150mm -> 140mm travel on a hardtail? Big difference?
I ran across an amazing deal on a fork for a hardtail build I am working on, the only difference in specs between this one and the one the manufacturer specs on its complete version of the same bike is 10mm less travel. I am not necessarily trying to re-create the stock build, but I don't want to deviate too far and get an ill-handling frankenbike, either.
My biggest concern is lowering an already low BB. That may already be mitigated in part by:
- I am running 29x2.6 tires, not 2.4/2.5, as spec'd
- I'll be running 165mm or 170mm crank arms, not 175, as spec'd
- I could run a larger front tire to make up for the difference, unless I am overthinking this. Let me know
If less travel takes a little slack out of the geometry, I don't care. This frame has slack to spare. It's mostly a BB height thing I am concerned about. I have heard there are benefits to shorter travel on HTs too which are intriguing to me!
If I need to delete and post in the mechanic's forum let me know!