[Dr Feelygood !]

There is currently no 6" travel 29er fork,BUT what about modding an existing 26er inverted fork?

The Mav DUC 32 150mm will mod to a 120mm travel 29er fork with the addition of simple internal spacers.

What about taking a WB 180mm dual crown inverted fork and reducing the travel to 150mm by a similar method?:skep:

Is this possible and has anyone tried it?

I would be very interested to know:thumbsup:

 

[ozlongboarder]

A 6" frame and fork will be my next bike purchase..... as soon as someone makes it.

 

[Dr Feelygood !]

I agree Oz, thats pretty much what I`m thinking.

The fork idea came to me to see if I could ` speed things along` a bit.

 

[Soupboy]

I personally don't think more than 5" of travel is necessary with the big wheels. I've found that my 115mm travel 29er fork feels every bit as capable as my old 5-6" 26er forks.

Beyond my preferences, I think the following are the biggest gating items:

• There really aren't any tires to match the terrain I think people are imagining a 6" travel fork would be good for.
• You're getting into some withering A-C measurements much beyond 5" of travel which will compromise fit and frame design for all but the tallest riders.
• The only rim that matches is the KH. I love them, but many will scoff at the weight.

I just want to see better/more 4-5" travel 29er forks with TAs and lowers designed to clear the forthcoming crop of real 2.3-2.5" tires. Well executed, such tires could make a remarkable difference.

 

[Cloxxki]

I keep repeating myself, but agressive cycling CAN exist without a risiser bar!
A 29" wheel adds 2.5" to the height of the front of the bike. Few 26" headtubes are as short as they could be. Many agressive bikes have 2" riser bars. Swap to a flat&wide trials bar and you're done. Of of course Fleegles, H-Bars, etc.

 

[gumby2]

Waiting for the magic build to come in 6" front and rear with big wheels = unstoppable.

BCD did a mod on his WB fork already to give hime 6" up front..
http://bcdracing.com/psycho-billy-cadillac/inedible.htm

check out his posts here and on ridemonkey in the 29er forum

 

[krankelbear]

I'm currently running a hanebrink g7 bought cheap on ebay on my astrix monk with a fleegle bar - I can just get clearance for a big wheel in there as the bottom clamp is pretty shallow and it hasn't slackened up the angles too much. Can't wait to fit the big panaracer tyre in there when it appears. I have also tried the setup with a 26 wheel with big 2.5 tyre in there which worked suprisingly well - the extra travel definitely compensated for the lack of big-wheel-rolling-over-anything-in-its-path

 

[ozlongboarder]

I personally don't think more than 5" of travel is necessary with the big wheels. I've found that my 115mm travel 29er fork feels every bit as capable as my old 5-6" 26er forks.

Beyond my preferences, I think the following are the biggest gating items:

• There really aren't any tires to match the terrain I think people are imagining a 6" travel fork would be good for.
• You're getting into some withering A-C measurements much beyond 5" of travel which will compromise fit and frame design for all but the tallest riders.
• The only rim that matches is the KH. I love them, but many will scoff at the weight.

I just want to see better/more 4-5" travel 29er forks with TAs and lowers designed to clear the forthcoming crop of real 2.3-2.5" tires. Well executed, such tires could make a remarkable difference.

Yeah but your just a fat lazy bastid who does not have a rough trail within 100 miles of you, of course you dont need more than 4" of travel.

A Duc 32 is a 6" fork with an AC close to most 5" forks. With a bit of clever design a 6" 29er fork does not have to be a skyscraper. Most guys who own a 6" travel bike are not racing XC on them, climbing performance is sacrificed a little but is made up for on the dh.

 

[GlowBoy]

3-4" seems plenty for me. I guess I'm pretty far outside the mainstream when it comes to mountain biking. I first got into it because I love exploring the outdoors, but my bad knees were starting to limit the hiking I could do. I loved on-pavement biking already, so pedaling around the woods turned out to be pretty fun and of course I could go further and explore more. I guess for a lot of people mtn. biking is all about the adrenaline rush of big fast downhills or the feeling of accomplishment from conquering super-technical terrain ... for me, those things can be fun but they aren't the main reason I ride.

So I understand why lots of guys love their 6" travel bikes, but for my main use of simply getting out to explore the woods (or desert) it would just be silly. Might just as well bolt helicopter blades on the thing.

 

[ozlongboarder]

The 29er forum is made up of mainly xc, weight weeny and ss riders, none of which want a 6" travel fork for obvious reasons but it seems like the most popular 26" bikes now are 5-7" travel AM rigs. Adding the advantages of a 29" wheel to an AM bike with the right gearing would definately sell.

The guys and maybe gals who want a 6" travel AM 29er on mtbr are a subset of a subset of the mountain biking world but that does not mean 1000's of other non mtbr riders dont want an AM 29er.

 

[mikesee]

There is currently no 6" travel 29er fork,BUT what about modding an existing 26er inverted fork?

The Mav DUC 32 150mm will mod to a 120mm travel 29er fork with the addition of simple internal spacers.

What about taking a WB 180mm dual crown inverted fork and reducing the travel to 150mm by a similar method?:skep:

Is this possible and has anyone tried it?

I would be very interested to know:thumbsup:

Actually, there is a (proto) 6"/150mm travel 29" fork. I'm riding it the next few weeks on my Behemoth. It's a White Brothers dual crown, based on their Groove Race fork.

I'd echo what others have said about current tires being the limiting factor. Exi's are the beefiest and very close to the biggest, but they simply can't handle what even the 130mm forks can dish out.

MC

 

[ozlongboarder]

Actually, there is a (proto) 6"/150mm travel 29" fork. I'm riding it the next few weeks on my Behemoth. It's a White Brothers dual crown, based on their Groove Race fork.

I'd echo what others have said about current tires being the limiting factor. Exi's are the beefiest and very close to the biggest, but they simply can't handle what even the 130mm forks can dish out.

MC

How about some pics Mike. Whats the AC measure at?

 

[mikesee]

How about some pics Mike. Whats the AC measure at?

Huge range of adjustment in the A-C, from 535 to 597. You want adjustable HTA? You got it. Not to mention a few crowns to choose from to dial in stem height.

Keep in mind that this is the first proto. It might mean zilch when compared to the versions that follow.

MC

 

[mikesee]

I keep repeating myself, but agressive cycling CAN exist without a risiser bar!
A 29" wheel adds 2.5" to the height of the front of the bike. Few 26" headtubes are as short as they could be. Many agressive bikes have 2" riser bars. Swap to a flat&wide trials bar and you're done. Of of course Fleegles, H-Bars, etc.

Cloxx, I'm not sure I agree. I don't like Jones or Mary's for anything other than tootling around town. Fleegle is possible but unlikely, from a comfort standpoint. And I'm guessing that any of the other wide flat bars were not engineered to take the abuse that most folks are going to put a 6 x 6" bike through. Which wide/flat trials bars are you referring to?

MC

 

[Padre]

Which wide/flat trials bars are you referring to?

MC

Echo trials bars?

 

[wolfy]

rake/trail

How would you have to alter the rake and or trail to make a 6 inch 29er not dive you into an endo?

-M

 

[Padre]

How would you have to alter the rake and or trail to make a 6 inch 29er not dive you into an endo?

-M

that's the job of compression damping and spring rate isn't it?

 

[Padre]

Huge range of adjustment in the A-C, from 535 to 597. You want adjustable HTA? You got it. Not to mention a few crowns to choose from to dial in stem height.

Keep in mind that this is the first proto. It might mean zilch when compared to the versions that follow.

MC

Me likey...fingers crossed....
and here's hoping it inspired other manuf. to make one...

oh yes..here's hoping it isn't $1k also... *gulp

 

[wolfy]

I don't know. But last weekend I did a stairstep with a rigid fork and it was a lot nicer than my last susfork (mxcomp). Is the reba better?

It's just with such a steep HTA it doesn't seem like you can go down as far a s 6 inches.

-M

 

[Padre]

I don't know. But last weekend I did a stairstep with a rigid fork and it was a lot nicer than my last susfork (mxcomp). Is the reba better?

It's just with such a steep HTA it doesn't seem like you can go down as far a s 6 inches.

-M

a "good" fork (like my old Marz Z-1 etc) wouldn't compress 6" going down stairs...4" perhaps..those last inches are saved for huge hits....

the Reba is much better and IMO much more tunable that the old MxComp...(i had one)

rigid is mildly fun in that your HA is static....it makes slow technical descending a hoot...of course...that hoot turns into a holler when things get faster and it starts to hurt...

i believe if you have 6" of travel, you wouldn't be close to a 72 HTA anyway...so this might be moot...