Is 140mm travel fine for the vast majority of situations (Swiss Alps)?

[EMTBehave]

I am currently deciding between a 140mm and a 160mm EMTB, both fully kitted out with Fox Factory kashima everything. I live in Switzerland and want to do mainly XC tours and mountain trails, likely with some some non-crazy downhill, and am looking for a bike that will comfortably eat up the KM's while being able to absorb some rough terrain now and then (not crazy jumps).

I seem to have got caught up in this weird circle of anxiety and indecisiveness with 140mm vs 160mm. On one hand 140mm is still a good amount of travel and when combined with 29" wheels I feel it will do 95% of what I want it to do perfectly well. On the other I can't help thinking 160mm will cover me for the 5% of the time where things get rougher and the extra travel comes in handy. However, I am not a big or heavy guy at 178cm/5ft10 and 75kg with backpack so am likely not exactly a big stress for suspension.

Please can you guys put my mind at ease and tell me if in your experience a 140mm 29'er with top-of-the-line Fox Factory suspension handles pretty much every non-extreme XC and trail situation that I will likely encounter in the Swiss alps... or do you think a 160mm is safer?

Thanks.

 

[Elover]

I did visit verbier a couple of times a few years back ( manual bikes) and had a 140 rear 150 front travel on the 1st visit and 170mm on the second. We, mainly Rode dh, but the smaller travel bike worked well on the couple of Xc days we Rode.... I currently have a 135 rear and 160 front e bike and it works so we on all my Xc loop, to knarly stuff that I have never wanted more. Maybe demo a bike if you can on your loop.... Carbon levo maybe.

 

[EMTBehave]

I did visit verbier a couple of times a few years back ( manual bikes) and had a 140 rear 150 front travel on the 1st visit and 170mm on the second. We, mainly Rode dh, but the smaller travel bike worked well on the couple of Xc days we Rode.... I currently have a 135 rear and 160 front e bike and it works so we on all my Xc loop, to knarly stuff that I have never wanted more. Maybe demo a bike if you can on your loop.... Carbon levo maybe.

Thanks for the feedback Elover. I have no fixed 'loops' and the only way I can demo is renting a bike for a day which won't be the bike I am buying. I really am looking for general opinions based on people's experiences.

So basically your post seems to confirm that based on your own experience 140mm/150mm suspension would be fine for the majority of things. Were you using 29" wheels?

 

[miPbiP]

your weight's not really a factor, you just tune the shock to match.

I would think you'd be fine on 140mm for the riding you describe.

Do you want to push around 160mm just for the 5% of time it's a (small) benefit? That's your decision.

 

[EMTBehave]

your weight's not really a factor, you just tune the shock to match.

I would think you'd be fine on 140mm for the riding you describe.

Do you want to push around 160mm just for the 5% of time it's a (small) benefit? That's your decision.

Well from my laymans knowledge of basic physics I would have thought the lighter the rider the less stress it must be on the suspension though... right? A lighter 70kg rider will cause less stress and impact on suspension than a 110kg rider?

 

[Zimmerframe]

Well from my laymans knowledge of basic physics I would have thought the lighter the rider the less stress it must be on the suspension though... right? A lighter 70kg rider will cause less stress and impact on suspension than a 110kg rider?

It's always going to be a difficult question to answer with any certainty as everyones riding style is different and everyones interpretation of "easy trails" is different.

I'm slightly lighter than you and run 180mm (2019 kenevo) and use all of it. I don't do big jumps (not on purpose anyway). I worried that 180mm would be "too much". It's not.

Your original question asked if 160mm would be "safer". From my experience, more is safer. If I really mess up and get completely off line and ride over some huge rocks, the 180 helps deal with errors.

It depends on price/what you want from the bike/how you see yourself using it. The 140 will be slightly more surgical. The 160 will be more forgiving and take a tiny bit of the work off the rider when things get a bit gnarly.

 

[B1rdie]

Aha, nice one! Most guys when faced with this anxiety simply open their wallets instead of talking ?. I would go with less travel since the trails in europe are mostly filled with tight switchbacks and lots of tech climbs.
Schredding the climbs is the most incredible feeling an ebike brings to the ride and a 140 travel front end makes it even easyer.
I have a spectralon with 150mm and rode the Pirenees and Lourdes DH track and many WC xc tracks, I am not the fastest guy around but have hardly ever bottomed out, so I think that the 5% safety margin that a long travel COULD mean does not pay for the hassle of bouncing around 95% of the time.

 

[miPbiP]

Well from my laymans knowledge of basic physics I would have thought the lighter the rider the less stress it must be on the suspension though... right? A lighter 70kg rider will cause less stress and impact on suspension than a 110kg rider?

I'm no expert but the components are designed to handle a weight range.

I won't say it makes no difference but within that range I don't know that "I'm lighter therefore need less suspension" really holds.

 

[EMTBehave]

It's always going to be a difficult question to answer with any certainty as everyones riding style is different and everyones interpretation of "easy trails" is different.

I'm slightly lighter than you and run 180mm (2019 kenevo) and use all of it. I don't do big jumps (not on purpose anyway). I worried that 180mm would be "too much". It's not.

Your original question asked if 160mm would be "safer". From my experience, more is safer. If I really mess up and get completely off line and ride over some huge rocks, the 180 helps deal with errors.

It depends on price/what you want from the bike/how you see yourself using it. The 140 will be slightly more surgical. The 160 will be more forgiving and take a tiny bit of the work off the rider when things get a bit gnarly.

I think in the end while you likely do have a point about it being too to have that extra safety net, that for me better climbing and rolling is more of an advantage for most of my riding than an extra 10-20mm of travel that I may rarely if ever use. 140/150mm is still nothing to sniff at and should still cope with some gnarly terrain and any small to drops I may encounter.

Aha, nice one! Most guys when faced with this anxiety simply open their wallets instead of talking ?. I would go with less travel since the trails in europe are mostly filled with tight switchbacks and lots of tech climbs.
Schredding the climbs is the most incredible feeling an ebike brings to the ride and a 140 travel front end makes it even easyer.
I have a spectralon with 150mm and rode the Pirenees and Lourdes DH track and many WC xc tracks, I am not the fastest guy around but have hardly ever bottomed out, so I think that the 5% safety margin that a long travel COULD mean does not pay for the hassle of bouncing around 95% of the time.

That is very similar logic to what I was also thinking, thanks Birdie!

 

[Mcharza]

You living in Switzerland and amazing alpine trails there. In my opinion front 160 and rear 150 is the safest bet. Because not all of your trails are smooth, also rocky and steep.

160 front gives you more forgiving to descent. Front is higher and you can play with sag.

And remember with emtb you go faster sooner or later.

 

[nobbyq]

i ride every year in switzerland and on a 150mm bike , normal and ebike , ive never had a issue although my mate has a capra and a keno ,i rode his a few times there and it defintintly made it easier on the rough . if i lived near big mountains like you i would problably keep my levo and increase front to 160 mm for those unforeseen rocks , where in swiss alps are you ?

 

[EMTBehave]

Well guys in the end I went to the store and after having a sit and bit of a pedal I went for the Cube 140 with 150mm/140mm Fox 36 Factory up front and rear respectively. I will pick it up Monday and give some feedback when I have ridden it for a bit.

I paid full rrp but my work is paying around 50% with our cycle scheme sp I am not too fussed. I also paid an extra £70 for an additional 3 years warranty on all components (2 years standard so now 5 years in total) which I think is well worth it. I also got the guy to throw in some Shimano XT Shadow flat pedals and a set or ergonomic grips which basically offset the additional warranty.

Thanks to everyone for the advice given in this and other threads... I am really looking forward to getting out on it and I will likely commute to work on a regular basis now too, weather permitting.

Some quick photos:

i ride every year in switzerland and on a 150mm bike , normal and ebike , ive never had a issue although my mate has a capra and a keno ,i rode his a few times there and it defintintly made it easier on the rough . if i lived near big mountains like you i would problably keep my levo and increase front to 160 mm for those unforeseen rocks , where in swiss alps are you ?

I'm in the ZH area.

 

[Elover]

That'll be great, nice bike....