All Things Bikes and Tacos! (...and every vehicle imaginable)

Hope the Bronson is still treating you well. I had a 2014 Bronson aluminum build and it was an awesome bike to ride. Ended up buying selling the Bronson and buying a similar year Devinci Spartan but I'm not sure I've got the right riding style for it. I'd like to go back to something with less travel again, probably 130mm.

 

OHLINS — RXF 36

 

MRP RIBBON fork.

And add a hardtail. I honestly have ridden my bronson ONCE since I bought my stache. Hardtails make your home trails so much more lively and fun

 

Neither of those were on my list, but I’ll bite. Why the Ohlins or MRP?

 

The MRP seemed to have a certain something that fox and rockshox didnt. Plus its based in GJ,CO so i just swing in to get it serviced when I go ride lunch loops

And it won the pinkbike product of the year last year

 

I’m thinking of building a hard tail in the future. I have a very light set of 27.5x 3.0’s for it. Any suggestions on frames?
I need something fairly slack, 66deg or less, and room for the 3.0 tire.
Phil, let me know when your over here. I’m always down to ride.

 

No first hand experience in the dirt with them, but I've heard some good things about them. Only experience with Ohlin's is street bikes and they make a bike night and day. Plus I want to put their street gear on my Ducati, as Ducati's shocks are shit and beat the hell out of you.

 

Stay local. Fox and Rockshox need more competition. Keep your current rig and get a hardtail - especially if you don't have a need for a new bike in the first place lol

 

I’m leaning toward CC. What’s the pros/cons to air vs coil?

The fuel is based on a 51mm offset fork. Would putting a 44mm offset fork drastically change the geo and ride characteristics; good/bad?

I ask because while no I don’t ‘need’ a new bike right now. I know how I am and very likely I’ll end up with a Tallboy or optic in the next 6months or so. And both of those are designed around a shorter offset fork.

 

Air/Coil depends on your riding style ; generally air won't handle bigger/repeated hits or track as well as coil in rough terrain. Alternatively it's lighter and more adjustable.
Fork offset is too deep in the weeds for my knowledge but I bet @abacall could speak to it.

 

A very happy New Year to you all, may much happiness and good fortune find you.


NRA Whittington Center, Northern New Mexico


Surly Long Haul Trucker fitted with Jones Bars


REI CO-OP ADV 3.1


BSA 441 Scrambler

 

That was kinda what I thought. Sounds like I’m an air guy

I know the offset question is a stretch. Just trying to have my cake and eat it too.

 

Congratulations on the new bike! That Fuse looks like a ton of fun.

 

I’d match the offset on your current fork...I think gmbn tech just posted a video the other day but I’m still confused haha

 

I know the current offset to match. Trek uses 51mm offset on the field. I am hoping to learn and understand what will be gained or sacrificed if I go to a shorter offset fork.

The thought behind going to a shorter offset fork is to set me up for a possible move of
everything over to a Tallboy or Optic frame in the future. That is assuming the shorter offset fork doesn’t negate the performance/characteristics of my current fuel.

Got a link to that video?

 

Their shocks are perfectly fine. Ducati's are race bikes and set-up accordingly. Yes, they are stiff as balls for daily riding, but soft shocks on race tracks are a bad day.

 

If you're really trying to get rowdy with a slack "enduro style" hardtail, you could import something extra rad like the Pipedream Moxie:
http://www.pipedreamcycles.com/shop/moxie/

Otherwise, if you're trying to order in North America, check out the

Chromag Arcturian (29+):
https://chromagbikes.com/collections/29-27/products/frames-arcturian

Chromag Primer (27.5+ / 29er):
https://chromagbikes.com/collections/29-27/products/frames-primer

Or, perhaps my top recommendation to meet your slack head angle requirements that's made in Colorado, USA, the Gorilla Gravity Pedalhead:
https://ridegg.com/pedalhead-2019

And yes, #steelisreal.

 

That raging pink Moxie was my dream bike, but that geometry is bananas. Somehow slacker than my DH bike. It's gotta be a riot on the downs though.

 

Ah yeah that’s fair. This is the video, the beginning is helpful but the end is so much bro science that it confused me haha. Basically they said that offset doesn’t really matter until you get into DH slackness

https://youtu.be/MOMDKDL-Yfo

 

Honestly, coil rides 1,000 times better (a little exaggerated, but not much). Problem with coil is weight and adjustability, since you need to remove and change coils to get the right ride support or sag. Most people change it once and leave it at that, then use the dials to add in support (which is the "right" way). Coil also needs much less maintenance, and they're pretty set-and-forget.
Air offers much more on-the-fly adjustability. They also ramp up better at the end of the stroke, and offer adjustable ramping with tokens. It's also about 0.5 lbs lighter, if you care (but you won't notice).
The only reason I buy air over coil is for that end-stroke adjustability. On the bigger bike I tend to hit some sizable drops or big ledges that I really depend on the end-stroke to control. Yes, I could add high-speed compression, but that means more compression damping throughout the stroke, and that's not what I want to change.
Otherwise, coil is amazing. It's much smoother over chatter, much better feeling throughout the stroke. I'm probably going to swap over my Lyrik on the Django trail bike to coil.

**This is mostly for modern bikes with long reach and slack head angles.
Offset was the buzzword of 2019. The simple way to see it is this: shorter offset slows steering response, longer offset quickens it. If you want a more stable bike, lower offsets help. If you want a more flickable bike, higher offsets. I changed offsets on a few frames, and I barely noticed anything. I think it was all mental. I think it would be impossible for all but the finest hands to tell the difference in a blind test.
That said, I still went shorter offset for the enduro bike, and longer offset for the trail bike. 'Cause, why not?

Then just get the shorter offset fork. There's one more small piece to the above statement about offset; frame designers often build for a specific feel. The Optic feels more stable than it should in part due to the shorter offset in combination with other geometry and kinematics wizardry. The caveat is that some designers are also building around industry trends, and shorter offset forks are one of those trends. Either way, if the bike comes with it, it's probably wise to stay with it. I think the Optic is one of those bikes that hits the nail on the head with all the geo, suspension feel, parts, etc, for the the Pinkbike testers. Remember you might have different needs and wants to them, and you might not get along with it or the Tallboy, which is why that test drive is so important.