Bike Geometry mucking about?

Have found myself musing lately about different ways I could mad scientist with my bike if had had enough time/money/spare parts. I don’t have any specific plans and obviously every bike is different. But I’d be curious to hear about people’s experience both good and bad with various combinations of overforking, mulleting, Angleset headsets, etc.
For example, my brain tells me if I wanted a bit more fun on the downhills-maybe a slacker headtube angle would help. I could slap on a fork with a bit more travel. This might raise the B.B. height a bit so I could compensate that by swapping out the rear 29 wheel for 27.5,etc. I could see lots of ways this could go wrong, and I know my performance on the trails is more about me than the bike, but still curious to see if anyone has done anything else similar.

I just ramped up the fork travel on my Honzo from 120mm to 140mm. Initial thoughts (I’ve only ridden 10km around the subdivision and on the BLT) is that I like the improved slackness -1 degree and barely noticed the increased bb height 10mm. I did think turning might be an issue but haven’t noticed any impact yet.

I just put a longer spring in the Sektor fork in case I didn’t like the change. If I did get a bigger fork I might do something about offset.

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In my opinion you cross the line when you start mixing wheel sizes. It’s not worth the effort. If you do go down the road of playing with HT angles, careful, you can increase risk of snapping it so stay within specs.

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I replaced the 100mm fork on my 2007 Trance with a 130mm back in 2010. I was mostly riding Fight Trail including Gords Gold and the fork made a huge difference. It handled the big hits so much better and gave me more ground clearance over the chunky granite. The bike was a bit floppy turning in and didn’t climb as well but for what I was riding on a daily basis it was a better compromise. I also added a 120mm fork to my 2014 Anthem, also replacing the 100mm factory fork. I was going to sell my Reign and just ride the Trance and it did help with stability and slightly with ground clearance but the bike still climbed well. It didn’t make enough of a difference for me to be happy with it on the trails in Halifax so I sold both and bought my new Trance 29er. The new bike is a great compromise. Now should I put a longer fork on it…?

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Ha ha, that time I put a boxxer on the chute. p3pb1089011

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Sweet! Teenage me would have been all over that! Best/worst idea ever?

My 2005 Big Hit that I sold last summer was a bit of a frankenbike. It had 8.1in of travel in the rear but I put 6in travel fork (Jr. T). The fork was a good deal and I didn’t really want to spend a lot of money on this old bike anyway. The frame only accepted a 24in rear wheel so it was technically a mullet as well. Oh and it weighed 39lbs.

On paper it should “ride like crap” compared to modern bikes but it was definitely still fun to ride. I had a blast at Keppoch with it last summer. I sold it because I didn’t really use it. I figure my Reign can handle most trails around here and the occasional trip to Keppoch.

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I’m guessing you meant Anthem, not Trance?

My 2014 Trance came with a 140mm Fox 32. I upgraded to a 150mm Pike and it made a world of difference, although I think that was mostly due to the fork, more than the slight travel change.

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Did anyone see pink bikes recent experiment with a completely custom built Frankenstein geo bike?
The grim donut

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I had a 2016 Anthem SX, it was an awesome short travel trail bike with a 120mm fork and still good for races too. 120mm should of been standard on that generation it made it more stable on the downs.

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Yes, an Anthem…you are correct. I guess I have owned too many Giants…and a Revolt is on the way.:grinning:

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I think that I used it in the hardtail category at Wentworth, so a good idea. I’ve been just using it as a winter studded tire bike for the past ten years with a 130mm fork, all good.

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