[Bjjfighter61]

MRP Ribbon

This is all very interesting stuff. What has promoted me to buy another fork for the Weckoning was the way it feels in mid to slow speed tech. For the two prior years I rode a Following with an 130mm 51mm fork. This bike would feel good on everything from rock hopping to high speed berms.

Last winter where I demoed a Wreckoning in Sedona for 3 long days in the saddle. I got use to this bike with the 51mm offset longer travel fork right away. I was picking away at techy lines like it was my own bike right away. After reading all about the new longer travel 29ers this winter/spring with 44mm forks I figured I would try one out and Fox was selling them already. After logging about 1000 miles on this bike I still can;t get use to the steering response at slower speeds. I have ridden a friends SBG Sentinel and I really struggled with this as slower speeds also. I just worked up some trail numbers of my bikes:

Hei Hei 29 51mm 130mm -- 99mm
Following V1 51mm 130mm -- 102mm
Wreckoning 51mm 160mm -- 112mm
Wreckoning 44mm 160mm -- 119mm
Friends SBG Sentinel 44mm 160mm -- 133mm

I live in the northeast where midweek we ride pretty much 100% XC trails mid week and then shuttles and lift laps on the weekends. The last DH bike I owned was a 2015 GT fury 26". The slow speed steering of this bike felt better than my Wreckoning and when looking at just the trail number of 116mm for this bike it makes sense.

I have been riding for 15 years and I feel like the manufactures are so focused with making the average joe(including myself here) feel like they can take enduro bike to DH speeds that the trial bikes have lost there fun snap. Fork offset, super long TT's, and slack HTA's are good to a point, but I feel we have reached a point where the bikes don't need any of this.

I am going to spend some real time swapping between the 44mm and 51mm and report back. The 44mm does make the bike feel "calmer" however these modern 29ers with a 1000 plus gram euduro tire are all ready point and shoot monsters.

I'm racing for a team and we are on the Transition Sentinel. MRP is one of our sponsors and they recommend a 41mm offset for the Sentinel. While my fork was being built I installed a Lryk with a 51mm offset. What I noticed is the 51mm offset extended the wheel base which stabilized the bike down steep chunky fast sections. Further, the bike felt like it picked up speed faster with the 51mm offset over the 41mm offset. The 51mm offset did feel like it wanted to flop in tight turns, but it wasn't horrible or uncontrollable.

The MRP Ribbon is an excellent fork. Running a 41mm offset set the wheel farther back which shortened the wheel base. Therefore, it doesn't pick up speed as fast, nor does it feel as stable. What the 41mm offset did do is quicken the stirring.

Honestly, I'll speak on behalf of my time on the Sentinel, my personal opinion, and my riding style. I don't care for the 41mm offset. I liked how the 51mm felt descending and how quick it picked speed fast. But, I didn't like the feeling like it wanted to flop in tight sections. So, what I will be doing is changing the crown (CSU) to a 46mm offset. I think splitting the difference between the 41mm and 51mm offset will give me the best of both worlds. The bike will pick up speed faster again, it will turn quick but not flop, and it will extend the wheel base.