Oooh! Can I answer?
Pack owner's: How do you like the BB height?
I only ask because the Pack's 14.25" BB height is significantly higher than most of the "Brand X" 6 inch bikes which hover anywhere from 13.3"-14.0", but not over 14" that I know of.
I find it interesting that the 5-spot's BB height at 13.25" is actually on the lower end of the 5" travel bike range. Maybe that's why y'all use bash rings so much.
I guess I'm interested in riding impressions on how the Pack handles mostly All mountain trail riding, not necessarily stunts/hucks, etc? An interesting comparo handling wise would be the 575 for those who have time on both since the 575 is probably at the opposite (low) end of the BB height spectrum (more fitting its XCish role).
Those of you with Packs and Spots, how much of the handling difference do you think the BB height accounts for?
Do you find the Pack hard to remount on failed climbs with the saddle at "XC height" for full leg extension?
One other way I've found of looking at BB heights is to subtract the sag to get the sagged height. For a rigid bike, 12" is pretty standard, and 12.75"-13" is getting pretty high.
Six Pack sagged 30% should drop (roughly) 1.8 inches putting the bb at 12.45" sagged...a little high compared to the rigid standard.
5-spot sagged 30% would drop 1.5" putting the BB at 11.75"...a little on the low side.
Do you 5 spot owners find you bang a lot of pedals?
I find it interesting that the 5-spot's BB height at 13.25" is actually on the lower end of the 5" travel bike range. Maybe that's why y'all use bash rings so much.
I guess I'm interested in riding impressions on how the Pack handles mostly All mountain trail riding, not necessarily stunts/hucks, etc? An interesting comparo handling wise would be the 575 for those who have time on both since the 575 is probably at the opposite (low) end of the BB height spectrum (more fitting its XCish role).
Those of you with Packs and Spots, how much of the handling difference do you think the BB height accounts for?
Do you find the Pack hard to remount on failed climbs with the saddle at "XC height" for full leg extension?
One other way I've found of looking at BB heights is to subtract the sag to get the sagged height. For a rigid bike, 12" is pretty standard, and 12.75"-13" is getting pretty high.
Six Pack sagged 30% should drop (roughly) 1.8 inches putting the bb at 12.45" sagged...a little high compared to the rigid standard.
5-spot sagged 30% would drop 1.5" putting the BB at 11.75"...a little on the low side.
Do you 5 spot owners find you bang a lot of pedals?
1 - 11 of 11 Posts
That was just too darn easy!Jayem said:Oooh! Can I answer?
In the words of the Motor City Madman -- Terrible Ted Nugent: "Look....up ahead... a door......and the darn thing's open!"
I never really noticed me hitting the pedals on my Spot until I rode the Pack for a while. Now I clip my pedals on the Spot periodically because I expect pack-like clearance, and that is with a tall fork on the Spot. It is all a matter of what you are used to.
aint that the truthtscheezy said:I never really noticed me hitting the pedals on my Spot until I rode the Pack for a while. Now I clip my pedals on the Spot periodically because I expect pack-like clearance, and that is with a tall fork on the Spot. It is all a matter of what you are used to.
When I switched from a Blur to a Spot, I couldn't ""believe"" how much additional clearance there was. I seemed to never hit my pedals.
Then Abraham begot Ishmael, and I noticed I hit the pedals here and there.
The other week, it was COLD, compared to what I had been riding in, and it seemed my rear shock needed a pump up. No shock pump around though. In that ride, I nailed my left pedal on a barely noticeable rock in a long frequency compression at speed. Snapped both springs clean off the Candy SL, one on the clipped in side and of course the one on the rock side. Such is life.
On the Spot when using ETA I hit the pedals constantly on rocky climbs, especially when I've got platforms on the bike. With Mallets I experience the auto release feature ;~)
On my Pack I only use platforms and hit a lot less often. I certainly wouldn't want the bike any lower considering our trails are pretty rocky.
The Spot has a big ring, the Pack a CG & bashring. I don't have a big issue hitting either on the DH, but I don't try and roll the super kinky stuff with the Spot.
Both handle nicely, no complaints.
On my Pack I only use platforms and hit a lot less often. I certainly wouldn't want the bike any lower considering our trails are pretty rocky.
The Spot has a big ring, the Pack a CG & bashring. I don't have a big issue hitting either on the DH, but I don't try and roll the super kinky stuff with the Spot.
Both handle nicely, no complaints.
I own both a Pack w/36 Vanilla and a 575 w/AM1 150mm and don't find myself hitting my pedals on either bikes. The Pack just feels awesome wether going down steep rocky technical stuff or climbing, it does it all and it does it well. The 575 is a great bike also, and went from a Talas to the 130-150mm AM1 and pedal clearance/bb height has never been an issue for me on either forks honestly. I like the higher bb personally, it just feels more comfortable and confidence inspiring.
Thanks. This is the sort of feedback i was looking for.FXRob said:I own both a Pack w/36 Vanilla and a 575 w/AM1 150mm and don't find myself hitting my pedals on either bikes. The Pack just feels awesome wether going down steep rocky technical stuff or climbing, it does it all and it does it well. The 575 is a great bike also, and went from a Talas to the 130-150mm AM1 and pedal clearance/bb height has never been an issue for me on either forks honestly. I like the higher bb personally, it just feels more comfortable and confidence inspiring.
just about right
I can't compare it to other 6" bikes, but I can say it feels just about perfect on the 6pack.
I think the 14.25 BB is perfect for the 6 pack. It still feels low enough to rail turns, but is high enough to avoid hitting obstacles in the trail. I also run shorter cranks (170mm) than most. It gives me a bit more clearance. The RFX had a higher BB, this is one of the main reasons I switched to the 6pack.Enel said:Thanks. This is the sort of feedback i was looking for.
I can't compare it to other 6" bikes, but I can say it feels just about perfect on the 6pack.
Keep looking- there are many 6" bikes with BB's over 14"- especially the more FR oriented ones.Enel said:I only ask because the Pack's 14.25" BB height is significantly higher than most of the "Brand X" 6 inch bikes which hover anywhere from 13.3"-14.0", but not over 14" that I know of.
I have an '02 RFX, which has a 14.6 BB with 6" rockers. I often run the 5" rockers which drop the BB to 13.5.
Last summer I really started to feel like the higher BB (in 6" mode) was hurting me on the local XC trails that are super twisty, moderately fast, and have lots of low-hanging branches. The high BB means a higher center of gravity (aka "CG"), which required me to brake more before the corners.
So I went to the 5" rockers with lower and was quite happy, especially on XC rides. But then I rode some northshore trails that featured lots of rollable rock drops (nothing too crazy) and found I was getting hung up on ledges and logs. I went back to the 6" rockers, rode the same trails, and found that I could clean or even pedal over the things I was getting stuck on with the lower BB.
Basically i think 14.25 is very reasonable for 6" of travel. Anything too much lower and it would be a drawback on really technical or FR trails. Which height is best, just depends on the trail. I think you will find that the 6" bikes with low BB's are geared more towards XC riding (i.e. Yeti) whereas the FR oriented bikes are going towards higher BB's. Consider the Devinci FR bikes (8" travel) that feature 16.4" BB's- you can get the DH version of teh same frame with 15" BB's.
What confuses me are the DH bikes that have 8"+ travel and 13" BB's. That doesn't give you very much clearance at full compression!
BB Height
The 5 spot is much better than many bikes I've riden in this regard but I cannot help with wishing that it had an extra .5 of an inch more..
Not lots, but just a few times too many to be perfectly happy. I wish it was very slightly higher. I never really felt a high bike (within reason) that much of a problem with cornering. But banging your pedals just kills my confidence and really annoys me, especially with climbing.Enel said:Do you 5 spot owners find you bang a lot of pedals?
The 5 spot is much better than many bikes I've riden in this regard but I cannot help with wishing that it had an extra .5 of an inch more..
1 - 11 of 11 Posts
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