Exciting New Fork Update!

The Rock Shox Reba is by far the most ubiquitous 29er fork on the market. They are everywhere, and while it's a great fork, not much has changed about it since it's release in 02.
Well, all that has changed now.


The fork has been completely redesigned from the ground up, and now looks to be once again, the top dog in the 29er suspension fork world.

While this fork is a prototype, I'm sure the production version will not be that different. It has a proprietary 20mm QR axle called the "Maxle", which is heralded as one of the best and easy to use 20mm axle systemson the market. No tools necessary, some 20mm froks a PITA to deal with if you have to ever transport your bike, not so much of a problem now.
It also looks as if the industry has accepted post mount style brake mounts, and they are featured on the new Reba. Rock Shox is the last of the major players to make this jump.
Most interesting, is the travel looks to be around 120mm, but this is just a guess. There is a lot of stanchion tube showing though, making me think that there will be more than the current 100mm. Another good move.
And finally, the offset of the fork is a reported 46mm. This will make for a quicker handling ride, which will be another welcome update on this fork.

All in all, pretty sweet huh?

The Spider Crawls Along...

So the next big decision to make was what fork to put on the bike. With everything out there, I had a hard time figuring out which way I wanted to go. In my mind, the Spider is a racy kind of bike, and needed some racy features. There are 3 forks that come to mind.

1. The ubiquitous Reba Race. The new updated Push-loc feature is really nice, and gives you that ability to lock the fork out for a hard slog out of the saddle without having to reach down.

2. The new kid on the block, the Fox F-29. It has a lockout, but it is a manual lock out, meaning you have to take your right hand off the handlebar to activate/deactivate it. But it does have some nifty features that make this totally OK.

3. The White Magic 110. White continues to improve the damper, and deliver it in a beautiful, clean package. The Magic uses a magnetic valve that negates the need for any type of lockout by determining where the force is coming from. Bumps from above (i.e.you) are ignored, while bumps from the ground are devoured. I own one of these forks, and love it.

These are 3 very legit choices for anyone who wants a trail bike they can also race. That is the prime directive of this build. It has to be able to handle it all.

Now, here is where it gets fun. Intense designed the Spider with a 73° head angle. For those that don't know, that is steep. Like a road bike steep. Steep = fast handling. There have been a lot of nay sayers about this number, in that fast handling = twitchy, but everyone that has ridden one of these bikes on trail agrees, it flys through the trees with the greatest of ease. I'm really sorry if you don't get to ride your bike through trees. It is fast handling though, but not twitchy.
You'll recall my experience on the 5.5 Proto, similar angles, similar kind of ride.

The really important number is the offset of the forks.
Offset is the perpendicular distance the axle sits in front of the center of steering axis (headtube line), while trail is the horizontal distance on the ground of the center of the tire's contact patch to where the center line of the steering axis hits the ground. Trail effectively is measured backwards because the axle's position over the ground "trails" the center line of the steering axis. Offset is the distance forward of the steering axis but on a different plane. As offset increases, trail decreases and handling becomes more responsive.

The Spider was designed with the Reba in mind, as Rock Shox was the only real 4" fork on the market for the longest time. The Reba has a 38mm offset. The new generation of forks (White, Fox and Manitou) live around 44mm. Quicker steering forks.

I'm not going to get into a diatribe about which is better, that's not what this post is about.

Let's think about the fork for a bit, while we move on...

Wheels.


Every once in a while, you find something that works. When that happens, I run with it. A prime example is the Royale wheelset. I put a LOT of these wheels under a lot of people, and not one person has been disappointed. While they aren't the ultra-lightest (around 1800g a set) they are durable, customizable, and made from the best stuff around. It's the very same wheelset I use, and if a 230lb guy like myself can't beat 'em up (and I try!), well...
So, yeah, Royales with the Arch rims.


Another component of this build, is that I would be "re-introducing" some components back into the wild where they belong. I have a pile of tires that would make you sick. But hey, if you were to call and ask me what I thought about any tire that's out there, I'd be able to answer you. Truthfully too.
My favorite all-rounder is the Bontrager Jones ACX TLR. I had a set laying about, so that's what I mounted. And I'll add that they aired up first time, and have not lost even 1 psi since Saturday.
How about that?

OK back to the fork.

I went with the Fox F-29, for 2 reasons (not really in order)
1. Cosmetic. It looks cool. I don't care who you are, if you were spending your hard earned dough on a bike, you'd want it to look cool.
2. Performance. I know from experience that the Fox is a stiffer platform than the Reba. The offset question was giving me some headaches, so I decided to add King's 5mm baseplate to the King headset (like you thought I'd put something else on there). This effectively slackens the head tube angle, or slows down the steering. We'll see how it rides soon.

While the White fork is the one I'd go with on my own personal bike, it is a little too tech for the average Joe to easily set up and enjoy properly, and as this is ultimately a demo bike, I want it to be as user friendly as possible. I'll be doing a shootout between the afore mentioned forks in the not too distant future, where I can really get into the nuts and bolts of these cool devices.


Up next, the components!

The Frumious Bandersnatch

It was a project I was putting off for a while, mostly due to the lack of hours in any given day, but it is almost done. I say almost because there will be upgrades along the way. The Bandersnatch will be my new test piggie for all sorts of cool bits and pieces.

I had to decommission the Karate Monkey to build this beast, but I'm sure that the Monkey will rise again (it always does). I had a terrible time getting it together, most of the parts on the KM had been there all it's life, and did not come quietly. I had to reduce the travel on my Reba from 100mm to 80, and so it was also a good time to give a little love to the fork. It needed it.

The headtube on the Vassago is considerably longer than any of the bikes I've had the Reba on before, but fortunately, there was enough room for a Thomson stem, and nothing else. Amazingly, the cockpit proportions are almost identical to my other bikes, so it should be an easy time learning the ins and outs of the new bike. I'm looking forward to experiencing "Wet Cat" geometry first hand. I will be getting the Bandersnatch dirty on the trail this weekend weather permitting.

This weekend is the opening weekend for Catamount, where I delivered the first two of the demo 29ers that will live there this summer. I'll have some more details on that in a future post. In a nutshell, anyone who wants to try a 29er in the woods, will have access to a full size run of Gary Fisher 29ers.