I’ve had a lot of fun on all my modern hardtails, right up to a dual 29” rig with a 170mm fork - which I loved.
But in terms of maximizing the traction and absorption benefits of suspension AND maintaining aggressive geometry through the travel (a hardtail sags a lot if you’re on the brakes in steep tech terrain) I don’t think you can beat the combination of a slack HTA and a 5”-ish fork setup fairly progressively. You aren’t going any slower and there’s less change in Reach, HTA, and bar height to manage.
Say a 64-63 HTA (sagged 20%) with a 120-140mm fork, and I’d err to the shorter on a 29’er and the longer on a 27” rig.
As with good Plus tire setups (that most folks have sadly never experienced), I think most riders make a lot of assumptions based on what’s available to ride. ‘All’ the proper aggressive off the shelf hardtails are based on 150mm+ forks.
Again, not that those longer travel hard tails aren’t lots of fun. But I think if you took two identically specced rigs with the same sagged geometry, one 160mm forked and one 120mm forked, and had folks ride them both on aggressive terrain (or any terrain, but steep gnar would better illustrate the point) a lot of people would be shocked at the % of riders who’d choose the shorter travel rig after A:B testing.
———
It’s really an impossible thing to explain without test riding. Usually when I try to have the conversation folks bring up the last 120mm bike they rode as proof against concept. E.G.:
“_my old Honzo was way better way when I bumped it from a 120mm to 140mm+ fork._”
Yeah, mine too. It had a static 68 HTA. Imagine it’s a 120mm bike with a sagged 64 HTA. At full bottom out it has the same head angle as your Honzo does unsagged. They’re not comparables geometry wise.
Anyway, it’s a conversation I’ve had almost as many times as people telling me about how much better their full suspension bike is over my rigid rig because they remember riding trails on their Ritchey in ‘88. At some point I know I’m just tilting at windmills but I’m still tilting anyway.
July 4, 2022, 4:01 p.m. - Andrew Major
I’ve had a lot of fun on all my modern hardtails, right up to a dual 29” rig with a 170mm fork - which I loved. But in terms of maximizing the traction and absorption benefits of suspension AND maintaining aggressive geometry through the travel (a hardtail sags a lot if you’re on the brakes in steep tech terrain) I don’t think you can beat the combination of a slack HTA and a 5”-ish fork setup fairly progressively. You aren’t going any slower and there’s less change in Reach, HTA, and bar height to manage. Say a 64-63 HTA (sagged 20%) with a 120-140mm fork, and I’d err to the shorter on a 29’er and the longer on a 27” rig. As with good Plus tire setups (that most folks have sadly never experienced), I think most riders make a lot of assumptions based on what’s available to ride. ‘All’ the proper aggressive off the shelf hardtails are based on 150mm+ forks. Again, not that those longer travel hard tails aren’t lots of fun. But I think if you took two identically specced rigs with the same sagged geometry, one 160mm forked and one 120mm forked, and had folks ride them both on aggressive terrain (or any terrain, but steep gnar would better illustrate the point) a lot of people would be shocked at the % of riders who’d choose the shorter travel rig after A:B testing. ——— It’s really an impossible thing to explain without test riding. Usually when I try to have the conversation folks bring up the last 120mm bike they rode as proof against concept. E.G.: “_my old Honzo was way better way when I bumped it from a 120mm to 140mm+ fork._” Yeah, mine too. It had a static 68 HTA. Imagine it’s a 120mm bike with a sagged 64 HTA. At full bottom out it has the same head angle as your Honzo does unsagged. They’re not comparables geometry wise. Anyway, it’s a conversation I’ve had almost as many times as people telling me about how much better their full suspension bike is over my rigid rig because they remember riding trails on their Ritchey in ‘88. At some point I know I’m just tilting at windmills but I’m still tilting anyway.