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Design Thinkings<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
So where was my brane thinking at?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Tighter head angle to remove the steering ‘flop’ around straight ahead. 63 degrees is awesome for chucking it downhill but can be a hassle when flicking through singletrack. I went with 65 degrees as I wanted to feel a positive change.<\/li>
- Switch to a short offset fork crown (42mm vs. 51mm) to put back some of the downhill stability by increasing the trail.<\/li>
- Swap back to my 20mm extension Pacenti P-Dent bar and stem. This unique setup allows for a super short stem that gives a ‘power steering feel’. Again, it’s adding more stability that I’ve removed by steepening the head angle.<\/li>
- Keep the tight seat angle. 78 degrees is great for keeping over the front of the bike when climbing, it’s the one part of progressive geometry I definitely wanted to keep!<\/li>
- Stretch out that top tube and reach. Geometron have sold me on putting extra length in the bike and I wanted to replicate the position from my G1 on my hardtail. The extra length also allowed me to use the 20mm stem without shortening the saddle\/bar distance.<\/li>
- Add more height to the headtube. I’m done with the head down\/arse up riding style and prefer the bars to match my saddle height as it reduces pressure on your hands. So many frames spec tiny 100mm head tubes so you end up running a ton of spacers and 40mm rise bars!<\/li>
- Slam that bottom bracket down looooow. 65mm drop for plenty of stability. I felt that the 150mm travel forks and 170mm cranks should keep the pedals off the floor. Probably.<\/li>
- T47 big bearing bottom bracket. It’s the latest ‘new standard’ that no-one’s using! The larger shell also gives you plenty of room to weld tubes to. It’s strange that only a few folks are offering bottom brackets in that size though, luckily I’m friendly with Rideworks who hooked me up with one of their jewel like BB’s.<\/li>
- Keep the seat tube sawn off, and let a long dropper post do all the hard work! 410mm to allow a 180mm Bike Yoke dropper to do its thing.<\/li>
- Goldilocks chainstays. Neither super short or weirdly long, just right to keep the front\/back balance, I picked 430mm.<\/li>
- Cable runs done right. I found out I could have internal tubes in the downtube to keep things super clean (and easy to install!). I wanted to exit them to the top side of the chainstays for the smoothest posible run. The drive side cable would also double up as a chainstay protector!<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
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Internal tubes cross over in the down tube for super clean cable runs.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n They said it couldn’t be done…<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Some folks raise an eyebrow at the idea of a hardtail running 150mm up front as they don’t like the change in head angle over the course of the travel. Personally… I’m not that bothered, maybe it’s all the years spent riding tight angled XC bikes that makes me immune?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One thing I did want to focus on with this build was to keep the steering more nimble, but ideally without losing too much downhill prowess. Having my cake and eating it, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The inspiration came from my trusy RS Pikes starting to creak at the crown. It’s a Pike thing, and with them being well out of warranty I thought now would be a great time to have the crown swapped for a short offset model. The shorter offset gives you slightly more trail, aka stablity. That gives back some of the trail that I was currently getting from the the slacker head angle on SYD, but crucially it wouldn’t feel as ‘floppy’ when you turned the bars away from straight ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other thing that a new crown would give me is a longer steerer tube! My current one had been cut down to fit a 100mm head tube so I couldn’t take that any taller. Freed from that restraint I went with a 120mm head tube so I could go back to running a 20mm rise bar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Cockpit done right; bar and stem on point with the neatest cable runs ever!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n How did that one turn out then?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Luckily, just great! Given our fun weather at the moment I’ve not been able to ride it that much but first impressions are spot on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Firstly I’m super pleased about how the cable runs turned out. It must look like spaghetti junction inside that downtube! Everything crosses over internally and pops those cables and hoses out in just the right place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Running them over the top of the chainstays gives a lovely clean angle at the back end too, I think I’ve found my cable routing Nirvana!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The steering feel is nimble and flickable. There’s no wheel ‘flop’ when turning and no ‘tuck under’ that can happen when you turn super sharp. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pointed downhill the bike doesn’t appear to have given up much of its ‘hoonability’. It can still track a steady line in the rough stuff without the steering feeling nervous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The low bottom bracket seems to be in just the right place, I’m getting a stable downhill feel and pedal strikes don’t appear to be an issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bar height and lengthy cockpit appear to be bang on too. I’m just experimenting with seat and bar position to dial it in 100%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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