How much travel is too much?

[Fingerpuk]

I’ve decided to buy a full sus non ebike. Something to go on the roof of the car so I can drive further afield. And also to help my fitness and weight loss goals.

I found myself looking at all sorts of enduro bikes, but then this morning I decided to re think everything to do with suspension. Mainly how much do you need if any.

I’ve decided to go full sus as it gives me a safety net and my arse approves. But I don’t need the 160/170mm I was looking at. I’m not riding Bike Park Wales more then once a year. Mainly I’m riding singletrack, learning to jump, digging and riding small twisty trails through woods.

So surely 140 up front is more than enough. I’m not doing huge drops to flat, and even if I am so what.

I’m interested to hear what more experienced riders think. Especially @Gary as no doubt he’ll say stop writing start riding.

Or similar

 

[Gary]

my arse approves

Stand up MOAR

You don't *need* suspension at all. I used to ride a 100mm dirt jump hardtail on National level DH and Enduro tracks, just because I found them fun.
How much travel you want whether FS or Hardtail is just down to personal preference (and where/what you ride), same with geometry.

I don't really understand ALL the threads on here asking others advice on things that are clearly *personal preference* choices.

 

[steve_sordy]

I bought a 130mm travel FS Trail bike because I already had a 160mm travel Enduro. The bike that the 130mm one replaced was a 140mm.

But the 130mm travel bike, Whyte T130C RS was wayyyyy more capable than the 140mm travel Norco Sight 1. Both bikes were similarly priced.

The answer to your question is that it depends upon what bike you buy; and what you want from it. From your stated preference you need a light trail bike. I would start there and try to stick at 120-130mm travel.

To answer your question in a different way. How much travel is too much is the travel you leave unused.

 

[Fingerpuk]

Wel that depends how hard I go on certain trails. Sometimes I have no travel left. But that’s on a 24kg bike just bombing through things rather than picking my way around or hopping over them. Which is where I want to get to.

my ebike has 150 and my friends keep saying to go to 170 but I don’t live in Wales. It would be useful to have a LBS with stock but nobody has anything in stock.

 

[Gary]

Wel that depends how hard I go on certain trails. Sometimes I have no travel left.

No it doesn't.
It depends on how you've set your suspension up.
200mm front and rear will blow through all its travel easily on mellow trails if set up badly.

Whether using that 100mm hardtail or my 200mm DH bike on those same trails I mentioned above neither bike will fully bottom out any more often than the other.
Because they are both set UP properly for ME

 

[Gary]

Imna jus leave dis here...

 

[Fingerpuk]

Testing a 130mm Whyte later.

 

[urastus]

It's a good starting point, to consider where you do most of your riding. I bought my bike according to that - a trail bike equally good (supposedly) for climbing and ascending and tight technical stuff. I still have enough bike for those annual two week visits to derby, but maybe 2 mins slower on a 15km ride because I don't have that extra 20 - 40mm suspension. I'm probably 2mins faster over 15km where I mostly ride than if I had the longer suspension. It's not the sort of thing that I care about . More recently, after sliding around on wet rock on a few rides, I thought I'd get super grippy tyres. Then reality hit and I thought "how many times am I going to be riding on wet rock?" Maybe 20 times a year

 

[urastus]

Imna jus leave dis here...

Gee, that sort of track (fast and rough, not tight) I thought the full 29" would have romped it in. I wonder how the wheels hold up with that riding? I suppose longevity isn't his problem.

 

[Gary]

I wonder how the wheels hold up with that riding?

Absolutely fine.
I know Lewis and his mechanic is a personal friend.

 

[Fingerpuk]

Had a go on a Whyte T130, was crazy light and all over the place. Couldn’t get the thing to grip. It was a ton of fun but I think I’d need to understand tyres and get the thing set up by somebody who knows what they are doing. The rear was bouncing around like my jump bike.

 

[urastus]

Had a go on a Whyte T130, was crazy light and all over the place. Couldn’t get the thing to grip. It was a ton of fun but I think I’d need to understand tyres and get the thing set up by somebody who knows what they are doing. The rear was bouncing around like my jump bike.

Suspension might have been too hard as well as the tyres. Bike shops always set mine up too hard - I think they err on the side of caution.

 

[Fingerpuk]

After being lucky enough to test out a variety of bikes from local riders on a group day out I finally bought an NS Define 130.

Im looking forward to being able to drive the bike to bike parks, and not worry about battery life. My legs will hate me initially.