[MDEnvEngr]

All,
So earlier this month I received my first custom bike. A Ti Strong. Also, my first Ti bike. After talking and talking about how/what I ride Carl built it to be mid-range flexy. I wanted the bike to be comfortable for all-day adventures on bumpy New England trails.

So I built it up with my Reba. It just didn't feel "right" I had the Reba dialed in nice on the steel Sofa King, and those same settings didn't work on the Strong. It almost felt like the back and the front of the bike were working against each other. The fork either felt too hard or too soft...I couldn't get the sweet spot (and I varied pressures all over the place). The rear end of the bike felt squirmy.

The best setting on the Reba was locked out.

I put a set of Exiwolf tires on. They helped matters, but the basic wierdness of the handling remained.

So, I put my waltworks rigid fork on. The fork was designed to replace the Reba, so the angles stayed the same.

Now the bike feels great. Obviously, it feels like a rigid bike, but it is the smoothest riding rigid bike I have ever piloted. The Exis feel great. the AC wheels are real light anyway, so the heavy Exis don't penalise me too much.

What gives? My thinking is that the frame flexes so much more than I'm used to. Somehow the suspended front was mucking up the feel of the bike.

Let me state that I'm super happy the bike likes rigid. I prefer the look and feel of a rigid bike.

Anyone have any theories?

B
East Hampton, CT

 

[Ligero]

A friend of mine had the same thing happen to him with a Slingshot frame. He tried riding it with a suspended fork on it and said that the frame and fork seemed to be fighting each other. He went back to running it rigid and said that it rides much better rigid.

So it seems if the frame was designed to flex more then normal if you throw in a squishy fork there is to much flex and movement and the bike does not handle right.