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150mm -> 140mm travel on a hardtail? Big difference?

Old 01-18-21, 10:22 AM
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davei1980
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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!
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Old 01-18-21, 03:13 PM
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I really wouldn't worry about 10mm. A lot of bikes are specced for a range of fork anyway, my FS comes with either a 130 or 140, and my hardtail fame is rated for 120-150. I'm running 140 on both. What fork? A lot of them can be easily be increased to 150mm. What frame? That would help us figure out if 140mm would make any real negative difference.
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Old 01-18-21, 03:52 PM
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About a 10mm difference.
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Old 01-18-21, 03:58 PM
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Originally Posted by Canker
I really wouldn't worry about 10mm. A lot of bikes are specced for a range of fork anyway, my FS comes with either a 130 or 140, and my hardtail fame is rated for 120-150. I'm running 140 on both. What fork? A lot of them can be easily be increased to 150mm. What frame? That would help us figure out if 140mm would make any real negative difference.
Thank you for helping me demystify.
I am building a Honzo ESD from nothing. I have a set of 29", i30 rims with a dropper post, shifter, and RD. That's it. The rest of the parts I need to source.
The fork I had my eye on was a Manitou Mattoc, adjustable from 120-140mm travel. It sold on CL before I could pull the trigger.
I just read a review of a guy who put a 130mm CC Helm on his and said it worked out good. Not sure what the bottom of the range is. 120 or 130 maybe? I saw a guy selling a Reba he listed as 150mm for a good price, but I didn't think the Reba had that much travel, I am thinking it's a 120.
Thanks again, this is suspension build since 2001.

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Old 01-19-21, 08:23 PM
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10mm is not much. Heck, even among 150mm forks there can be 10mm difference in axle-to-crown length.

If you really want to get into the weeds, look up the stock fork and see what the A2C measurement is and compare it to what you are looking at. And if for some reason you find you fork to too short, there are some options out there to increase the stack hieght of the lower headset cup, which has the same effect as lengthening the fork.
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Old 01-20-21, 09:00 AM
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Times have changed — either number sounds like a massive amount of travel for a hardtail- Personally od rather run the smaller number on a HT (140)
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Old 01-20-21, 11:07 AM
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Originally Posted by DMC707
Times have changed — either number sounds like a massive amount of travel for a hardtail- Personally od rather run the smaller number on a HT (140)
Thanks man, I just watched a review where a guy put a 130mm Cane Creek Helm on his and loved it.
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