So I bought a 180 rc2 and it's made my nomad a bit too tall to corner well. I'm considering going back to 160 or lowering the 180 internally 10mm to 170. Has anyone done this? What I'm looking for is a bit slacker and taller than 160, but not as tall as it is with a 180. Yes, I know there's a Lyrik 170, but I've owned many RS forks and Fox makes a more reliable, better feeling product imo.
Nomad 180 36 Too tall
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Is it a Van? Have you tried it with a bit less air pressure? If you have a float, you can easily lower the fork to 170mm or even 160mm.
I went to a 180mm Marz RC3 Ti on my Nomad, and with the extra sag (the spring is a bit soft), I think my Nomad is fairly balanced just from riding around the street. The trails in Canada are really slushy right now, I think I will stay off them until the middle of March.
I went to a 180mm Marz RC3 Ti on my Nomad, and with the extra sag (the spring is a bit soft), I think my Nomad is fairly balanced just from riding around the street. The trails in Canada are really slushy right now, I think I will stay off them until the middle of March.
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Flip your stem.
Flipping my stem wouldn't lower the bb which is what I want. I have a float rc2 and just learned I can add a shim under the air piston to lower the travel and axel to crown 10mm. I think this will dial in the bike the way I want it. I would love to hear from anyone that has done this and get their opinion.
I have a tapered steer, so I can't. I already tried: actually bought two lower flush cups just to find out neither would work. My LBS was confused as I was, then we found out you can't run a zero stack with a tapered on a nomad; there isn't enough room for the bearing, cup, and steer. My current headset cup is like 11mm so with a zero, which really is like 3mm stack, I think I would be happy, but that's not an option.
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Well, it might be worth lowering the front 10mm with a spacer if you have the Float. I still think it's slightly raked out at 170 but acceptable. Or you could trade/sell for a straight steerer and then you'll have the angleset option as well.slimat99 said:
Does the angle set effect BB height? What I want is slightly higher bb than with a 160 but not as high as with the 180. I like my HA around 66 or 66.5 so I'm not worried about HA; I would like both 170 and 180 settings there, it's just the bb is so high with the 180 it huts my cornering game.
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Like you, I like a tiny bit higher BB and a relatively slack HA on my '08 Nomad. These bikes are long enough and have long enough chainstays that climbing doesn't suffer very much with a slacker HA and cornering doesn't suffer much either with a tiny bump in BB. In the spirit of experimentation, I've tried a longer rear shock, longer front fork, and other components. I really like how the 160mm fork works on the Nomad with the OEM length shock, so I went to a 650B front wheel/tire setup to slightly bump up the BB and HA. It's a small tweak that also adds a slightly longer footprint for the front tire. The slightly taller wheel and tire don't affect the fork travel, and the weight is about the same as a similarly sized 26" wheel and tire. It's not for everybody, but I have thoroughly enjoyed this setup for my riding.slimat99 said:
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Interesting build. I would like to try something like that out sometime, but don't want to spend the cash on a new front wheel. I've experimented with higher volume tires up front and feel it's a noticeable improvement for those who are looking to raise the bb and slacken just a hair.
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FSA makes a cheap headset with open ball bearings that has flush cups and will allow you to use a 1.5 steerer with 49mm steer tube, #141-2038. I use this on the bottom for my Spitfire and a better quality sealed top cup/bearing. You'll have to open it up to lubricate the bearings occasionally and longevity will be shorter, but if you use only the bottom half of this headset you'll have an extra set of bearings to use.slimat99 said:
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On the size difference, I had a Michelin 2.8 DH32...a massive 1350g DH tire. It fits in my 66SL fork while the 650B with a 2.3 NeoMoto won't fit. I've taken exact mm measurements of my current setup and a couple of other huge 26'er tires, and the 650B/2.3 is taller in all cases, but I don't have the numbers now. I would suspect that one of those huge 3.0 Gazzy tires is about the same size, but I haven't measured one. I guess when you look at this 650B front setup, it may be a bit like a 21"/18" dirt motor setup to some degree. Having a huge and usually heavy front tire can be a benefit, but it also carries some negative gyroscopic effect sometimes depending on what and how you're riding.gticlay said:
About 3 years ago we built up a Maverick ML8 (6.5" bike) 69'er with a DUC32 fork on it...the fork reduced in travel for the 29'er wheel. That bike was a hoot to ride. It cornered and climbed like a cat. However, when the terrain got really rocky, the bigger front hoop didn't do all I wanted it to do compared to longer travel. The 650B is just one other way to try to find the best of both worlds.
I'll have to look into that. I was told by a santa cruz shop guy that that nomad's head tube won't accept a flush headset with a 1.5. I'm wondering if there's a difference between the internal diameters between your spitfire and the nomad? I already have a gravity headset with caged bearings and don't mind servicing them from time to time. Actually prefer it to sealed bearings because I can stay on top of service rather than wait for a sealed bearing to get sticky. Thanks for the info I'll try to track down this headset.
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