[KYMtnBkr]

I posted in the Santa Cruz forum and received a whopping 0 replies. I'm hoping to have better luck here. I'm considering purchasing a Cane Creek Anglest to slacken the head angle of my V2 Nomad by 1 degree. I ride long technical rides of 20-35 miles and also light freeride with this bike. I'd be very interested in hearing from others who have done this on their 67 degree HA bikes. How do you like it? Pros? Cons?

 

[Drth Vadr]

If its not broke, don't fix it.

 

[rideitall]

I previously had a G1 Nomad but it was built up as my FR bike ran a 180mm 66 RC2X, and also a Cane Creek +5 (or +8 can't recall), not so much for the HA but to ensure the topcaps on the fork cleared the downtube.

HA was reasonably slack at around 66 degrees. Didn't do that much climbing with it due to the build (heavier rims, tires) and also really noticed the kickback from the suspension when climbing steeper technical terrian in granny gear.

Current AM bike is a Reign. I am trying out a headset externalizer (adds stack height at the bottom) along with a Talas 36. The combo slackens out the bike very nicely so I could pretty much ride anything on it, yet still has the ability to drop the fork and climb the steeps. The Giant Maestro suspension, has almost none of the negative traits the 1st gen Nomad did with regard to suspension feedback while climbing in granny gear.

So, I would say go for it, especially if you have a travel adjust fork, having the bike slack enough to feel confident on the technical decents for me is a must, but climbing with most bike slacker than 67 degrees is a chore.

One last comment, if you don't have an adjustable seatpost get one. It helps keep flow by not stopping to adjust your seatpost for decents or climbs. My knees also love it, as I don't try to climb up hills after a decent with my seatpost slammed down.

 

[climbingbubba]

The only downside really is it will extend your wheelbase which will make it a bit tougher for tight switchbacks both up and down.

The upsides outnumber the downside IMO.

First it extends the wheelbase which makes it more stable on fast sections, rocks gardens, and steeps.

It will lower your BB height slightly which will help with cornering and stability

It will drop your front end down a bit which will help keep your weight centered and again help with cornering

It will steepen your seat tube angle which could help put you in a better position for climbing.

In general it will make it feel more like a mini DH bike so it will be able to handle more speed and you will feel more comfortable on the downs (as long as they are not slow, windy, tight cornered downs). It will be a little less comfortable climbing (maybe) but probably not enough to notice (again unless its slow, windy, tight cornered ups). But in my opinion with the lower BB height, weight further forward, and a little practice, tight corners on the downs are about the same.

Another thing to consider. If you are already running an external headset lower cup and you switch to the 1 degree angleset (which is mostly flush) you will only end up slackening it about a half degree. I would say get the full 1.5 degree angleset to change it enough to notice any benefit. That would give you the 66 degree HA.

Just for reference my AM bike is 65.5 degrees.

 

[KYMtnBkr]

Thanks for the quick and (mostly) informative replies. Although, some have never learned that if you don't have anything to say it's probably best to say nothing at all.

I do have an adjustable travel Lyrik U-Turn up front as well as a Gravitydropper post. I whole heartedly agree that a dropper post is one of the best upgrades for an all mountain bike. And thanks for the suggestion about getting the 1.5 degree Angleset. I didn't know that I would need one to achieve a 66 degree head angle.

 

[climbingbubba]

Thanks for the quick and (mostly) informative replies. Although, some have never learned that if you don't have anything to say it's probably best to say nothing at all.

I do have an adjustable travel Lyrik U-Turn up front as well as a Gravitydropper post. I whole heartedly agree that a dropper post is one of the best upgrades for an all mountain bike. And thanks for the suggestion about getting the 1.5 degree Angleset. I didn't know that I would need one to achieve a 66 degree head angle.

yeah according to the santa cruz site the 67 degree HA is achieved with a 1.5 headset which are external bottom cups. So just switching to a zero stack lower cup would give it a 67.5ish HA. So if you want 66 with a zero stack type headset (which the angleset is) you would want the 1.5 degree angleset. The good thing is the 1.5 also comes with the other options in case 1.5 is too much. downside is its like $50 more

 

[IntenseMack10]

Something I'm curious about for this situation is, will kicking the head angle out place extra stress on the fork (at the lower steer tube - crown interface) and the headtube? You mostly see the angle sets on DH bikes, and with a dual crown fork there really is no extra stress on that area.

 

[climbingbubba]

Something I'm curious about for this situation is, will kicking the head angle out place extra stress on the fork (at the lower steer tube - crown interface) and the headtube? You mostly see the angle sets on DH bikes, and with a dual crown fork there really is no extra stress on that area.

I guess it could put a little but obviously not enough to worry about since there don't seem to be any warnings from any companies. Plus there are quite a few AM bikes that come stock with 66 degree HA's now.

One of my favorite bikes was my banshee spitfire. It had 130 rear and 150 front. It was 66 degrees and a blast. I didn't ever worry about snapping the steer tube.

 

[tald]

I slacked out my turner 5spot a month ago by 1 degree (to give it the same geometry as the 2011 version). It has a 1 1/8" headset so I used Saar G7's invention (http://www.ofanaim.net/has.html). The Turner forum has a full
thread on it.
Amazing tweak. Wow. that 1 degree made a huge difference. 66.5 degrees with a fox 36 fork. Much more confidence descending and dropping and actually don't feel any real limitation climbing (but i am using a talas).
Highly recommend angle sets if you want to feel more confident going more aggressive.
And for 1 1/8" frames I highly recommend Saar's solution. It was really great doing business with him.

 

[scrublover]

You're not getting the replies you want because the Angleset is very new, and very few people are going to have much ride time on it. Particularly coming out of winter.

Wait a while, you'll get more info. Early reviews and reports seem positive.

That said, I have used some angle altering cups from another company on my DH bike, and it made for a very nice change. Slackened it out a bit over a degree, while lengthening the wheelbase a touch and not raising the BB height - as a taller fork would.

 

[bajaracer1501]

I posted in the Santa Cruz forum and received a whopping 0 replies. I'm hoping to have better luck here. I'm considering purchasing a Cane Creek Anglest to slacken the head angle of my V2 Nomad by 1 degree. I ride long technical rides of 20-35 miles and also light freeride with this bike. I'd be very interested in hearing from others who have done this on their 67 degree HA bikes. How do you like it? Pros? Cons?

Yeah, I think its just too new and not many (if any) have tried it on the Nomad. I'm running a 170 Lyrik on my Nomad and that brings it to about 66.5 but once the Angleset comes out for tapered steerers (which I'm told will be April when I called Cane Creek) I'll get one and let you know how I like it. I'm expecting some of the added benefits listed by climbingbubba

 

[dropadrop]

The only downside really is it will extend your wheelbase which will make it a bit tougher for tight switchbacks both up and down.

...

It will lower your BB height slightly which will help with cornering and stability

...

For some people that might be a downside too, at least if the BB was in the sweet spot to start with.

I find the angleset a great idea, but a lot of the modern bikes already have a very low BB to start with. The trails I ride in would be really annoying if my BB was any lower then it is now.

 

[nightnerd]

For some people that might be a downside too, at least if the BB was in the sweet spot to start with.

I find the angleset a great idea, but a lot of the modern bikes already have a very low BB to start with. The trails I ride in would be really annoying if my BB was any lower then it is now.

I own a Reign X which has a 67 degree head angle with a 160 fox 36. I have been wanting to go a degree slacker using one of the angled headset and bottom bracket height have been my main concern as it is already quite low. After using this little program : http://bikegeo.muha.cc/ I realized that the difference is very minimal at about 1mm to 2 mm. If one use Saar's headset which has an external bottom cup, the difference could be even less.

Cane Creek will have their zs44 - zs44 .5 - 1 degree angleset out on April first, just on time for the coming riding season!

 

[b-kul]

Cane Creek will have their zs44 - zs44 .5 - 1 degree angleset out on April first, just on time for the coming riding season!

thats what im waiting for. i want a 1.5 change though so that + a 2.4 fat albert up front should take care of it.

 

[Haus Boss]

From what I read about this product, Cane Creek was in close contacting with Santa Cruz throughout the development and beta testing of angle set.

 

[KYMtnBkr]

Thanks for all the input. I just ordered the Angleset that includes all three cups so I will have the 1.5, 1.0 and .5 degree options. FYI Tree Fort bikes price matched the $150.99 price offered by AE Bike. I prefer Tree Fort over AE because they don't charge a restocking fee if I need to return an item. I'll post up my thoughts about the Agleset after I've had an opportunity to do a few rides with it.

 

[bing!]

Generally Id rather that a seller put their best price forward.