[bad mechanic]

The first number is the length between the centers of the shock's eyes. The second number is the shock's travel. The Sweetspot uses a 5.5x1.25 shock. Now, 5.5" i2i shocks are fairly easy to find, the problem is most of them are 1" travel, so you frame will only get 3" of travel instead of the standard 3.75".

Cane Creek doesn't currently produce a 5.5x1.25 shock, though you might find some old AD-10 on eBay. If you want a new shock, check out Risse Racing. I talked with them a little earlier this year, and they can set you up with a modern 5.5x1.25 air shock. You can find them at: http://www.risseracing.com/airshocks.shtml

If you do get rid of the SID, please let me know. I'd probably be interested in it.

The Factory Suspension frame were design for a 80mm fork, so putting a 100mm fork on there will relax the head angle by about 1 degree. I think it actually makes the ride better since they had a 71.5 degree head angle stock, and with the 100mm fork it takes to 70.5 degree, which mellows the ride out just enough. I've done the exact same thing on my Homegrown hardtail.

 

[blue72beetle]

I called and talked to John. He's a very nice guy with a lot of practical knowledge. Anyway, his bushings are 42mm, which would fit all S series Sweetspots, and the Homegrown carbon Sweetspots. He said he's going to look into trying to find some of the 44.5mm (1.75") bushings for Homegrown aluminum users.

I tried the McMaster UHMW bushing, and while it pressed into the frame beautifully, there was a fair amount of play between it and the pivot tube. It's unfortunate, since it would have been an extremely convenient source.

Got a price for John's bushings? How do we order, just call him up and ask? My carbon HG doesn't need any, but it'd be nice to have an extra set, just in case the bike lives long enough to need some.

 

[bad mechanic]

Got a price for John's bushings? How do we order, just call him up and ask? My carbon HG doesn't need any, but it'd be nice to have an extra set, just in case the bike lives long enough to need some.

Yup! Just give him a call. He's a great guy to talk to. His bushings are $30 a set, which is a very reasonable price, especially considering they're made from better material than the stock ones.

 

[CTB]

The Factory Suspension frame were design for a 80mm fork, so putting a 100mm fork on there will relax the head angle by about 1 degree. I think it actually makes the ride better since they had a 71.5 degree head angle stock, and with the 100mm fork it takes to 70.5 degree, which mellows the ride out just enough. I've done the exact same thing on my Homegrown hardtail.

I totally agree with Bad Mechanic here. I put a 100mm SID on my HG Carbon and was much happier with the geometry than when I had my 80mm SX-R on there. I don't care for over-fast steering, and taking that head angle out with the 100mm fork was just what the doctor ordered. I think the 20mm fork length change is more like -0.5 deg of head angle, but I'd have to dial up my Linkage model to check that. Either way, I liked the change.

Add me to the list of folks that might be interested in your SID if BMech passes on it.

 

[fastboy143]

The front fork upgrade is in process now, should be shipping next week. The rear will be next and will likely be a birthday gift to self (Feb). I'll keep you 'post'-ed.
Thank you for the input. I'm even more excited (if that's possible) for the fork now. 3.5 lbs like my sid, but with modern damping & enough travel for some of the more exciting terrains I can now ride, and a lock out for climbs!

 

[CTB]

I stand corrected. My linkage model of my 17" Homegrown Carbon indicates that it goes from 71.6 head angle with my 80mm '00 SX-R fork to 69.9 head angle with the 100mm SID.

EDIT: My bad. These attached pictures are with a 6.0" rear shock on the bike (I noticed the BB height was WAY high). With a 5.5", my model goes from 69.6 to 68.0. The model's not dead accurate, but it is consistent in a 1.5ish delta between the forks. The SX-R has an axle-to-crown of 17.5", and the SID is 18.75". My bike is a 17".

 

[bad mechanic]

According to the Schwinn catalog, the Homegrown carbon came stock with a 100mm fork, specifically the Judy XL, which had an axle to crown measurement of roughly 473mm +/- 2mm (~18.62"). With the Judy XL, it was listed as having a 71 degree head angle. Is it possible your measurements are off? I also know first hand the the catalog might simply be wrong.

 

[CTB]

A couple things. 1) My HG Carbon was built up (by me) as a frame kit from all my Moab 2 takeoff parts, other than the fork. 2) My Linkage model was made using the "photograph" method, as opposed to measurements. I wouldn't put stock in the absolute values, but the deltas should be solid. 3) It looks to me like the HG's had both 80mm (non All Mountain) and 100m (All Mountain) per the spec sheets above, but I've been drinking.

 

[bad mechanic]

3) It looks to me like the HG's had both 80mm (non All Mountain) and 100m (All Mountain) per the spec sheets above, but I've been drinking.

Yup, the Homegrown Factory suspension models all came with 80mm forks and had 71.5 degree head angles, while the All Mountain models (also known as the Homegrown Carbon models) had the100mm forks and 71 degree head angles.

 

[CTB]

Is the HG carbon triangle is different than the S-series carbon triangle for geometry? The S-series carbons came with 80mm forks in '99 but still had the 71 head angle. I wonder if they really had two different geometries, or if Schwinn just fudged the numbers in the tables. Hmmm... My HG is not assembled at the moment, but I should try and measure it in reality sometime.

 

[bad mechanic]

Is the HG carbon triangle is different than the S-series carbon triangle for geometry? The S-series carbons came with 80mm forks in '99 but still had the 71 head angle. I wonder if they really had two different geometries, or if Schwinn just fudged the numbers in the tables. Hmmm... My HG is not assembled at the moment, but I should try and measure it in reality sometime.

Yeah, it wouldn't surprise me at all if Schwinn was just creative with the numbers. I'd be very interested to hear what you find if you measure your carbon.

A thing to remember is a 20mm jump in travel only increases the head tube angle by about 14mm to 15mm due to the increased sag of the extra travel.

 

[CTB]

A thing to remember is a 20mm jump in travel only increases the head tube angle by about 14mm to 15mm due to the increased sag of the extra travel.

True for "rider on" measurements, but geometry charts are always printed at zero sag, as I understand it. But you bring a good point, and Linkage can (I think) show numbers with sag added, but I haven't truly taken the time to understand it completely. It requires you to know the weight distribution of the bike, and I can only roughly do that by myself and with one bathroom scale. Also, a 20mm increase in fork travel doesn't necessarily mean a 20mm increase in axle-to-crown, esp when comparing different brands to each other.

Man, I apologize for seriously derailing this thread...:blush:

 

[TahoeBC]

Today I had the pleasure of meeting and riding with John Castellano today. Not only is he really knowledgeable but a super nice guy. Pretty cool to ride the trail where he conceived the sweet spot suspension design!

Dropped off my Schwinn sweetspot frame so he could measure it up properly to start making up new bushings for everybody looking for them.

Also got to check out a new sweetspot frame he is making now that has amazing flexibility. By simply moving the rear shock position in the rear you can run either 29 or 26 inch tires. Also you can run it as a single speed or any number of speeds you like. John had his set up with a 26 in the rear and a 29er up front as a singlespeed. It was amazing to see how nimbly he moved on this bike through rocky terrain single speeding it with 6 inch's of travel! launching and tail whipping off every rock he could find.

Here are couple pics I took today of his bike, before and after our ride, in the first one you can see my old frame in the bike stand behind his new sweetspot.

Edit to add link I found for this bike on his website
http://www.castellanodesigns.com/Zorro.html

 

[bad mechanic]

TahoeBC, did you take him a Homegrown Sweetspot? If you did, that means I don't need to send my front triangle to him.

 

[TahoeBC]

TahoeBC, did you take him a Homegrown Sweetspot? If you did, that means I don't need to send my front triangle to him.

Yes, see the bike pictured in post #9 of this thread, this is the bike I left with him. You might check with John, he might want to check a couple of frames cause they could measure slightly different due to wear.

And thanks for the heads up that the bushings he had were for a different model, I was able to call him and cancel the order before I got shipped another pair of bushing that would have be useless.

 

[TahoeBC]

Rear Disk Brakes

Has anyone successfully used one of the adapters out there to convert the Hayes 22m to 51m IS?

Here is one link, there are probably more out there
http://www.torontocycles.com/Selling/Adapters.html

 

[nick d]

im looking at getting a homegrown sweetspot frame, has the bushings but not the 'shaft' they go on, any ideas where i might get one?

thanks!

 

[bad mechanic]

Just contact John Castellano, he's not only the grandfather of the design, and has the parts you need. http://www.castellanodesigns.com

 

[CTB]

Good idea, I hadn't thought of that. They float by on Ebay occasionally, but I haven't seen any for a while.

 

[nick d]

thanks! as soon as i get the frame ill take some measurements and give him a call!