[jayoutside]

I am looking to slightly slacken the head tube angle of my Ventana El Salt. Currently running a Fox Vanilla 130 RLT with no prob, but want a longer wheelbase and a slightly slacker HTA to match the cockpit feel of the Yeti 575. I also want the ability the minute and Z1 provide to drop the travel for steep climbs.
I have searched a bit and most of you report a "-1 degree" HTA change on Fox forks. I know that Marzocchi Z1 runs a little longer and will slacken the HTA and lengthen the wheelbase, but will the manitou minute 1 (130 travel) do the same thing as the Z1, or will it be pretty hard to tell any difference from the fox 130 I run now?
I know the minute is lighter, but I don't care about weight - only real benefit I can see to the minute on this frame is that I could drop both the front and rear to 4 in when I wanted to, won't have this option on the Z1.

 

[Ronnie]

I have no experience with the Marzocchi so I can't comment on it. I am however familiar with both the 130mm Fox forx and the Manitou Minute. Fox claim the axle to crown to be 500.9mm and Manitou say the Minute is 505mm. Not a large difference and given that the fork is sagging, I don't think you will tell much of a difference. I'm riding an Intense 5.5 and I also wanted a slacker HA. I have fitted my bike with a Manitou Nixon Platinum. The axle to crown is claimed to be 518mm. The Nixon Platinum is technically identical to the 05 Minute 3, Except that it has 32mm. stanchions instead of 30mm. and has 145mm. travel instead of 130mm. They both have IT and SPV damping. Intense spec. the 5.5 with the Minute and I had one on for a year(04 Minute 3) but I really prefer the ride with the Nixon.

Ronnie.

 

[Squash]

Hmmm...well here's the rule of thumb....

I am looking to slightly slacken the head tube angle of my Ventana El Salt. Currently running a Fox Vanilla 130 RLT with no prob, but want a longer wheelbase and a slightly slacker HTA to match the cockpit feel of the Yeti 575. I also want the ability the minute and Z1 provide to drop the travel for steep climbs.
I have searched a bit and most of you report a "-1 degree" HTA change on Fox forks. I know that Marzocchi Z1 runs a little longer and will slacken the HTA and lengthen the wheelbase, but will the manitou minute 1 (130 travel) do the same thing as the Z1, or will it be pretty hard to tell any difference from the fox 130 I run now?
I know the minute is lighter, but I don't care about weight - only real benefit I can see to the minute on this frame is that I could drop both the front and rear to 4 in when I wanted to, won't have this option on the Z1.

for head tube angle change. When you lengthen the fork by 19mm (3/4 inch aprox) you will slacken the head angle by approximately 1 degree. So in order to slacken your head angle by one degree you would have to have a fork that has at least 19mm more length from the axle to the crown. The easiest way to accomplish this is with a longer travel fork. It used to be that there was enough varriation in axle to crown length between manufacturers to accomplish what you are looking to do. But any more the difference between the axle to crown between two different forks of the same travel is pretty negligable, usually within + or - 5mm or so. So I would recommend looking into forks in the 150 to 170mm travel range, depending on how much of a change you are looking for. A 150mm travel fork would slacken out the head angle approximately 1 degree and a 170 would make for an approximate 2 degree change from what you are using now.

For 150mm from Marzocchi the Z1 FR I ETA, and 66VF would fill the bill, from Manitou the Nixon (145mm), Sherman, and Stance lines all have both 150 and 170mm travel models (except the Nixon). For Rock Shox the only thing that really comes in to play would be the Boxer Ride at 130 to 170mm of travel. I would also suggest that unless you have a problem with adjustable travel that you not discount the idea. Some thing like a Manitou Sherman Flick Plus would allow you to go from 110mm of travel to 150mm by simply turning a knob. That way if you didn't like the way the bike felt and handled at 150mm you could adjust the travel down ward, and tighten your head angle until you found that "sweet spot".

Anyway hope that helps.

Good Dirt

 

[jayoutside]

I thought z1 was that high

I understand that the z1 is about 12 mm higher axel to crown than the fox though (513 vs 501, plus a bigger offset), so doesn't that mean it should slacken the bike about half a degree over a fox vanilla?