In high lands - Two years later
- Thread starter atty
- Start date
pink poodle
気が狂っている男
These things are catching up with the rune...
ozzybmx
taking a shit with my boobs out
DVO Onyx fork and Topaz shock. I have seen one Highlander on YouTube with a Topaz but Ben at Deviate has no experience of them on the bike.
I have been 100% Fox for many years, repeatedly disappointed is an understatement.
atty
Has excellent taste.
The choice was hard, both look awesome!
Nice, my misses bought the Onyx, super supple with great support, best of both worlds. Keen to hear what you think of the Topaz. Are you going 140 or 150mm linkage?
I think there's less than 10 of these in Aus. Maybe I should start saying the highlander feels like sh*t.
ozzybmx
taking a shit with my boobs out
I started with 140mm then they offered me 150mm, suspension envy kicked in and I asked for 150mm, then changed my mind back to a 140mm link.
Nek minnit I end up with a 37mm stanchion fork... was trying to shed the enduro feel for more trail, it's looking like something in between now.
Nek minnit I end up with a 37mm stanchion fork... was trying to shed the enduro feel for more trail, it's looking like something in between now.
Minlak
custom titis
Ripley?
It's a very good suggestion but I'm a massive brand snob so I'm not sure that I could ride a bike that would inevitably be nick named the Bin Chicken.....
Minlak
custom titis
Ahhh see I just call mine "The Ripley"
don't even mention Ibis - But I get it that's why I only ride Diamondbacks
The Reverend
Likes Bikes and Dirt
From what a mate whose owned one for 2 yrs tells me, you'd get past that feeling quite quickly. They're pretty special.
Correction - he owns the Ripmo. As you were.
hifiandmtb
Sphincter beanie
Nah you shouldn’t own an Ibis, we don’t need your kind around here 
Singletracks has one in for test:
www.singletracks.com
@atty have you weighed yours?
High Pivot Hijinks with the Deviate Highlander Trail Bike [In for Test]
A high single pivot and an idler pulley on a 140mm 29er? Deviate Cycles does things a little differently.
www.singletracks.com
@atty have you weighed yours?
atty
Has excellent taste.
I'll borrow a scale and get back to you.
So new forks arrived - I got myself a set of Mezzer's, from what I read and other riders experience the Mezzer's seem to be an outstanding fork.
I decided to swap out the Ohlins for a number of reasons. The first is that I want to be able to ride the bike with 160mm travel and 170mm - Thredbo trips will see a slacker bike with more front travel while rides around Sydney will probably stay at 160mm.
Secondly, I want to try 44mm offset - not sure if I'll even notice it. but let's see.
Lastly, the mezzer's look sick as.
Here are some photos before the forks are swapped.
pink poodle
気が狂っている男
That's a nice little drop. Where was that?
hifiandmtb
Sphincter beanie
You should notice it. I can immediately tell the difference between my Ripmo (51mm) and my mates (44mm).
I would rock 44mm in a heartbeat if I could justify the changeover cost.
atty
Has excellent taste.
It's at Loftus. It used to be huck to flat but appears someone has a lot of free time.
Safe to say big difference. Didn't expect it. Have to be honest through - I actually quite liked the 51mm feeling, very lively. Still not sure what I prefer.
atty
Has excellent taste.
So I finally got around to swapping the forks over. The forks came stock as 180mm travel, so a bit of tinkering was required to drop them to 160mm. Have to say I'm dam impressed with how easy they are to work on.
So off went the Ohlins and on went the Mezzers, both similar forks in that they both have the three air chambers; so one may inclined to think they feel very similar.
Not the case at all, the immediate thing I noticed is just how much compression the Ohlins have, super firm and a lot of feedback. The Mezzers are super supple in comparison. I've applied a fair few clicks of high and low speed compression to provide a similar feel.
The Mezzers are meant to be 17% stiffer than the Ohlins, but tbh I couldn't feel a difference. I suspect there's a lot of flex in the front wheel that negates any gains in fork stiffness.
A massive change between the two forks is the brake away forces. The Mezzers are silky smooth, something Ohlins needs to work on imo.
Lastly , fork offset. The Ohlins are 51mm while the Mezzers are 44mm. I was expecting the 44mm was going to blow my mind, super stable, fun, better in everyway. To my surprise I think I might actually prefer the 51mm - felt more playful, maybe twitchier in some ways but I enjoyed that. Nevertheless, super stoked with the overall feel of the Mezzers and I'm sure I'll get used to the reduced offset over time.
Forks aside, I've noticed a thing about the Highlander. I was initially running the recommended 30% sag, felt great suspension wise, but with an already low bb, pedal strikes were often. 20% sag is the solution.
This provides the additional benefit of of reducing the effective chainstay length at sag. Definitely provides a more playful bike running less sag.
What's insane is that 25mm of rear travel occurs at full travel! Funny that reviews rave on about the new enduro's rearward axel path, but its minor in comparison.
There seems to be a few geo charts floating around with hugely different numbers. So with a tape measure I can safely say the numbers in the geo chart below appear to be correct.
So off went the Ohlins and on went the Mezzers, both similar forks in that they both have the three air chambers; so one may inclined to think they feel very similar.
Not the case at all, the immediate thing I noticed is just how much compression the Ohlins have, super firm and a lot of feedback. The Mezzers are super supple in comparison. I've applied a fair few clicks of high and low speed compression to provide a similar feel.
The Mezzers are meant to be 17% stiffer than the Ohlins, but tbh I couldn't feel a difference. I suspect there's a lot of flex in the front wheel that negates any gains in fork stiffness.
A massive change between the two forks is the brake away forces. The Mezzers are silky smooth, something Ohlins needs to work on imo.
Lastly , fork offset. The Ohlins are 51mm while the Mezzers are 44mm. I was expecting the 44mm was going to blow my mind, super stable, fun, better in everyway. To my surprise I think I might actually prefer the 51mm - felt more playful, maybe twitchier in some ways but I enjoyed that. Nevertheless, super stoked with the overall feel of the Mezzers and I'm sure I'll get used to the reduced offset over time.
Forks aside, I've noticed a thing about the Highlander. I was initially running the recommended 30% sag, felt great suspension wise, but with an already low bb, pedal strikes were often. 20% sag is the solution.
This provides the additional benefit of of reducing the effective chainstay length at sag. Definitely provides a more playful bike running less sag.
- 30% sag = 45mm of travel = 12.5mm increase in chainstay length
- 20% sag = 30mm of travel = 8mm increase to chainstay length.
What's insane is that 25mm of rear travel occurs at full travel! Funny that reviews rave on about the new enduro's rearward axel path, but its minor in comparison.
There seems to be a few geo charts floating around with hugely different numbers. So with a tape measure I can safely say the numbers in the geo chart below appear to be correct.
