Fork length on steel hardtail

biggins · Aug 2, 2012

I am looking to get a steel hardtail and Genesis Latitude and Cotic Soul are top of the list. What travel forks would you recomend or have experience of using? I will be using the bike for thrashing around bridleways and woods in the south east and places like Thetford and Cannock. I plan to get a longer travel full suss than my current Trek Top Fuel next year for rockier riding.

But for now I want a steel hardatil, I have a 100mm fork but am tempted to go for a 120mm, just wondered what people thought about the change in the way the bikes rode.

Now I'm rambling....... as usual

Cheers Chris

Raging_Bulls · Aug 2, 2012

The handling is mostly determined by the geometry. If the bike was designed to be used with a 100mm fork, a 120mm one will slightly upset the handling. Not by much though, as a properly dialled-in 120mm fork also has more sag than a properly dialled-in 100mm one.

Personally I don't see much reason to go beyond 100mm unless you plan to do some serious downhilling or have extreme bumps or drops in your usual cycling spots. If the fork uses air and has the necessary adjustments for bound and rebound, you can always stiffen it up a bit to compensate for the rougher terrain.

Dead Rats · Aug 2, 2012

check out the forums for build tips on each of the frames you're looking at. If in doubt my a fork with adjustable travel (many RockShox for example). My On-One Inbred 853 is fitted with 85-115mm Rebas but TBH I never use it on anything less than full travel as it feels too sharp

biggins · Aug 2, 2012

Thanks Guys, I will look for build threads. the frames are designed to work with a range of travel and so I'm left wondering if things are much sharper with 100mm, if manufacturer states it can take up to 140mm for example.

Fork length on steel hardtail

biggins

Retro Guru

Raging_Bulls

Sbike Fan

Dead Rats

biggins

Retro Guru

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