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i want to slack it...

Oct 24, 2006
170
0
Alright well, the 7point is great, I like it a lot and it makes me more confident in my riding, but now I'm starting to want to make it a little bit more slacked out. Today I put a 350 spring on it from the 400, and it already felt nicer. I was wondering if there was anything else I could do to it (besides a smaller shock/larger fork) to at least make it feel a little more slacked.

I was thinking possibly, a new shorter stem, lower rise bars, or going to a railed seat/post to drop the seat a little bit more. Are there any other suggestions that could easily make my bike feel a little more slacked out?

Here is the bike as it sits now:

 

rockwool

Turbo Monkey
Apr 19, 2004
2,658
0
Filastin
I don't think that would do you any difference in slacking it out more. Might make you feel more comfortable behind the bars though. I would swap it for one of them single pivot Yakuza/Kumicho bikes, they seem to have killer geometry!!
 

skinny mike

Turbo Monkey
Jan 24, 2005
6,415
0
lowering the bar height will make the bike feel steeper because it will bring your weight forward more. try different bars that have more backsweep or rotate your current bars back a little more. change the angle of your brake levers. it's pretty amazing how some small changes can make a big difference in your body positioning.
 
Oct 24, 2006
170
0
I thought the bar situation may be the case. In getting this bike I wanted a freeride bike that I could ride everywhere, but realistically I am doing 50/50 FR/DH, and I want it to be suitable for both. I'll have to change it up while I'm riding and see how it affects my ride. I was also thinking of possibly trading it for something more DH like a Sunday- but I dont know if I want to take such a step at this point...
 

ctavel

Chimp
Aug 10, 2005
67
0
Athens and Decatur
If you've got a buddy or access to a 24" rear wheel you could try that-- I'm not certain of the numbers but I believe that swapping to a 24 usually slackens the HA about 1 degree. The swap would change the overall feel of the bike substantially so it may not be something you are interested in. HTH
 

rockwool

Turbo Monkey
Apr 19, 2004
2,658
0
Filastin
I thought the bar situation may be the case. In getting this bike I wanted a freeride bike that I could ride everywhere, but realistically I am doing 50/50 FR/DH, and I want it to be suitable for both. I'll have to change it up while I'm riding and see how it affects my ride. I was also thinking of possibly trading it for something more DH like a Sunday- but I dont know if I want to take such a step at this point...
Well, if you choose to look at another bike I have friends that are very satisfied with their Commencal Mini DH and Giant Reign X as their do-it-all bikes.
 

3D.

Monkey
Feb 23, 2006
899
0
Chinafornia USA
If you've got a buddy or access to a 24" rear wheel you could try that-- I'm not certain of the numbers but I believe that swapping to a 24 usually slackens the HA about 1 degree. The swap would change the overall feel of the bike substantially so it may not be something you are interested in. HTH
Another cheater possibility is lowering your bottom shock i hole on the frame. I do not own an I Horse or know if there is adequate room for another hole on the lower mount, but it's a trick that many of us have used on various frames to achieve that "cheater angle" when all else fails.

Keep in mind that lowering the rear of the bike by suspension mod will usually put your shock into a different relative angle, therefore resulting in possibly a new leverage ratio and progression.
 

Jonny5

Monkey
Feb 13, 2007
502
0
3" front tyre, 1.75" rear. Done and dusted.

Seriously, try a shorter shock, surely a mate has something? Just to try it out, if you like it look out for something used.
 

ÆX

Turbo Monkey
Sep 8, 2001
4,920
17
NM
chaning pin to pin shocks, making new upper links and taller fork
all would screw up the suspention or make it feel like a tower.

i am generally alway not for 24's but i would get a 24 for the back.

lower bb, slack head.
 

Bikael Molton

goofy for life
Jun 9, 2003
4,010
1,145
El Lay
an 8" dual crown fork is what I'd do, but i'm guessing you are trail-riding that bike, so maybe that's not an option for you.

I have a superT on my 7point, with the crown adjusted for a longer A-to-C.

-rob
 

iridebikes

Monkey
Jan 31, 2004
960
0
seattle
8.5x2.5 shock. Makes the geo. perfect. Lowers the BB about an inch, slacks the head angle a degree or two. The best way to test it is to back the preload off and leave .25" of slop. Compress the shock making it a 8.5" eye to eye, measure everything, test ride it around the driveway. But don't jump it!!! See how that goes, and if you're liking it, go for it.

So far we've found that if you put a 8.5" eye to eye shock on there it gives it roughly 6" of travel, and makes the angles quite nice!
 

miuan

Monkey
Jan 12, 2007
395
0
Bratislava, Slovakia
My 2005 7point gave me the same issue. It serves me as a real do it all bike with a granny gear and a 1.5" 66 RC2 ETA 180mm fork. I can always climb the steepest hills thanks to ETA, but during fast downhills, I felt it was still a little too upright for my tastes.
My frame is built around a 9" x 2.75" shock. Unlike a 24" wheel, I DO have one 8.75" x 2.75" shock sitting around, so I put it in. Of course I was worried about the last .25" travel which proved to be right. The swingarm was hitting the upper link some 2mm from shock bottom out. This may not happen with all frames, so everyone should carefully measure his own frame. First I thought the elastomere can't compress to less than 2mm (was I right?) but to be sure, I made a hard 3mm plastic spacer and put it between the elastomere and spring retainer, shortening the shock travel by 3mm.
The result is 6.7" travel, 65.5 deg HT and a 14" BB, what more could you ask for DH??? Okay, there could be more travel, the ST could be slacker and WB could be a little more, but I still want to XC this bike a lot, so it is the best tradeoff for me, and I still own a DH bike as well.
Also be cautious with your tire choice. I use 2.35" maxxis and have almost 2cm free space between them and the frame with shock fully bottomed (with spacers), so 2.5s should also fit, even in muddy days.
 

miuan

Monkey
Jan 12, 2007
395
0
Bratislava, Slovakia
The question that still remains is how the offset in linkage position will affect the so called anti squat curve and other characteristics, projected for a certain amount of sag. Now I virtually run 10% more sag than before.
 

RaID

Turbo Monkey
Another cheater possibility is lowering your bottom shock i hole on the frame. I do not own an I Horse or know if there is adequate room for another hole on the lower mount, but it's a trick that many of us have used on various frames to achieve that "cheater angle" when all else fails.

Keep in mind that lowering the rear of the bike by suspension mod will usually put your shock into a different relative angle, therefore resulting in possibly a new leverage ratio and progression.

definately cant do that on the 7pt without screwing up the suspension
even if there was room to do it
 

TGR

Monkey
Jan 9, 2006
263
3
would it be possible to flip the rocker links and install a shorter shock à la dhx air?
 

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,031
5,919
borcester rhymes
3" front tyre, 1.75" rear. Done and dusted.

Seriously, try a shorter shock, surely a mate has something? Just to try it out, if you like it look out for something used.
he's not as dumb as he sounds...you might be able to get a little more slack by running a narrower tire in the rear than front. try a 2.7 in the front and a 2.3 in the rear. Should give you enough volume while still slacking it out a little.
 

talusslope

Chimp
Apr 6, 2007
67
0
sst, WA
I am dazed and amazed that no one has suggested chopping the seat post eater tube that little bit above the gusset, or even cutting the gusset out completely! Or if you're really good with welding aluminum, just lowwering the gusset so as to preserve whatever strength it provides the frame. :happydance:

Granted the seat my rub if it gets to low.
 

skinny mike

Turbo Monkey
Jan 24, 2005
6,415
0
I am dazed and amazed that no one has suggested chopping the seat post eater tube that little bit above the gusset, or even cutting the gusset out completely! Or if you're really good with welding aluminum, just lowwering the gusset so as to preserve whatever strength it provides the frame.

Granted the seat my rub if it gets to low.
and doing that would have absolutely no point, seeing as how it does not slacken nor does it lower the bike.
 

RaID

Turbo Monkey
what exactly is going to be screwed in your opinion?
from my experience the DW-Link suspension is very sensitive to correct setup for it to operate the way it was designed to.

I dont know where you can drill an extra hole on the links without doing some major modifications or manufacturing completely new links to actually achieve a significant difference in the head angle.

Flipping the links if at all possible without any interference will change the compression curves through out the travel. Without proper analysis of that just to achieve a slacker head angle I dont think its a good idea.

From an engineering point of view, generally things are designed the way they are for a reason. Especially in this floating rear end arrangement the length and position of each of the links affects the suspension motion. Its not just a simple drill and extra hole here like on some single pivot bikes where you can control the changes more easily.

At the end of the day if you want a slacker bike i dont think you can do much with this frame to get it slacker besides the already mentioned taller fork, 24"rear wheel things like that.

Thats just my opinion.
 

DirtyMike

Turbo Fluffer
Aug 8, 2005
14,437
1,017
My own world inside my head
Seriously, your best bet is a taller fork, but to test if it is going to overslack, or if your even going to like it, Couple others already said this, Get a 24, you probably wont like the way it rolls, but youll find if you like how it sits. I have a 24 Doublewide sitting in my garage that i am not doing anything with that i will make you a killer deal on if your interested, 135 QR hub, just a generic hub but its 32 hole, 14 guage champion spokes. Hell i might even have a 2.7 high roller to go with it. So hit me up with a PM if your interested, or if anyone out there is still running a Big hit and needs a 24, same thing, I will make you a killer deal



EDIT. Youll probably want to put your original spring back on with the 24
 

talusslope

Chimp
Apr 6, 2007
67
0
sst, WA
:disgust1:
and doing that would have absolutely no point, seeing as how it does not slacken nor does it lower the bike.
A lower seat allows the rider to slack further back and get lower (more travel) with the body's natural suspension (legs) Thus widening (lowering) the rider's center of gravity range, allowing rider more control increasing confidence. Which ,have had you truly read the original post is what they were really looking for.

"thelastsession" even put in there that they were considering getting a rail seat so as to lower the whole seat assembly. :busted:
 

DirtyMike

Turbo Fluffer
Aug 8, 2005
14,437
1,017
My own world inside my head
I think there is some confusion as to what is being meant by slackening your bike, When i hear that, i think headtube angle, you cant change that with a seat, or lowering the seat, the softer rear spring slacks it a bit, but you now have greater sag, Bottom line its a bad idea to modify your bikes frame, to slacken your HT angle your lookign at either a new fork, or a new rear wheel
 

talusslope

Chimp
Apr 6, 2007
67
0
sst, WA
I think there is some confusion as to what is being meant by slackening your bike, When i hear that, i think headtube angle, you cant change that with a seat, or lowering the seat, the softer rear spring slacks it a bit, but you now have greater sag, Bottom line its a bad idea to modify your bikes frame, to slacken your HT angle your lookign at either a new fork, or a new rear wheel
Well said, I think this calls for a conclusion to this thread.
 

gemini2k

Turbo Monkey
Jul 31, 2005
3,526
117
San Francisco
you could just get one of the taller fork-headset races. It will effectively increase ure a2c length and slacken it out a bit
 

DH Diva

Wonderwoman
Jun 12, 2002
1,808
1
You could put a +5 headset on the bike. It's not much but it's something. Cane creek makes one. The lower cup is 5 millimeters taller than a normal headset.
 

Rover Nick

Monkey
Oct 17, 2006
280
0
I hate to say it, but you probably need to get a new frame. There are ways such as the aforementioned 24" rear wheel shorter shock or taller fork. But all of those have ill consequences.

IMO the last thing you should do is modify the frame unless you are completely sure you will never need to sell or warranty the frame.
 

meca06

Chimp
Sep 19, 2007
33
0
Reunion Island
It's what you need ! this reducers 1.5" to 1"1/8 can change your head angle -1° or -1,5°. You put cane-creek IS2 or similar in.
I have 5 on production for ride-monkeys forum members.
It will be available in 2 weeks.

Pm for more information.

Bye ;)



 

5150dhbiker

Turbo Monkey
Nov 5, 2007
1,200
0
Santa Barbara, CA
It's what you need ! this reducers 1.5" to 1"1/8 can change your head angle -1° or -1,5°. You put cane-creek IS2 or similar in.
I have 5 on production for ride-monkeys forum members.
It will be available in 2 weeks.

Pm for more information.

Bye ;)
NICE!!!

I was going to suggest trying a Commencal since you can change the head angle on that without any tools.
 

miuan

Monkey
Jan 12, 2007
395
0
Bratislava, Slovakia
Pity I already have a 1,5" HT... so no reducers for me.
I think about how much I will change the way it behaves.
After putting a shorter shock in, I have 28,5% sag. Add roughly 9% for the geometry change so I am virtually running a 37,5% sag in stock config. This is not quite out of range I believe, mainly because my rear end will not fall much deeper into travel like it would with natural 37.5% sag. However, I feel the spring curve is much more progressive than before, so I might play with oil and shims in my 5th to tune it out a bit and make it feel better. No real riding experience yet, but sure I'll post when it comes.
 

Bulldog

Turbo Monkey
Sep 11, 2001
1,009
0
Wisconsin
Taller headset (at least the lower 1/2), Taller front tire/shorter rear tire. Other than that it's taller fork and/or shorter shock. While I am no longer a 24" wheel fan if you had a 24" and 26" set up with the same rotors and cassettes it would be a rather quick swap for trail days vs DH days.