[Deano]

Just pondering a bit of mid-Winter UGI as I may sell my 5 Spot next year... and buy another one! I'm kinda between sizes and currently run a medium, but the more time I spend on a large (admittedly only an occasional try-out) I realise that's what I ought to be on.

Also a friend of mine has been running a TALAS 36 on his 5 Spot and loves it; it's been to Morzine many times and seems ideal. I use my Spot less for every-day trails and more for rockier, scarier stuff these days (most local trails are pretty tame). I prefer the simplicity and plushness of coil over air (I have several Vanillas on HTs, but the Spot currently has a Maverick on it).

So... an '06 5 Spot and Fox 36Van - a killer combo or is the fork just a bit too long?

 

[SCUBAPRO]

So... an '06 5 Spot and Fox 36Van - a killer combo or is the fork just a bit too long?

I think the A-C will be too much for the Spot. You shoud look at the Pack for the application you describe.

 

[turnerbikes]

Rs

Or a Pike.

DT

 

[FXRob]

So... an '06 5 Spot and Fox 36Van - a killer combo or is the fork just a bit too long?

I'd say it would be a bit too much fork especially if you will be climbing anything steep. I'm running the 36 Vanilla on my 6 Pack and love it, but on some of the steep climbs I wish I had some sort of travel adjust to shorten the A/C height. Remember the Vanilla is 160mm compared to your friends 150mm Talas so it is even taller and obviously has no travel adjust. I don't think I'd go with anything more than a 150mm AM1 which would give you ETA for climbs.

 

[Deano]

Hmmmm

Like I say, it's idle banter at the moment (at least regarding the fork), I may well stay with the Mav fork which I do like a lot and I'm in no way a fro-riding type of person (so the RFX would be way too much bike for me).

Thanks for your thoughts!

Pike...

 

[SCUBAPRO]

Like I say, it's idle banter at the moment (at least regarding the fork), I may well stay with the Mav fork which I do like a lot and I'm in no way a fro-riding type of person (so the RFX would be way too much bike for me).

Thanks for your thoughts!

Pike...

In that case then the Pike w/ u-turn sounds like a great option for you.

 

[Deano]

Pike 454 looks good

The U-turn thing appeals to me. Anyone on one of these?

 

[tscheezy]

I'd go with the Pike seeing as how you mentioned the 36 Vanilla on a Spot and DT himself showed up and instead of having an aneurism over it gave a very self-controlled (and more appropriate, nudge-nudge) suggestion.

 

[Jayem]

I'd say the talas 36 would be a great fork for the 5spot due to the fact that it only really gets about 5.5" of travel(depending on how far it as "sunk", but fox says only about 145mm is what you get), and according to the turner webspot, that much travel is fine for the 5spot.

 

[Prof]

If you like your Maverick fork get Tim Flook's to valve it for you,if you are selling your old bike complete and want a fresh start.
Get the Pike 454 air from Tim and he will change the oil,set it up for you, remove the remote poplock if you wish and give you a discount on the first service.
Don't wait, do it now, spend your money, you know you want to.

 

[jncarpenter]

...I have only recently put a fork on my spot which gives me a travel option of 130-150mm (06 Z1 Light ETA). I know alot of peeps have debated & hashed this out on these boards plenty, but I have been riding in 150mm lately & am really digging the feel. The geometry feels perfect for me & I haven't suffered at ALL on the steep techy climbs around here. Now, ideally I would be riding the 66 SL on a 5 Pack!

66 SL is feeling better every day! Did a nice ride today & the thing was feeling very plush!!!! It has the ability to be set in 130mm travel mode easily...perhaps the 66SL over the Talas36!

 

[Deano]

Wink, wink...

Yep, I saw DTs post up there, just didn't want to appear too fawning! Pike looks good, I'm just a little concerned that the build quality won't be up to the Mav or a Fox - plenty of time for more research.

I'm about to send 2 Vanillas to Flooks! I'll ask him about the Pike options.

Marzocchis have always felt fantastic when I've tried them, just concerned over the a/c height - what is it at 130 on the 66 jnc?

 

[The Squeaky Wheel]

Yep, I saw DTs post up there, just didn't want to appear too fawning! Pike looks good, I'm just a little concerned that the build quality won't be up to the Mav or a Fox - plenty of time for more research.

I'm about to send 2 Vanillas to Flooks! I'll ask him about the Pike options.

Marzocchis have always felt fantastic when I've tried them, just concerned over the a/c height - what is it at 130 on the 66 jnc?

No problems whatsoever with the new line of Rock Shox forks. Build quality is as good as anyone else's.

And thank you Jayem for that inane post. Always a good idea to go exactly against what the engineer of the bike is stating.

 

[Jayem]

And thank you Jayem for that inane post. Always a good idea to go exactly against what the engineer of the bike is stating.

Bzzt, I was talking about the talas, and go look on the turner website. The talas36 matches up with the "recommended travel" for the 5spot.

 

[Alex-Leigh]

Deano.. I keep meaning to lend you my large so I can try your slider But I've kind of changed my mind on that as well. If you want to borrow mine for the weekend, give me a shout and we'll sort it out.

One of the guys I ride with has a Pike on his Nicoli. It's bloody lovely. I rode it and it's super plush, super stiff (M-Axle is a great idea) and his 05 Coil U-Turn was £230! I could never be bothered to change the travel on my 5-spot which is why I stuck with the Vanilla. Probably would if I had one tho.

 

[The Squeaky Wheel]

Bzzt, I was talking about the talas, and go look on the turner website. The talas36 matches up with the "recommended travel" for the 5spot.

Bzzt. "Recommended travel" or not, you know quite well that DT has strongly recommended NOT using the 36 on the Spot.

And what are you talking about when you "talas"? This whole discussion has been about the 36TALAS, not the 32. Both 36s are considered no-nos by Turner Bikes.

Do you ever tire of being the contrarian ?

 

[FoShizzle]

Bzzt. "Recommended travel" or not, you know quite well that DT has strongly recommended NOT using the 36 on the Spot.

And what are you talking about when you "talas"? This whole discussion has been about the 36TALAS, not the 32. Both 36s are considered no-nos by Turner Bikes.

Do you ever tire of being the contrarian ?

what is the matter? no rides and no skiing planned for today

 

[The Squeaky Wheel]

what is the matter? no rides and no skiing planned for today

LOL.
Actually, I'm in Vail right now and trying my best to avoid my wife and kids who are currently battling over what type of long underwear would be best today

 

[FoShizzle]

LOL.
Actually, I'm in Vail right now and trying my best to avoid my wife and kids who are currently battling over what type of long underwear would be best today

ahhhh.....the joys of parenting/marriage. my wife and kids are not yet up but the arguing shall commence I am sure within the hour.

have a great time in Vail, you son of a *****!

 

[HollywoodUK]

The U-turn thing appeals to me. Anyone on one of these?

Hey Dean how's it going in sunny Bucks? I'm on a Pike Team U-Turn (coil) - replaced an old Vanilla 125. If you remember I went from a large Spot to a medium, and the slightly taller Pike set at 140mm gives the smaller frame a little extra stability - but not at the expense of handling IMO. The bike just feels more balanced - and the Motion Control gubbins is excellent. It never moves from 140mm - I just don't feel the need. The fork will be going to Flooks soon for a tune up, the main issue I have is that I never get full travel - which is pretty much opposite to the experiences of Tscheezy and others (with the coil version) - I'm 11st and on the normal spring. Oil level and weight is correct. However the action of the fork is very nice - lots of adjustment if you want that sort of thing, it can behave like a platform fork, be virtually locked out, or full plush. Add the U-Turn function if you feel you need it and it's a really cool fork.

Only reliability problem has been a leaky floodgate adjuster - swapped out under warranty care of Larry. The new Pikes have all metal adjusters anyway, so this little fault might have been sorted.

Overall, very happy with it - great price compared to the competition, I'd get another.

Nick