different feel

[Headshot]

1 hour ago, Prince Albert Cycles said:

Thank you for all the useful input .

@MORNE  I think you put your finger on the nail the bar is now 20 mm higher which explains the very different feel

As one enduro bike review website sometimes says - "The geometry encourages an active riding style to maintain weight over the front wheel". This is usually reserved for super slack #enduro bikes so unless your fork has more travel it should not have altered front end grip that much. 

Counterintuitively I have raised my bars with a 75mm rise Spank DH bar. This balanced the weight distribution and overall improved cornering grip.

You could try the following:

1. Reduce the fork air pressure to run more sag and lower the front end increasing grip.

2. Add air to the rear shock to shift weight towards the front.

3. Run a grippier front tyre along with the above.

[MORNE]

2 hours ago, Headshot said:

As one enduro bike review website sometimes says - "The geometry encourages an active riding style to maintain weight over the front wheel". This is usually reserved for super slack #enduro bikes so unless your fork has more travel it should not have altered front end grip that much. 

Counterintuitively I have raised my bars with a 75mm rise Spank DH bar. This balanced the weight distribution and overall improved cornering grip.

You could try the following:

1. Reduce the fork air pressure to run more sag and lower the front end increasing grip.

2. Add air to the rear shock to shift weight towards the front.

3. Run a grippier front tyre along with the above.

I agree with your points on how to help mitigate, but i think high rise bars /front grip is also very much bike dependant.  

I run minimum 50mm bars on all my bikes. #tall people problems. 

On my Forbidden with its 470mm rear end…even 50mm rise with 20mm spacers feels too low as the bike’s geo naturally puts your weight over the front with the long rear end. And then it has a rearward axle path so it gets even longer as you ride though stuff. I think it maxes out at 485mm or something. It tends to want to oversteer into corners if im not thinking about where im in the bike. I still think thats what happened in Jan when i rearranged my skeleton. I suspect 75mm bars might feel perfect on that bike too…
My Cotic has a 670mm stack on a 150mm fork…30mm higher than the forbidden on a 170mm fork. So Plenty tall. I have/had 60mm risers on that bike and 20mm spacers under the stem…BUT, it’s a good 25mm shorter in the rear than the forbidden….so weight bias is naturally more rearward on that and its so noticeable. I had to drop that stem/bar combo by 10mm to get the front to not feel wishy/washy. I’m also considering going down a spring rate (as you mention above) I could probably make it lower for more grip but im enjoying the high riding position when going down steep stuff. 
 

PS: depending on your bar roll, high rise bars and more spacers under the stem don't have the same effect. High rise bars preserves your reach. Stem spacers move your bar backward about 5mm for every 10mm you go up or whatever the Pythagorean math says.    

Edited June 18 by MORNE

[Headshot]

52 minutes ago, MORNE said:

I agree with your points on how to help mitigate, but i think high rise bars /front grip is also very much bike dependant.  

I run minimum 50mm bars on all my bikes. #tall people problems. 

On my Forbidden with its 470mm rear end…even 50mm rise with 20mm spacers feels too low as the bike’s geo naturally puts your weight over the front with the long rear end. And then it has a rearward axle path so it gets even longer as you ride though stuff. I think it maxes out at 485mm or something. It tends to want to oversteer into corners if im not thinking about where im in the bike. I still think thats what happened in Jan when i rearranged my skeleton. I suspect 75mm bars might feel perfect on that bike too…
My Cotic has a 670mm stack on a 150mm fork…30mm higher than the forbidden on a 170mm fork. So Plenty tall. I have/had 60mm risers on that bike and 20mm spacers under the stem…BUT, it’s a good 25mm shorter in the rear than the forbidden….so weight bias is naturally more rearward on that and its so noticeable. I had to drop that stem/bar combo by 10mm to get the front to not feel wishy/washy. I’m also considering going down a spring rate (as you mention above) I could probably make it lower for more grip but im enjoying the high riding position when going down steep stuff. 
 

PS: depending on your bar roll, high rise bars and more spacers under the stem don't have the same effect. High rise bars preserves your reach. Stem spacers move your bar backward about 5mm for every 10mm you go up or whatever the Pythagorean math says.    

Yes, and rider dependent. My bike is a 27.5 with 535mm CS length and with me at 188cm works better than ever with the 75mm rise bars. Bike set up is a fun science!