Quantcast

New Whip? New toys for the dependable steed?

canadmos

Cake Tease
May 29, 2011
21,903
21,428
Canaderp
It is just a great bike. The main thing I like about it is its versatility. It is fun to ride on boring rolling hill terrain, but I can also take it to a bike park and it will hold its on. The geometry is tight, and even with the bigger wheels, it is an easy bike to move around. The rear suspension is poppy as well. It only has 130mm of rear travel so it is not the most forgiving bike out there, but it is quite fun to white knuckle it through shit.
Cool. I derp'd on the bike. Its a Range, not a sight. The Sight looks like a great bike though.
 

Flo33

Turbo Monkey
Mar 3, 2015
2,135
1,364
Styria
Ah, nothing like being sandwiched by udi and @kidwoo

I got a 2015/16 TALAS RC2 650b 160. I came from and am back at a 2010 Vanilla 26 160 with 2015 retrofit upgrade RC2 inverted Cartridge. I'm either using too much travel in really steep sections or having a rough time on fast chatter, compared to the Vanilla. Now I just have to find some time to transplant the coil into the 650b chassis.
Also, offset difference is quite noticeable. That's why I am thinking about going 1.5° slacker headangle wise.

Did you do it @Udi ?
 

HAB

Chelsea from Seattle
Apr 28, 2007
11,589
2,021
Seattle
Now I just have to find some time to transplant the coil into the 650b chassis.
Also, offset difference is quite noticeable. That's why I am thinking about going 1.5° slacker headangle wise.

Did you do it @Udi ?
Just put the 650b lowers on the Vanilla. That way you a) get the shorter offset of the older crown and b) don't have two sets of gouged up stanchions that you can't run an air spring in.
 

Flo33

Turbo Monkey
Mar 3, 2015
2,135
1,364
Styria
Just put the 650b lowers on the Vanilla. That way you a) get the shorter offset of the older crown and b) don't have two sets of gouged up stanchions that you can't run an air spring in.
Aren't they longer? My measurements told me so...

Tire clearance was one of the reasons to get a 650b 36, I was not able to run a fender between the 26" fork and my 650b ex471 with a Shorty 2.3 and shit weather season was shit this year.
 
Last edited:

HAB

Chelsea from Seattle
Apr 28, 2007
11,589
2,021
Seattle
Aren't they longer? My measurements told me so...
Which part? I haven't checked a 2010, but for the 2015+ chassis at least, the stanchions and internals are all interchangeable across wheel sizes. Only two things change:
  1. They make more tire clearance by moving the dropouts further down on the lowers for bigger wheels
  2. The offset at the crown increases on the CSUs meant for bigger wheels
 

Flo33

Turbo Monkey
Mar 3, 2015
2,135
1,364
Styria
The lowers. Distance between lower bolt holes and dust wiper seals is longer on 2015+ models compared to prior models. I thought the reason was more bushing overlap. At the same time the crown was made lower to keep a relatively low a2c height.
 

Metamorphic

Monkey
May 12, 2015
274
177
Cackalack
Here's my sweet 2017 whips....this happened:


So then this happened since I had already decided to ride on Saturday:


^^^ Lower Black in Pisgah at the end of a gravel 40 miler.....oh I hate myself.

Hopefully Banshee gives me the hookup and I'll be able to contribute some actually shreddy material to this thread soon....in the mean time give me and my skinny tires a break would ya?
 

HAB

Chelsea from Seattle
Apr 28, 2007
11,589
2,021
Seattle
The lowers. Distance between lower bolt holes and dust wiper seals is longer on 2015+ models compared to prior models. I thought the reason was more bushing overlap. At the same time the crown was made lower to keep a relatively low a2c height.
Ah. Fox doesn't have drawings for pre-2015 forks on their site anymore so I couldn't check. Nevermind then.
 

jstuhlman

bagpipe wanker
Dec 3, 2009
17,314
14,123
Cackalacka du Nord
Here's my sweet 2017 whips....this happened:


So then this happened since I had already decided to ride on Saturday:


^^^ Lower Black in Pisgah at the end of a gravel 40 miler.....oh I hate myself.

Hopefully Banshee gives me the hookup and I'll be able to contribute some actually shreddy material to this thread soon....in the mean time give me and my skinny tires a break would ya?
and this is perfect evidence of why the re-working of lower black a few years back is trbl. (well, that and the fact that they just the punji-style cleared brush on either side of the trail).

apologies for the off-topic rant. back to regularly scheduled shreddy pic posting.
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
I got a 2015/16 TALAS RC2 650b 160. I came from and am back at a 2010 Vanilla 26 160 with 2015 retrofit upgrade RC2 inverted Cartridge. I'm either using too much travel in really steep sections or having a rough time on fast chatter, compared to the Vanilla.
9SE here is supposedly working on a coil conversion. What you're describing actually sounds like some of the worst floats I've ridden. Set sag to maintain a good ride height and all compliance goes out the window. If I ever get that coil from him, I'll send you my talas cartridge to try. There's not a single person who's ridden one of the bikes I have with the talas carts who hasn't gone and ordered on. The 160 is pretty progressive so that suprises me that's your problem. The 180 I have does like to blow through it's travel a lot easier. I run both at a true 15% sag for what it's worth. I see a lot of folks that think they run about 20 but actually run about 5.

You're absolutely positive you have a 2015? I think that's the year they changed them. Take a pic if you take it out.

I'm with you on the offsets. I like it climbing but definitely not descending.
 
Last edited:

Bike078

Monkey
Jan 11, 2018
599
440
Standard issues. Bontrager G5, minion dhf or dhr2, butchers, with a slaughter on the rear for trail bikes. Basically tires that drift really predictably. Because you're not getting away from it where I live.
Thanks man. Off topic but what do you mean by "true" sag?
 
Last edited:

Flo33

Turbo Monkey
Mar 3, 2015
2,135
1,364
Styria
9SE here is supposedly working on a coil conversion. What you're describing actually sounds like some of the worst floats I've ridden. Set sag to maintain a good ride height and all compliance goes out the window. If I ever get that coil from him, I'll send you my talas cartridge to try. There's not a single person who's ridden one of the bikes I have with the talas carts who hasn't gone and ordered on. The 160 is pretty progressive so that suprises me that's your problem. The 180 I have does like to blow through it's travel a lot easier. I run both at a true 15% sag for what it's worth. I see a lot of folks that think they run about 20 but actually run about 5.

You're absolutely positive you have a 2015? I think that's the year they changed them. Take a pic if you take it out.

I'm with you on the offsets. I like it climbing but definitely not descending.
I wouldn't say it's as bad as the 2015 Floats, but (noticable) worse than my Vanilla. I just couldn't find a setup matching or nearly as decent as the Van. I even took the shock pump with me on 2 rides and rode one trail multiple times.
It is way better than all its predecessors, granted.


Yes, I'm dead sure it is a 2015 or 2016 one, code on the backside of the chassis says so and I already took out the two 5 mm spacers from the TALAS chamber to achieve the full 40 mm travel adjust. Which by the way is the real cool thing about it while climbing on the Reign with its non ideal SA, surprise, surprise.

If @92SE-R comes around with the coil kit I will buy one myself. I think it should be possible to build something myself. The distance between the lowers bottom and the stanchions bottom should be 160 mm. What is different is the length of the stanchions. So the 2010 coil will be too short and I guess the top out plate won't fit in the 2015 stanchions too. So what is needed is a plunger shaft and top out plate fitting in the new uppers, a top cap and some kind of spacer for the extra length. I know of somebody else figuring out the proper things and measurements atm. ;)

Maybe somebody finds/has some drawings with the correct specs and cares to share?

My real problem is time.
 
Last edited:

Udi

RM Chief Ornithologist
Mar 14, 2005
4,918
1,213
@HAB Like Flo says, the stanchions are longer on the 2015+ 36, and the lowers are deeper. The reason is (as he says) greater bushing overlap, and they actually did it to support 170mm+ travel in the same chassis as the 160mm (you might remember the old 180mm 36 was different to all the others, lowers extended below the dropouts to take the stanchion).

@Flo33
I'm waiting patiently for a topcap from Vorsprung before I attempt my conversion. Hopefully soon!
The coil length should be fine (just add spacers above spring), but what's different about the top out plate and seat in the stanchion? I'm guessing you've measured a difference, would the plate need to be lathed down or is it too small? I think / hope these will be easy things to solve. I'll update when I try it with mine, just don't want to pull down a working fork until all parts are here.

I'm either using too much travel in really steep sections or having a rough time on fast chatter, compared to the Vanilla.
There's really no escape from this - every year Fox/RS release some air spring update, every year I try those forks and they have two key problems - one is friction that varies wildly over a practical service interval, and the other is a spring curve that is never quite right, and results in requiring more compression damping than a coil fork to keep supported on steep tracks (= inferior traction), or increasing the spring rate beyond an ideal level (= inferior traction). None of the aftermarket solutions completely solve those issues. I think you're an objective guy and you won't be able to delude yourself into thinking any of the current air options are better. If I had to pick one I'd probably take the latest evol float 36 and dump a luftkappe in it, but it's really not the same.

I'm sad to say that even some industry members who I once respected highly have jumped ship on this issue, but anyone who is actually still mating coils with the latest chassis advances (which do bring benefits in friction etc) and making any required compensations (eg. HBO damper if needed, I'm personally fine without) will know there is still absolutely no comparison - particularly when compared back-to-back in an apples:apples scenario.

The good news is it's not that hard to solve these things ourselves for a one-off application, I think we'll figure this out with cheap/lightweight Fox parts.
 

Happymtb.fr

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2016
2,066
1,437
SWE
Does some of you have some time on an air spring with double positive air chambers like the Manitou IRT, SD components DVC, Chickadeehill AWK?
I have an IRT on my hardtail fatbike so that is not a fair comparison but it's very sensible of the top, not so divy and resist bottom out quite ok for a 120mm fork. I am curious about what it would feel like on a normal FS bike.
 

slimshady

¡Mira, una ardilla!
Does some of you have some time on an air spring with double positive air chambers like the Manitou IRT, SD components DVC, Chickadeehill AWK?
I have an IRT on my hardtail fatbike so that is not a fair comparison but it's very sensible of the top, not so divy and resist bottom out quite ok for a 120mm fork. I am curious about what it would feel like on a normal FS bike.
Some guys around here have Mattocs with IRTs fitted. @jonKranked is one of them IIRC.
 

Udi

RM Chief Ornithologist
Mar 14, 2005
4,918
1,213
Yeah ridden the IRT and SD DVC (Simon is actually a buddy of mine, and he sponsors a couple of the guys I ride with), along with the Luftkappe in numerous forks now, Corset, etc. Also ridden the new Evol Fox fork springs, the only thing I haven't tried is the new Lyrik but somehow I doubt I'm about to be surprised. Some of these are better than others, none are better than a good old coil in a modern / current chassis. The consistency over a service interval and across varying conditions is a big area where they don't even come close - something that the "freshly built" marketing numbers never illustrate.

Don't get me wrong - I don't think any of this gear is bad, things improve each year and some of the aftermarket upgrades offer noticeable benefits. But it's also not the same, and as @PJivan pointed out recently, every year we'll keep seeing the "almost like a coil" and "reduced initial rate with less mid-stroke fall off" claims, it's for a good reason.
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
88,651
26,889
media blackout
Random fork question, a while back someone posted a link to a guys website/store who services and resells old marz forks.... I neglected to bookmark it, does anyone remember what it is?
 

toodles

ridiculously corgi proportioned
Aug 24, 2004
5,824
5,201
Australia
I'm sad to say that even some industry members who I once respected highly have jumped ship on this issue, but anyone who is actually still mating coils with the latest chassis advances (which do bring benefits in friction etc) and making any required compensations (eg. HBO damper if needed, I'm personally fine without) will know there is still absolutely no comparison - particularly when compared back-to-back in an apples:apples scenario.
"According to Jon Cancellier, RockShox's product manager, “Coil is the buzzword right now, but I think we can really make an air spring that rides like a coil, but then you have the ability to fine-tune it in one, two psi increments, and play with tokens without needing to play with oil volumes or complicated bump stops.”"

So there.

Seriously though, no more coil Boxxer Team either now. Bugger.
 

canadmos

Cake Tease
May 29, 2011
21,903
21,428
Canaderp
Here's my sweet 2017 whips....this happened:


So then this happened since I had already decided to ride on Saturday:


^^^ Lower Black in Pisgah at the end of a gravel 40 miler.....oh I hate myself.

Hopefully Banshee gives me the hookup and I'll be able to contribute some actually shreddy material to this thread soon....in the mean time give me and my skinny tires a break would ya?
Nevermind the skinny tires, look at those fuckin' shoes!

RIP Spitfire.

Still kinda miss mine...
 

Gary

my pronouns are hag/gis
Aug 27, 2002
8,493
6,380
UK
Do you always open bike boxes the worst way possible
The box was stapled at either end. there's no opening at the top usual bike boxes. It's massive so the shop can roll the bikes in complete to ship them.