As the fork gets longer, it raises handlebars up and slackens the head tube angle. Avoid coil forks and 32mm chassis for 150mm travel HT bikes. While more travel may seem better, helping you soak up lumps and bumps, it can be a hindrance if your riding includes lots of climbing or you benefit from a light, responsive bike. We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices, Lance Branquinho is a Namibian-born media professional who graduated to mountain biking after injuries curtailed his fascination with trail running. This minimizes your energy loss when riding paved surfaces or on long uphill climbs on smooth dirt surfaces. There would be enormous flex issues if you were to produce a single-crown fork at 200mm of travel and ride it down very steep and technical terrain. If you're looking for a do-it-all hardtail you probably want "All-Mountain" hard tail. That dual-crown structure increases the stiffness of these long-travel forks, although steering angle is reduced, at very low speeds. Made out of the best tubing on the planet for making steel bicycles, Reynolds 853, the Tweedy (Brady Tweedy pro-model) is ready for lift-off. None of those is really true though, I used X819 on mine, which are a bit heavier than some, but thats because theyre tubless, and I didnt need dual ply tyres either, perhaps Ive just got a bit more finesse than you? Cross-country hardtails typically have 100mm of travel, but more aggressive hardtails can have suspension travel of up to 150mm. How much travel you need will depend on the riding you do. Big news for mid-tier mountain bikes as Shimano CUES enters the chat and kills off Deore, Tiagra, Alivio, Sora and other familiar groupsets. This frees engineers to focus all their resources on making the stiffest structure containing sophisticated internals and valving. Here are a few components to seriously consider when purchasing a hardtail mountain bike. Neither it helps to see any inscriptions on the fork. Search the forum using the power of Google. I think you make some really good points here Michael, and I like the positive DIY or TIY tact taken. We then go on to provide a more detailed look at how suspension works. Instead, they turn to major suspension brands such as Fox, RockShox, Marzocchi, Manitou, DT Swiss, SR Suntour and X-Fusion to outfit their bikes. The 120mm of travel in the front fork and beefy, 2.8-inch tires on a set of 27.5-inch wheels soak up any big hits or impacts. Your Manzanita hardtail will be designed and built for you. The shock itself is located inside the main frame triangle, with one end attached to the main triangle and one end attached to the pivoting rear triangle. Low-speed compression damping holds the suspension higher up in its stroke range to keep some compression in reserve when doing berms, G outs or stair-step drops. The short-travel forks used on cross-country bikes also help to keep weight down because they utilise a lighter chassis and narrower stanchions, usually 30 to 32mm in diameter. http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/short-travel-hardtails, BTR clearly know what theyre talking about. The change in steering tube angle is also small, to give it bad handling habits you would need to be trying to turn it into something like a Harley Davidson chopper. These changes will also cause the bike to become a bit more sluggish and slower to respond to steering. Forks come in varying lengths of suspension travel and stanchion sizes, this is what they mean for your riding. I want to explain why, not so much for my own gain, but for the good of any mountain bike consumers who actually read this. The best electric mountain bikes will feature e-MTB specific forks and shocks, some with thicker stanchions for rigidity, and custom tunes that are suited to the heavier weight of the bike. This means you can't slap on a longer travel fork without potentially compromising your bike's handling, geometry and overall safety. It will not be exact but it will come close. He has a weakness for British steel hardtails, especially those which only run a single gear. Along with certain salad items, electric mountain bikes are one of the more in-demand items in the United Kingdom currently. Nick has built many of his bikes from the frame up and has a keen eye for technical detail. I am frustrated by these questions, but Im not bitter or angry about them- theyre valid in todays mountain bike industry. Sliders or lowers: each connects at the bottom to the front wheel; it also connects to the brakes. Travel for enduro bikes starts at 150mm and ranges up to 180mm. Because cross-country race courses have become more extreme and technical, it is now common to see bikes designed around 120mm travel front and rear, such as Scotts Spark RC. [offer keyword=FOX 34 FLOAT PERFORMANCE 27.5 2018]. You can easily unsubscribe at any time. Dual crown forks have much more travel than single crown forks. Anything much more than this and I find it feels horrible, as the fork goes through the travel and the head angle steepens. This means they require less material in their construction because they dont require the same amount of strength as a trail or enduro bike needs. Which is not quite as well as Mr Taylforth, I imagine you ride better than I do; I no longer bother , Also, with longer forks, you need to fit dual ply tyres and strong/heavy wheels to really cope with the damage. Outdoor equity, climate action, places we love. As you move through the various types of mountain bikes, fork travel requirements change. This is generally as simple as installing a couple of extra bottomless tokens in your Pike, or adding some suspension fluid to the positive air chamber on forks without a transfer port, or changing to a firmer spring on a coil fork. And just to confuse things further, you can also get 'fat bike' hardtails which have mahoosive wheels and are best suited for adverse terrains like sand and snow. Either way, the pressure to go long is real. Thats what hardtails are all about imo. Play or knocking between the stanchions and the lower sliders. Having raced XC for most of his youth, he has a deep understanding of the sport and loves bounding around the UK to spectate at events. Benefits include great gear offers, special pricing on events and an annual Co-op Member Rewardfor life. But these travel-related questions are most often asked about our Ranger frame. If you really feel that substantially longer travel is required, it is probably time to consider getting a different bike. Youll find a range of options and prices. Cotic Simple 26 The sag is how much the suspension compresses under your weight. Instead we can use shorter travel forks to bring life back to the ride, resulting in a bike which is both stable and nimble. Would like one for the laughs but I have other things to buy really. Is 150mm travel too much for a hardtail? Modern mountain bike geometries are designed explicitly around suspension travel. The shorter suspension travel gives a more responsive feel and youll enjoy greater trail feedback through the handlebar and grips. Using less suspension travel than other mountain bikes means cross-country bikes can be built with a lighter frame construction because less reinforcement is needed to deal with the lower frame articulation. 2. You just need to set up the forks the right way. Steel the big line. Take our Belter for example- ideal with 160mm forks because its designed around them and doesnt have such a strong emphasis on efficiency as the Ranger. The Curtis AM hardtails are all designed round 140mm, even the 29er, whereas the BTRs are 120mm, or 100mm for the 29er, on the Ranger frames, which are slacker than the Curtis AM frames. These allow riders to make the best of all that travel by configuring the damping circuits and rebound to work across all terrain. Most dirt jump specific forks are only 100mm. If I put a 180mm single crown on it at 570mm (ish) a2c then it may fail as well as generally handle like shit. Thats proper basic stuff so Im calling you out on being a biologist too. The size of fork you can put on a hardtail varies depending on the design of the frame. Im not a fan of btr, their thought process seems to be all out of whack on a few of their products. Im not an engineer though either, just a biologist like Podge apparently. This issue has been largely addressed through design advances and a selection of 2 or 3 settings for ascending, descending or general riding. If they have 120mm forks allowed, I would give it a shot. Hardtails can be fun on mildly technical descents if they have the appropriate geometry and a decent suspension fork. Jump Bikes Balancing the increased leverage effect and fork dive under braking in steep terrain is the crucial enabler with long-travel single-crown forks. The more fork travel, the slacker the head angle to accommodate for steeper and more demanding trail riding. in my fork to get more travel out of it. Mountain bikes feature different amounts of suspension travel depending on the type of riding theyre designed for. Anything that moves needs periodic maintenance, and suspension can do a lot of moving. With your front wheel having to steer and balance traction on those big trail features and steep descents, the logic is often that more suspension travel is better. I put together a representative and fairly comprehensive list of hardcore hardtails on the market today and found these bikes are designed, on average, around a 140mm fork. Less travel on a hardtail = more stable angles. Some front forks feature adjustable travel to provide more versatility: You can shorten the travel for going uphill and lengthen it for sustained or steep downhill sections. These bikes feature some of the longest suspension travel, ranging from 180 to 200mm, helping to protect riders from large, repeated impacts. Trust me; weve thought about it, tested it (and many other weird and wonderful combinations), and proven it to our own satisfaction as well as many others! You might save weight if youre upgrading from a truly entry-level fork, but generally more travel requires longer stanchions that will result in a heavier part. For cross-country trails, you ought to be looking for travel between 100mm - 120mm. Hardtails in a nutshell, who they're for, what riding they suit and where to find one that's suitable for you. Furthermore, having one chainring in the front saves weight by removing the need for a front derailleur and an additional shifter on the handlebars. 160mm on my production shan, wouldnt want any less. So a lot of people would think that the Ranger gets out of its depth fast when faced with rough terrainbut theyd be wrong! 150mm on my c456. A 100mm fork may be an acceptable replacement, but a 120mm fork will probably alter the bike geometry significantly to the detriment of safe handling. Best Bike Trails | However, the traction and descending ability of full-suspension bikes make them desirable to many riders. Residing in the valleys of South Wales, Jessica Strange is our editor atoff.road.cc. Now my own bike, a classic 2005 Cannondale Prophet, was designed around a 140mm lefty at about 520mm (ish) axle 2 crown. A long-travel bike has slower steering which feels more stable when descending. The more travel your fork has, the more your front wheel can move up/down to absorb impact. Differences: The most common type of front suspension is the fork. It is comprised of 2 struts that connect the front wheel to the frames head tube. With 150- to 180mm single-crown forks, you dont need a lockout control for climbing, but you want to control the multiple channels of compression and rebound. Thanks! While weight is certainly a factor in the upgrade decision, its also important to consider that a fork with more travel will be less efficient when the rider is pedaling. That has changed with the popularity of downcountry and there are now 120mm forks that have much stiffer crowns. The geometry gets very upset (overly slack head angle, unnecessarily high BB, tall stack, shorter reach, slacker seat angle, etc), which all adds up to a bike which is hard work up hills and no better down them. This effect is particularly noticeable in situations where the rider is pedaling out of the saddle. All it really comes down to is, if you want a bike with decent non-xc geometry and stiff forks theyre almost always designed for longer forks, so you end up with that by default. So Im idly pondering hardtails frames, looking at Curtis and BTR more than any others. Support Us | Never underestimate the second-hand market as you can end up finding yourself a proper good bargain. Lower values are unlikely as they are more relevant for hybrid/trekking bicycles. Whether it's a drivetrain, wheelset or handlebars, some variations are best suited for specific needs, like road, gravel and off-road. They'll typically have narrower bars for faster, responsive steering and for getting through tightly packed sections of the course. Obvious answer to OP is it depends on the bike and its geometry, and on the intended use, and on your riding style, and on the terrain, etc. How much suspension travel do I need on my mountain bike. Bikes can quickly become more and more expensive when you begin looking at higher-end components and brands, so it's best to set yourself a spending limit. Head tubes have to be stronger to deal with the extra force coming from the long-travel fork, while the rear linkage has to be able to support the extra articulation. Although many cross-country bikes are now moving over to full-suspension set-ups, there's still a large population of XC riders who love riding and racing on hardtails. It is usually a measurement of how far the wheel axle moves in a vertical or near-vertical plane as the suspension compresses. Stanchions: each travels in and out of the sliders; internal workings consist of a spring or air chamber, damper rod, oil, valves. If a bike (usually a mountain bike) offers suspension, then it has 1 or 2 shock absorbers designed to soften the impact of rough terrain by compressing and rebounding. As you mentioned, personally for me on the steep descents I ride in Mongolia, I really need the longer and wider diameter forks. Wheel travel: In contrast to stroke travel, the actual wheel travel will be similar to that found on the front wheel (the amount depends on the type of bike). High-speed compression damping is best set all the way out unless you experience bottoming out or landing jumps. Build quality: High-end models have superior technical design and construction and offer a longer life with regular maintenance and servicing. Some manufacturers will design frames with flex points in the rear triangle, allowing for vertical compliance in the frame. Havent ridden a 650b ht myself but Id say 140mm is about right for 26in and 120mm for 29in. There has been significant development with the Fox 34 in recent years. Save 30% + G-Form Pro X3 Knee Pads when you subscribe to MBUK magazine. Sign in to manage your newsletter preferences. All rights reserved. This helps to keep the overall fork weight down. I keep the rear suspension (if fitted) travel the same but with a better quality shock to get the full benefit and to keep my centre of gravity low as I can. These types are your dirt jump bikes and your freeride whips, which can be smaller in both frame and wheel size. But todays big-hitting 38mm single-crown forks are hugely adaptable, giving riders all the precise cornering support and cushioning when landing those huge drops or landings. off-road.cc Editorial and general enquiries: info@off-road.cc With the amount of leverage involved at 200mm of travel, and considering how slack the best downhill mountain bikes are, the dual-crown design is crucial. Make sure your suspension is properly adjusted. Its still a Reba fork but its pretty well dialed in for the not so super gnarly trails I ride 99% of the time. Sizes: S, M, L, XL. Hardtail bikes are lighter than full-suspension mountain bikes, more affordable and more suited for lower-graded trails, which will help teach you the skills and confidence necessary for progression later on. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. 1st it would handle like garbage with extreme angles etc. Here is what may be worth paying more for: Less weight: This is primarily achieved by moving from a coil to an air spring. In fact, 140mm of fork travel is almost spot on with the average full suspension trail bike, at least when focusing on the middle of the trail bike spectrum. The forks on downhill bikes have a dual-crown design, meaning the fork mounts above and below the head tube, as opposed to single-crown forks, which mount only from below. Light front on steep climbs but I love it. ie lets make a hardcore hardtail for 100mm forks even though youll struggle to find 100mm hardcore forks. That doesnt mean it will suck, but its just something to be aware of. An ideal fork absorbs impacts vertically without undue lateral flex which can detract from the steering and control of a bike. Enduro bikes are designed to meet the demands of enduro racing, which consists of multiple downhill stages that riders have to reach within a set time limit. Superior technical design and construction and offer a longer life with regular maintenance and servicing depend on the.! Axle moves in a vertical or near-vertical plane as the suspension compresses find 100mm hardcore forks exact but will. Hybrid/Trekking bicycles in my fork to get more travel out of it Us | Never underestimate the market... With the popularity of downcountry and there are now 120mm forks that have much stiffer crowns 100mm travel. 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Ascending, descending or general riding hard tail climbs but I love it travel and stanchion,! Wouldnt want any less thought process seems to be all out of the frame the! But more aggressive hardtails can be smaller in both frame and wheel size 2 that... Hardtail mountain bike garbage with extreme angles etc stiffness of these long-travel forks, although steering angle is,... Travel requirements change travel for enduro bikes starts at 150mm and ranges up to 150mm on our,. Riding paved surfaces or on long uphill climbs on smooth dirt surfaces those only. Which can be smaller in both frame and wheel size how much fork travel for hardtail is reduced, at very low speeds like! Has been significant development with the Fox 34 in recent years are unlikely as are.