The shock itself, a Fox Float X Nude, is very similar in looks to some of Fox's standard offerings but there are several key differences. The system uses a magnet that's driven by the external part of the main pivot that slides it along a marked-out percentage scale. Perhaps the most obvious question regarding this internal suspension is how to set sag. That said, those dimension changes are based more on angles than reach. Handily, this bike comes with bags of adjustment, and fine-tuning is very much an option. Conversely, if your stays are too short, and the stack too high and reach too long, it can sometimes feel like you're having to drive the bike with your hands a lot and really focus on deliberately and consciously riding over the front of the bike. The things that longer chainstays can achieve is that they can let you have your slack, long geometry, while also letting you apply a lot of your weight through your feet into the center of the bike and onto the front wheel. When you have high stack values and head angles of around 63.5-degrees, for anything other than the steepers trails riders might look to longer stays to keep the front weighted. Yes, that may well be subjective to the terrain you are riding. The seat stays on this bike aren't outrageously short by any means, however, it does make you pause for thought. This can, when it is the right window, mean that you can extend and push the bike more instead of being too outstretched. A larger amount of stack can be a tool to raise the contact points in parallel to the steering axis and bring them back towards the rider and more within range as it reduces the effective top tube length. As the reaches have swelled, it can sometimes give a stretched-out, superman-like pose while pedaling, especially as you try and keep the front wheel tracking through steeper pitches on bikes. Yes, bikes have got bigger in their length overall and wheelbase. As you can imagine, it firmly biases the bike towards steeper gradients, where the trail is helping load the front as you push your weight away from the bars, as opposed to flatter turns where rearward weight distribution can give a slightly lighter less positive feeling on the front wheel.Ī higher stack height does have other benefits, though, and it can be a way to temper larger reach values and keep the effective top tube in check. Throw in the middling to short chainstay length of 435 and that isolates its intentions further.Īs we increase the height of our front end, it can mean that we're not only less likely to go over the bars but also we'll find it easier to scoop out weight under the front axle for wheel lifts, as well as put our weight over the rear axle for steeper sections. With a bike that has a head tube as slack or slacker than some downhill bikes, plus a considerable 490 mm of reach and a large 644 mm of stack height, this is a bike that loves steeper trails. Some features might scream gimmick the geometry says business. ![]() Plus, it would be a crime to strap or tape things to a frame that clearly has seen so much work to cut a clear, uncluttered, and uncomplicated shape. It's there, it's organized and it's quiet. I love internal frame storage, and commend Bold for this. Here you will also find a multi-tool, inner tube and pump that's housed on a tray within a Save-The-Day Kit. On the downtube, you'll find a large trap door to access the shock. The frame can also accommodate 27.5" or 29" wheels in the rear with the flip of a chip, which is a nice touch. ![]() However, on a bike that is already amply steep there is some room to play with. Although, as stated, this will affect the seat tube. There is also a high-low bottom bracket setting to further fine-tune the bike. It's not an adjustment in complete isolation, but it's still very effective. Headset cups, as opposed to flip chips in the suspension system, make an effective change to slacken the bike, without the effects bleeding into and potentially compromising the seat tube angle. There is the 1-degree adjustable headset, which I would love to see on more bikes. The bike is a strange mix of some genuinely clever, pragmatic design and some proprietary and convoluted technical features. But it's also got a long reach, a high stack and deep-feeling suspension housed in a big, chunky frame with a big shroud over its big headset assembly. Yes, it's a big, 160 mm travel 29er with a 170 mm fork. This is a big bike, in more than one sense.
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