[TwoNin9r]

Hey Guys. Haven't been riding in a long time. Haven't been on this forum in longer. Long story short, i had to sell my Habit carbon, and now the only bike i have left is my '13 F29 carbon that i kind of hate riding, and which, at the moment, has a broken front rim... so, i need to do something about this, because i want to get back into riding.

My main issue is that the insanely steep head tube and 90mm travel are not particularly conducive to my style of riding. I thought i was going to get into racing back when i got it, but that's just not me. i'd rather just ride leisurely and have fun. AFAIK the 90 is not convertible to 100mm?

Here are a couple ideas i had, and hoping i could get some thoughts from you guys.

1) since i have a broken front rim, i was thinking to lace up a 27.5 diameter, wide front rim and go 27.5+ on it to keep the geo the same. or go 27.5+ on the whole bike, which would be tough due to narrow rear triangle.

2) buy a frame (probably steel) that's meant for ~100-110mm fork and go 29+ up front which will give me a diameter difference of approx 40mm (so 20mm added to "fork" for geo purposes).

just need to do something different and get back into riding.

 

[Scott In MD]

Yes, it's pretty easy to increase the 90mm travel to 100, or even 120mm.

I agree that the 71 degree HTA on F-29 is too steep. And what the hell is up with "90mm" of travel ? Who does that? I have an F-Si with 69 degree HTA and 100mm and it's better. I am building an F-29 on as a gravel-trail bike now, and plan to modify the 90mm fork to 110mm, which will slack the front end and raise the bottom bracket. Mendon or another reputable fork shop can do this for you for less than $100, including the servicing. This is a pretty common modification.

IMO switching to 27.5 wheels is a bridge to far...

Let us know what you decide.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[TwoNin9r]

Thank you for this reply. Basically answers my question. Going to start looking for a frame to swap all my stuff over once I find a shop that'll extend the fork!

 

[MendonCycleSmith]

110 is likely the most you'll get out of a booted Lefty with a 29er wheel.

A B would give you the extra 10 mm easily enough, but then you drop the front end again.

You'll slacken the HTA by ~ 1 degree going from 90 to 110, easily done during a standard service...