[markwdaisy]

Hello Shredders,

Im building out a full suspension for the first time, and am nearing the finish line (ish). My fork finally arrived, butI’m nervous to cut the tube…my hard tail is at 7” on the button, but the geometry is completely different on the Rip 9. Does anyone have any tips/pointers for this? My biggest fear is cutting too short (obviously). Thanks all.

 

[J.B. Weld]

You can't go by your hardtail's steer tube length at all because the head tube length, stack height, etc. are likely totally different.

If you're unsure just leave it extra long with plenty of room for lots of spacers so you can move the stem up or down as you wish. Once you get it dialed after a few rides then remove whatever spacers are left on top of the stem and hack it off at the appropriate length.

 

[mik_git]

Just hope that you HT had enough length and the steerer tube is long enough to fit the FS frame...

 

[kapusta]

Get a bunch of 10mm spacers and leave the steer tube way longer than you think you could possibly need, and stack the extras on top of the stem. This will allow you to move spacer from above and below the stem and vice versa until you figure out where you like the bar. I would still leave the steerer long enough to fit a 10mm spacer above the stem for future flexibility.

 

[Fleas]

I left some (10-15?mm) extra on my current fork, just in case I have to swap it to another frame. My history suggests that this is an inevitability.

-F