[Leprechaun]

Hey, I was just going through the 5.5 picture thread and was noticing the various builds. I was curious what the concensous was on forks longer than 130mm. I currently own a vpfree that is setup for trail use with a fox 36 and a shorter eye to eye length which puts it around 7.5", or so I've been told. I love VPP so I'd like to stay with it. I'd like to get another trail bike for my wife to ride, and that I can enjoy when she's not going. The 6.6 seems fairly similar to what I've got now (let me know if I'm wrong) but the head angle of the 5.5 seems a bit too steep for my tastes. Is a longer fork for the 5.5 the answer? Also, what is the Pushed mono link, or whatever it's called, all about?

Thanks for the thoughts and opinions. Should I get the 5.5 with a longer travel fork to slacken the head angle or go with the 6.6 with, perhaps, a shorter fork to steepen the head angle? Boy, they sure don't make it easy these days to pick a bike. There are just too many great bikes and well, I'm lovin' it.

 

[[email protected]]

5.5 for wife

Hey, I was just going through the 5.5 picture thread and was noticing the various builds. I was curious what the concensous was on forks longer than 130mm. I currently own a vpfree that is setup for trail use with a fox 36 and a shorter eye to eye length which puts it around 7.5", or so I've been told. I love VPP so I'd like to stay with it. I'd like to get another trail bike for my wife to ride, and that I can enjoy when she's not going. The 6.6 seems fairly similar to what I've got now (let me know if I'm wrong) but the head angle of the 5.5 seems a bit too steep for my tastes. Is a longer fork for the 5.5 the answer? Also, what is the Pushed mono link, or whatever it's called, all about?

Thanks for the thoughts and opinions. Should I get the 5.5 with a longer travel fork to slacken the head angle or go with the 6.6 with, perhaps, a shorter fork to steepen the head angle? Boy, they sure don't make it easy these days to pick a bike. There are just too many great bikes and well, I'm lovin' it.

I am a wife that rides a 5.5 and the head angle is not a problem if you go with an Marzocchi AM1. I did ride a talas and it was fast but alittle to steep for me and hit the down tube. On the Am1 you can keep the travel at 130mm and it will slacken the head angle enough to make it feel right at home on fast down hills. Plus the weight issue is always there with females. A pound extra for you feels like 3-5 lbs for most women. Think of it as a perecentage of the individuals body weight. A 28# bike for you feels like a 35# bike to her. I totally enjoy my 5.5 and use it for all my xc/aggressive trail riding and it weights about 29#. I have installed the push monoblock to decrease the flex at the lower link and increase stiffness. I'm not sure if Intense has made a solid block for the upper link for the 06 5.5 like they did for the 06 6.6. Hope this helps! You can see in the photo how the AM1 slackens the HA.

 

[Leprechaun]

Nice bike

Hey, thanks for the reply, I had given up on this thread. I hadn't thought of the weight issue being such a significant difference between men and women. I'll deffinitely have to keep that in mind when I build my wife's bike. Do you have any advice about frame size? My wife is right between a small and a medium. She is 5' 7" and is currently riding a medium with a top tube that measures 23.2". She seems to be doing fine with it and with a medium frame, I can ride it too. But, that shouldn't be a deciding factor. Well, thanks for your help.

 

[drumstix]

One thing to remember, women in general have shorter torso's and longer legs. I found for my wife that she likes a short stem with a riser bar, might be just the fact its harder to reach to the bars and it might be harder on a women to lean forward. ( please correct me if Im wrong)

 

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5.5 Fit

Hey, thanks for the reply, I had given up on this thread. I hadn't thought of the weight issue being such a significant difference between men and women. I'll deffinitely have to keep that in mind when I build my wife's bike. Do you have any advice about frame size? My wife is right between a small and a medium. She is 5' 7" and is currently riding a medium with a top tube that measures 23.2". She seems to be doing fine with it and with a medium frame, I can ride it too. But, that shouldn't be a deciding factor. Well, thanks for your help.

I'm 5'8" with a 32 inch inseam and have long arms. I ride a small with a 90mm thompson and fits great. I was on the fence about size myself but I'm glad I went with the small. I like to be alittle more up right when I ride so this achieved it easily, plus I like to jump off stuff and throw the bike around so a small works best for me. 23.2 for XC is about what I rode on my stumpjumper but the 5.5 is a different beast.Go to competitivecycles.com and they have a fit caculator that might help. There are several forks that will contact the down tube on small and meduim 5.5. Check out some threads here before you purchase one. Good luck. If you live near Philly she can test ride my small.

 

[mrtelephoneman_sn]

I am a wife that rides a 5.5 and the head angle is not a problem if you go with an Marzocchi AM1. I did ride a talas and it was fast but alittle to steep for me and hit the down tube. On the Am1 you can keep the travel at 130mm and it will slacken the head angle enough to make it feel right at home on fast down hills. Plus the weight issue is always there with females. A pound extra for you feels like 3-5 lbs for most women. Think of it as a perecentage of the individuals body weight. A 28# bike for you feels like a 35# bike to her. I totally enjoy my 5.5 and use it for all my xc/aggressive trail riding and it weights about 29#. I have installed the push monoblock to decrease the flex at the lower link and increase stiffness. I'm not sure if Intense has made a solid block for the upper link for the 06 5.5 like they did for the 06 6.6. Hope this helps! You can see in the photo how the AM1 slackens the HA.

Good call on pointing out the weight factor for females. I spec'd the same 5.5 I had for my wife at 31lbs and didn't take that into consideration. We had to drop weight at the front end, crankset and wheels.

Looks like your 5.5. is decked out with a Float R AvA and push mono-block coupled with the Marzzocchi All-Mountain. I love that build. Now THAT's how you spec a 5.5.

 

[Leprechaun]

Wow, thanks

Thanks for the offer, I wish we could take you up on it but we live east of L.A. right now. You mentioned that you enjoy jumping things and throwing your bike around a lot, what do you think about the 6.6 vs. 5.5. My wife enjoys going down more than going up, but as is the case for most riders, the up is deffinitely necessary. Thanks for all your feed back, it's been very helpful.

 

[slomo]

re: 5.5 fit, piling on

Heather, hoping you can give some more specific measurements on your 5.5.

I wonder if I could trouble you to measure the effective top tube length and the distance from the center of your handlebar to the seat post (on the horizontal as well)?

Some quick background on why I'm being a pain - I've seen different measurements between model years for top tube length on the 5.5. I'm on a 5 spot now and your bike doesn't really look shorter than mine but it's obviously hard to tell a .75" diff from a pic. It sounds like I'm shorter than you at 5' 5" tho I have a really long torso that limits what bikes fit me well.

I have competing past injuries, 2 back and 2 knee surgeries, the back wants plush suspension, the knee wants easy to pedal. From what I've read about VPP it sounds like this will fit the bill perfectly. I'd like to take advantage of the trade-in offer and get rid of the too-big Tracer I have sitting in storage right now but don't want to waste money on a bike if I won't be happy with the fit.

Thanks, Mo

 

[UKjack]

Maverick DUC on mine.

I've got a Maverick fork on my 5.5 and its sweet.(sorted out the early seal problems)
The low crown height dosen't change the head angle though.
Yes I agree the head angle is a touch steeper than I would like for mad downhilling sessions, but the sharp steering makes this bike a do everything beauty.

Loved the EVP ride so much, especially the climbing that I've now bought a spider to build up as light as possible for XC racing as well. Even won a few XC races on the 5.5, its so fast off the line with the rear extending and getting all the power down, looking forward to losing about 4 Lbs for the spider build.