[JRogers]

Right now I'm running 7.5" in the front and 9.5" in the back. I came from an 8" frame and, before that, a 7" (all with the same fork). I am not sure if the extra travel is making me faster. I seemed to do a bit better at the races, but I don't know how much of that is the bike. When I first got the bike I have now, the higher BB and extra travel made the bike feel funky. I couldn't get a rhythm with it, especially on jumps. It took a month or so before it felt totally natural. I got used to it and I think I am faster overall with the bigger travel.

Of course, the "how much travel' question is pretty much not worth anything unless all else is equal between two frames....which it almost never is.

 

[face]

Short travel for FR is good. That Preston FR looks sweet. I'd say 7" at the very most for FR. 8" or 9" for big stuff.

yeah dude i think im gonna get that bike this year. i mean five inches may not seem like a lot but how many of us bottom out our v10s? and if you do, your pedalong efficiency has probably gone to pot. so i would say that i would never need more than 6-7 for fr but if your a lift assisted downhiller..... but since i have to earn my rides i m gonna go for the short travel fr bike.

 

[Mike Buell]

7or 8 in the front 7-10 in the rear, anything in this range makes for a fun time.
I would say 7 for freeride 8-10 for Race but I know a lot of people disagree. Everyone has there own preference, mainly because everyone rides such different terian.

Whats always true though is the pilot is more important than the equipment. You'll learn to ride the hell out of what you got.

 

[mobius]

Fork: 8" Rear: 8.5"

 

[thaflyinfatman]

I have an SGS, my issue is the quality of the travel, which is being remedied.

What shock? Am I right in guessing Vanilla R?

 

[zahgurim]

My DH setup is 9" rear and 8" front for racing.
On beershuttles I usually have more fun on my 0" hardtail with 5-8" in the front...

 

[SK6]

What shock? Am I right in guessing Vanilla R?

Yeah, I'm going to get an Avy in December for it...( A Christmas gift from my wife. )

And I’m going to go with a Slider up front.

That should about do it for me….(and what I can afford right now!)

 

[seismic]

Yeah, I'm going to get an Avy in December for it...( A Christmas gift from my wife. )

And I’m going to go with a Slider up front.

That should about do it for me….(and what I can afford right now!)

Awesome present ! You will love it :love:

 

[fiddy_ryder]

i got 6&6 on my bullit,, im happy with it,, great all around sled..

 

[thaflyinfatman]

Yeah, I'm going to get an Avy in December for it...( A Christmas gift from my wife. )

And I’m going to go with a Slider up front.

That should about do it for me….(and what I can afford right now!)

While you will probably love the Avy... most people I know (myself included) find the Sliders to be very harsh forks. Have you considered any alternatives?

 

[Dirtjumper999]

i've been riding 6" front and back for a week now and i'm doing downhill, freeride, and dirt jump, and i'm becoming smoother and smoother, the next step down will be to be a 4 by 4 bike. as technology gets better and riders get smoother, they will need less and less travel. josh bender will never be able to get enough travel though.

 

[SK6]

While you will probably love the Avy... most people I know (myself included) find the Sliders to be very harsh forks. Have you considered any alternatives?

I'm getting a good deal on the Slider, and they may be throwing in a Testicushion!

 

[konastab01]

10 at a push but around 9 seems to work on most courses

 

[TheInedibleHulk]

I've found that my V10 pedals, jumps and turns just as well as any of my previous bikes, which all had 6-8". You can have a lively 10 inch bike and you can have a six inch bike that completely flounders in it's travel and cant do anything well. It's really about the quality of the design, although there is a threshhold for how long you can go before you start to adversly effect BB height and therefore center of gravity, simply for he sake of ground clearance at bottom out. 10 inches of travel is probably close to that threshhold. 8 in the front seems to be plenty as well.

 

[blt2ride]

My main race bike has 7" in the front and 8" in the back. Personally, I don't like an 8" fork up front, it makes it too high for my taste--I like my DH bikes to be low in the front.

 

[downhilldemon]

888rc in the front 8" and in the rear 8" via foes fly! keeps me going!!!!

 

[OGRipper]

You can have a lively 10 inch bike and you can have a six inch bike that completely flounders in it's travel and cant do anything well. It's really about the quality of the design...

I agree but I would also say that it's as much about the shock set-up as it is the quality of design. I would rather ride a simple single pivot with an awesome shock than a V10 or a Sunday with an elastomer stack from an old trek. That is, I'll take a properly "tuned" shock on a simple frame over the best design on the planet with a bad shock.

As for the quantity, I think we are maxing out around 10" for anything that must corner, at least until they figure a good way to keep bb height fairly low but increase travel.

 

[2piece]

In retrospect...I remember when I was running a Judy DH3 on by Amp B5, people used to laugh @ me for running a DH fork

 

[thaflyinfatman]

I'm getting a good deal on the Slider, and they may be throwing in a Testicushion!

I thought you were the type who might have preferred the PetalProtector... with optional stabiliser pole

 

[SK6]

I thought you were the type who might have preferred the PetalProtector... with optional stabiliser pole

It would keep my a$$ in the sadle though wouldn't it?

ROFLMAO!!!!

 

[SK6]

From the gist of the posts, it seems that the quality is considerably better then the quantity, which would make sense.

It seems thought that the maxed out limit is 12". The setup of the higher travel bikes, in regard to the shock, gets to be a set up issue. Because you wouldn’t want to blow through all of that travel in hurry, and certainly the bb height becomes an issue, thereby changing the entire dynamic of a bike.

By next April, (actually end of Xmas) I’ll be 7” and 7”, which for me, and as much as I ride, and the level I ride should be adequate. I did learn very quickly though that poor or “lesser quality” suspension components wreak havoc on confidence in ones own ability and ones own faith in their bike.

Case and point, I have always have seemed to have issues with my current shock, which has always seemed to me to be real “bouncy” regardless of the rebound adjustment. The reason I post these types of questions is simply that there are SO MANY opinions as to set up, amount of travel, types of suspension, etc… that it becomes a bit confusing to discern which set up would in fact be the best for me individually.

 

[kajo]

As it is said the v10 is an example of quality and quantity in a perfect harmony. I own a new v10 and it feels like or evenb etter than most 7 - 9" travel bikes because of the geometry. The geometry doesn't changes that much when going through the travel and the changes are more positive than negative.

But 10" of travel on a single pivot bike would be too much. Such less complex linkage better work with less travel, where all the bad effects of the linkage aint noticeable.

Quality over quantity as most of you agree on. A good shock makes a big difference but the right linkage (quality) is almost as important as the shock.

 

[SK6]

As it is said the v10 is an example of quality and quantity in a perfect harmony. I own a new v10 and it feels like or evenb etter than most 7 - 9" travel bikes because of the geometry. The geometry doesn't changes that much when going through the travel and the changes are more positive than negative.

But 10" of travel on a single pivot bike would be too much. Such less complex linkage better work with less travel, where all the bad effects of the linkage aint noticeable.

Quality over quantity as most of you agree on. A good shock makes a big difference but the right linkage (quality) is almost as important as the shock.

Sweden huh, geat bands have been pouring out of Sweden the last couple of years...both quantity and quality!!!

 

[Brian HCM#1]

Sweden huh, geat bands have been pouring out of Sweden the last couple of years...both quantity and quality!!!

Ralph you crack me up, you totally derailed your own thread

 

[SK6]

Ralph you crack me up, you totally derailed your own thread

It takes a pro! I am a trained profesional, DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS AT HOME!

 

[denjen]

For someone your size and riding style (or lack there of) I would say min. of 14" max 20" maybe more if you can ghetto rig something up.

 

[kajo]

Well... the music has got famous all over the world but I disagree that it's that good I preffer other music. As they say: It's always brighter on the other side

but back to topic

 

[SK6]

Well, for melodic death metal, and well, Sonata Arctica is not bad either....

Those bands travel a lot, and they are quality, much like the consensus of travel in this thread...