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What Fork To Get?

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,288
5,028
Ottawa, Canada
have not seen this discussed yet:
Ryan Walters at NSMB.com said:
"Back to the stiffness. There was lots of it. With the increased bushing overlap of 180mm travel, along with NOBL TR38 wheels and Race Face Atlas everything - the front end of this bike likely rivalled any DH bike in terms of stiffness. It was a sensation that took some getting used to. When you turned those handlebars - by god, you’d better believe the front wheel was going to follow. And if you made a mistake, there was no flexy noodle up front to temper your bad decisions. It made me realize just how “delayed” the steering of a single crown could be. This became even more apparent in the bike park. Spoiler alert: When riding at DH race speeds, a DH fork is far more confident at picking lines and staying on them. This new sense of hyper-control was addictive, and borderline uncomfortable for a trail bike. This setup isn’t for everybody. I don’t even know if it’s necessarily better. There is such a thing as too stiff, and I was definitely flirting with that realm. But I had a silent front end that went exactly where I told it to. Mission accomplished."
 

ohio

The Fresno Kid
Nov 26, 2001
6,649
23
SF, CA
Fun fact:. When you were starting Alta up you asked me if I was a controls engineer, I wasn't but it sounded cool. So a few years later I went to grad school for controls.
No shit?!? I hope it worked out well for you. Definitely still in high demand...
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,225
20,003
Sleazattle
No shit?!? I hope it worked out well for you. Definitely still in high demand...
Still working in industrial automation, but it was the most challenging and best experience of my life and made me better at everything I do as an engineer.
 

Bikael Molton

goofy for life
Jun 9, 2003
4,010
1,143
El Lay
I still think a mountain bike being "too stiff" is a myth, and telescopic forks aren't the only area where flex is obviously limiting performance.

Tires at too high a PSI to deform enough to maintain traction: sure. Suspension way oversprung for your weight and the track, yep. Suspension poorly tuned for chatter so your hands get tired and start hurting: we've all been there, but a big part of that equation is the rider's physical conditioning.

These aren't rigid road bikes or F1 cars with 25-50mm of suspension travel and 4 contact points with the ground.
 
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dump

Turbo Monkey
Oct 12, 2001
8,194
4,419
Always like this guys fork tests. Gets right to the point and rides pretty darn fast. So much more useful than the usual PB review. Hopefully PB allows him to maintain the brevity which I appreciated in his BikeRadar articles. I've got no time for reading 10 minutes of marketing talking points.
Marketing talking points are the worst. Worked in a marketing department many years ago. So much BS from most of the group. We were also loathed by the rest of the (videogame) company. Fun times.