Originally Posted by
Moisture
Where can I have the honour of viewing the contender for first place?
You should have seen my setup before this. I didn't realize how gargantuan I feel on these bikes. I was using a 30mm stem mounted backwards, on top of my stem riser. It sort of worked OK.. well, better than having it on forwards at least. Except it was totally inept going up any hills. Not enough weight over the handlebars.
Based on the extremely tall and close handlebar setup, and that you seem to feel the ride is too violent, even on pavement, without a sprung seat post, I’d say that you’re trying to ride in a very upright position, almost too upright, even. You should be leaning forward slightly, with some of your weight on your hands and feet, as well as the saddle.
Lower the angle on the stem, and rotate the bar bar so the ends sweep back slightly. It looks like you’ got them completely vertical.
Originally Posted by
Moisture
Have to admit, it looks all around purposeful. Let me guess, is this Cannondale Volvo your bike? It looks like it can't decide between XC and gravel trail duty, but in a good way. I like how it has some sort of shock absorption below the head tube. How capable do you reckon a good fixed front fork would be on more technical stuff?
No, it’s definitely an XC bike. The Cannondale F-1000 was the basis for multiple XC championship winning team bikes, in the 90s, and that’s what a fast MTB looked like.
The front end is Cannondale’s proprietary Headshok suspension fork, with a single shock inside the head tube. In this example, it’s an 80mm air/oil unit. It was lighter and more precise than other forks like the Manitou/2 and the MAG-21.
A rigid fork would be better than a cheap, flexy suspension fork, but it will be slower, and demand more skill from the rider. Whether it’s better for you would depend greatly on where and how you ride.