Monocleman

Right now I ride a single-pivot bike with 5" of real wheel and 4" of front wheel travel. Looking at things like Monster T's on RM7's, I see a general freeride trent to have bigger travel in the front -- extreme examples of this would be like dual crown forks on hardtails. The next bike I get is probably going to be 6.5" rear and 5.3" front, and I was just wondering about anyone's opinon concerning a front to back travel ratio. It seems to me that more travel in the front comes in to play more often, and I want to see what everyone else thinks. Comments?
-Will

Maelstrom 

Changes the headangle tipping the bike back. On technical dh (I mean skinnies pointing straight down kind of technical) at slow speeds this geometry is much easier to control.

Also wheelie drops and manuals imrpvoe big time when you only have to lift the front end a couple of inches. I run even at 6.5 and 6.5 which works for me now. I think I would prefer more in the front or possibly even but never more in the rear. I found my original setup (6.5 rear and 5.5 front) horrible for my riding style.

Just preference

crashing_sux

I prefer more travel in the front myself, because my legs can take a hit better than my arms so I don't need the rear travel as much. As far as front and rear travel ratio's a lot of it depends on technology, many frame designs lend themselves to increasing travel with very little change in frame weight. Increasing the travel on a fork requires a considerable increase in fork weight.

Rear travel also affects bottom bracket height more than front travel does, having long travel in the back means you either need to have a higher bottom bracket which impairs cornering, or keep a low bottom bracket and have your pedals hit the ground and rocks easier.