Let's offroad / mountain bike / mtb / ride dirt

i don't really get all these super long/slack geo frames. feels like it is something I have completely missed. are they all just for hucking drops ? surely not ideal for singletrack

You can still get rad on shorter / steeper bikes but if you get the majority of lols from going down stuff and aren't worried about razor sharp precision then longer + slacker = more smiles.

I use Juice Lubes Fork Juice

not me but my eldest boy has them on his e-MTB.

He loves them and says they have deffo improved handling at lower pressures. However he also has a motor to assist with the circa 1kg of rotating weight they add to the bike.

They also made it Really. Fkn. Difficult to mount his tubeless tyre over the top of it. It was a real battle to get them on the rim.

@bobble don’t get any of it near your discs and callipers!

How would either of these compare to the length of my Inbred? I have no idea of its geo but I've run it with a 100mm stem as well as a 50mm stem.

Yeah, this is why I used shitty cable RDs and singlespeeds for the MTBing I used to do :)
XT/XTR was for the 60kg XC whippets. Give me a sexy Acera RD any day :)

At least with 1x and hydro brakes it's only one cable (and dropper cable) so it's not as big a deal as, say, pulling down a cabled TT bike to fit into a flight case.

Acera

wow you are old!

Ok, so lock in Boost and cabled Shimano.

I could share tyres/wheels between gravel and MTB bikes if I stuck with 27.5 wheels but I'm guessing you lot will all insist on 29er wheels.

I said 2000 was the last time I bought a new MTB.

I wouldn't ship from Oz.

I've never heard of Stanton or Pipedream. Are they new or old brands?

"Cotic Roadrat" has been around for years so I presume their MTBs have too.

Cheers @MTB-Idle

Thanks. I borrowed a duallie recently and didn't really get on with it. I mean, the cush is nice but it was too big in every direction and I'm trying to reduce my choice by limiting options:

Hardtail w/ 120mm fork
Boost
12spd 1x Shimano
Dropper
29x2.4 min.

Have tee'd up a more modern hardtail test soon too.

That looks neat. I think you previously mentioned this? But it was out of stock at the time.

Would it work with a 120mm fork or is that looking at different territory?

Yeah won't do! On the Stanton subject, I know very little if anything about geo, standards and the like so wouldn't want to advise on @hippy bike dilemma. Having said that, the Stanton Sherpa didn't get much mention in the first few pages on suggestions. I like mine. Think they're not amazing at getting back to people though and have long wait times (if buying new) from what I've seen in the FB owners group

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Hardtail w/ 120mm fork

Boost
12spd 1x Shimano
Dropper
29x2.4 min.

what geo tho, also will you also use it for 'bikepacking' (ultra off road races)

and who will service your fork?

Mines 2014 ish so 135 at the back and doesn't have the best clearances when it's super sloppy. The new ones address that. Think can switch the rear dropouts between all the standards

I was going to service my Kona rear shock myself so I think that answers your question.

I didn't though because the kits are worth more than the bike.

https://www.lfgss.com/comments/15826518/

people generally send to Tf Tuned: https://www.tftuned.com/servicing/16-rockshox-forks

I think for easing the brain-strain I'll just stay away from any brands I've not heard of.

Cotic, Pivot, Spesh (and the other obvious big brands), Scott, Surly, On-One, Ritchey, Salsa, Niner are viable.

Let me buy a bike before I worry about servicing the bloody thing!

Has anyone recommended a bike fit yet?

That looks neat. I think you previously mentioned this? But it was out of stock at the time.

Would it work with a 120mm fork or is that looking at different territory?

I discussed this with the designer (Adrian Carter) as the fork is adjustable, he said the thing he'd be cautious about is BB height, which is low already - but he thought it'd be ok as you'd bring the travel down 30mm and make the head angle steeper for riding more pedestrian trails. But - it's designed for 140-150mm of fork.

You can always lock out a longer fork, but my opinion on this is that tyres will make a much bigger difference to perceived speed than whether you lock your fork out or not/have a 120mm fork over a 150mm fork.

What are you using this for Hippo?
I think a modern XCish frame if it'll take bigger tyres with 100-120mm fork would be ideal for everything that isn't "trails". Distance riding off road, single track, climbing mountains etc
I've got a slack hardtail and if you point it downhill and over jumps, it's great but it's got a 140mm fork which makes the front end quite high and the steering is a bit twitchy on long flat sections or tarmac where that's necessary. Makes me feel a bit overbiked for my riding as I don't go to bike parks or get to trail centres very often.