Orbea Wild 2023 Fork 160mm/170mm

[Wheelie Slow]

Looking at purchasing an Orbea Wild M team 2023, just undecided on one thing the size of the fork to run, the 160mm is optimised for the bike, but parts of me is thinking why not have the extra 10mm and get the 170mm fork. Do you think running the 170mm fork will make much of a difference.

Any throughts !!

 

[RacerX]

I rode my 2023 Wild a couple of times and immediately switched to a Fox Factory 170mil and obsoletely love it. Then later I went a step farther and made it a mullet. So now I can run mullet where needed or switch back to full 29er when i need more clearance.

 

[Mikerb]

I think you need to consider the dynamic balance of the bike.....meaning it depends on the amount of travel in the shock. A 170mm fork is likely to have a larger plush initial travel than a 160 and ideally the shock would match that so that the bike remains more stable front to back. 160mm forks are usually teamed with 150/152.5 travel shocks......and they often actually are somewhat shorter travel in practise. Personally I would stick with 160mm

 

[ViperBoy]

I had a Wild and a Trek Rail (both 160/150 bikes) and bumped the Rail Lyrik to a 170 Zeb. Can't say I like the change in geometry when climbing and the Rail is a bit more Enduro than the wild so I expect the feelings would be slightly worse on the Wild. It tends to wheelie too easily and loose traction due to the lighter front end
I think the Fox has a 5mm shorter axel-crown length so it might be ok as a compromise between downhill and climbing