making my 29er handle faster
Moderator: Moderator Team
Its hard to say without trying a bunch of different things. Every bike is different. I love some of the 29ers I've ridden, but others I could never get to feel right. The lack of saddle to bar drop on some 29er's felt a bit weird to me. I think the -17 degree stem may help. A lot of the pro's resort to stuff like this to get the position right on the big wheels.
My Niner Sir9 with 90mm 0 degree stem and Reba 80mm fork (46mm offset) feels like a tank. Slow steering and very sluggish. Not a big fan of this bike at the moment, and will be swapping the suspension fork out for a shorter rigid fork shortly.
The same fork on my Misfit Dissent 29er with the same stem and bars (albiet slightly different geometry) felt much snappier.
My Ragley TD:1 29er has a longer TT and a 70mm stem with more saddle to bar drop, and a short rigid fork (what is really a suspension corrected 26" fork with a 29er wheel in it), and this is without a doubt the fastest, best handling 29er I've ridden, and thats with 37mm offset.
Hopefully you can get the handling dialed in!
My Niner Sir9 with 90mm 0 degree stem and Reba 80mm fork (46mm offset) feels like a tank. Slow steering and very sluggish. Not a big fan of this bike at the moment, and will be swapping the suspension fork out for a shorter rigid fork shortly.
The same fork on my Misfit Dissent 29er with the same stem and bars (albiet slightly different geometry) felt much snappier.
My Ragley TD:1 29er has a longer TT and a 70mm stem with more saddle to bar drop, and a short rigid fork (what is really a suspension corrected 26" fork with a 29er wheel in it), and this is without a doubt the fastest, best handling 29er I've ridden, and thats with 37mm offset.
Hopefully you can get the handling dialed in!
Hey guys
thanks for all comment
I played with my fork settings a little bit and it improved the ride a lot:
I removed a few psi in the fork, going for 30% sag
I turned the rebound adjuter all the way toward the fast setting and unscrewed one turn. Dramatic improvement I'd say.
Now I will still buy a -17d stem. Would you guys have any suggestions? Looking for the ritchey 4 axis. The syntace is very nice but seems hard to find here in Canada...
thanks for all comment
I played with my fork settings a little bit and it improved the ride a lot:
I removed a few psi in the fork, going for 30% sag
I turned the rebound adjuter all the way toward the fast setting and unscrewed one turn. Dramatic improvement I'd say.
Now I will still buy a -17d stem. Would you guys have any suggestions? Looking for the ritchey 4 axis. The syntace is very nice but seems hard to find here in Canada...
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Not exactly weight weenie, but a Thomson X2 road stem would give you the -17 degree option, and readily available in Canada. At least its easy to find and resale value is great to see if it gives you the feel you are looking for.
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It's fine if you're not hucking your bike and you don't have crazy wide handlebars.
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My friend rides a Thomson X2, 120mm, -17 on his Niner. No problems with bars slipping or stiffness.
Too late though, considering you ordered one already
Too late though, considering you ordered one already
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Two other options...
1. Try a Cane Creek angleset which allows you to "change" the headtube angle.
2. The other option is to find a fork from a Gary Fisher bike with the "genesis" geometry. These have a unique-to-fisher rake/trail combination designed to work with the longer front end and shorter stem on the Fisher bikes.
BVut I think option 1 is a better choice.
Good luck.
1. Try a Cane Creek angleset which allows you to "change" the headtube angle.
2. The other option is to find a fork from a Gary Fisher bike with the "genesis" geometry. These have a unique-to-fisher rake/trail combination designed to work with the longer front end and shorter stem on the Fisher bikes.
BVut I think option 1 is a better choice.
Good luck.
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I was going to mention the G2 fork as well. I recently put an 80mm G2 Reba on my 29er and the handling is much quicker than the previous 100mm standard rake fork. It takes some getting used to though. I almost went OTB a few times on the first few rides.
Hey guys,
I am considering a very similar mod for my monstercross build, I have already reduced the fork from a 100mm to a 80mm and feel I still could use just a little quicker steering.
Therefore I second the Cane Creek adjustable headset mod. It would take a 71 degree headtube to 72.5 degrees. Adding 1.5 degrees to the front end geometry would quicken things up for sure
One thing I can comment on that I have tried was going to a narrower bar it definately quickened up the steering.
I,m interested to see how the stem option works out for you
Let us know how things work out.
thx
Dave
I am considering a very similar mod for my monstercross build, I have already reduced the fork from a 100mm to a 80mm and feel I still could use just a little quicker steering.
Therefore I second the Cane Creek adjustable headset mod. It would take a 71 degree headtube to 72.5 degrees. Adding 1.5 degrees to the front end geometry would quicken things up for sure
One thing I can comment on that I have tried was going to a narrower bar it definately quickened up the steering.
I,m interested to see how the stem option works out for you
Let us know how things work out.
thx
Dave