How much travel?
 

Currently I am riding on a hardtail with an 80mm fork. I've been doing mostly trails (some road riding in summer) and will do the occasional jump on the bike. Later in the year I am planning on getting a new bike and going full suspension. To make it easy, I’ll just used specialized bikes as that’s what I’ve been looking at currently.

I will be looking for the bike to be able to handle semi-aggressive trail riding with some jumping and would I also want it to be able to handle up to a 4' drop (ive done a 1.5' drop on my hardtail). Would a bike like the FSRxc with 100mm travel front rear be enough, or should I be looking at something more like the stumpjumper fsr with 120mm rear and 100-140mm fork (stumpjumper comp has 120mm fork)


Thanks for your input.

I would go with anything over 120mm, perhaps through 145/150mm. Stumpjumper FSR would seen pretty nice. Have you thought about the Trek Remedy?

Speaking about Specialized lineup only, if you're going to be seeing alot of air and drops, i would go with an enduro myself. A stumpy fsr would work too though i reckon. FSRxc? I wouldnt.

outta coursity, would you notice there being a bige difference in efficiency when using a 145/150mm travel vs a 120mm?

also, i have been looking at trek and kona, but just hann't had the chance to look at them as much as i have specialized.

Well on my cheap stance flow on my Loki it goes from 120-150mm., and I can slightly feel a difference. Nothing too noticable except the 3cm's does make a difference in cushyness. Now if I tried a 170mm one probably:D

Oh yeah, compared to the air 100mm fork on my fuel, and a coil 120mm fork from loki, there is a huge difference. Well that is air and coil. Im not sure what a high travel air fork will be like.

A little bit of efficiency. I feel like I sacrificed perhaps a little more efficiency than necessary on my Kona Dawg (125 mm/5 inch), but I'm still pretty happy with it. I gained a little bit of extra capacity in exchange, and I like the differentiation between my hardtail and my squishy.

Ok, If you are going with the FSR, you can take some good size stuff. On my hardtail, I can do about 22FT, and still making a cleaner landing then the fullys I ride with. I used to ride with 100mm travel, not sure what I am going to use now. (My bike got ran over) Check the warrenty to see how big they allow the frame to go up to.

you can do a 22ft drop?

Yeah, man 22 to flat...right?:roflmao:

If you're doing 4 ft to transition, then the stumpy and FSRXC would be alright.

If there's not much of a transition to land on then you'd better think about the Enduro or Trek Remedy.

The Jamis Dakar XLT can really take a beating too. It's a more affordable ride IMO and still very good quality.

Sorry, my bad.

22ft gap, and around 7FT drops.

ok i was thinking holy cow this man must be superman

Only if... Only if...

125 and up wont be so great on the bike you have...but if you get a bike with more travel later you will want to judge it by the bike you get. something with a ton of travel would be different than something like a cross country fs bike where you wouldnt need as much. just make sure you know what bike your getting before you waste money on a fork you wont use ;)

naw, i'm not getting a new fork for my hardtail. i wsa just currious about overall travel on a new bike.


thanks for all the input.