Advice Please?

MK ultra

I was riding a muddy 23 mile red route round dalby forest yesterday :?,on my scott elite racing,trouble is the standard tyres offer very little or no grip whilst cornerering quite fast on some of dalby's muddy sweepers,I lack the confidence to push that little bit more.

Trouble is there's that many tyres out there I dont know which ones to pick,I'm really not bothered about what the name on the sidewall says,i just want some more edge grip over the scott ones.

Whats the difference between a short and a long stem??
I was riding a friends 3.5k :shock: whyte mountain bike yesterday it had a short stem,I felt i was sat on top of the handlebars which I liked a lot more (more like a motorcross bike) than my bike (long stem).

Also the standard manitou axel forks dont seem to absorb the bumps very well whilst riding,although I know they aren't the best forks,I know there not the worst either.....does anyone have any recommendations of a good quality xc fork,I'll probably buy secondhand off ebay and get them serviced if needed.

Splasher

Right, one at a time. Do you want compromise tyres for the whole year, or winter tyres.

All year - Panaracer XC Pro 2.1s or Kenda Nevegal Rear/Blue Groove Front
Winter - Bontrager Mud X 2.2 or Maxxis Medusa 2.1s

A short stem sits you up, quickens the steering and allows you to shift your weight back better for descending. But your bike will have a steeper head than you mates Whyte and by quickening the steering on your's you could make it a bit unstable so borrow your mate's stem as an experiment before you buy.

Rockshox Rebas

ddoogie

I've found Maxxis High Rollers give very good grip in most conditions. Get the 2.1" versions. Any tyre with some supported side lugs should improve cornering though. Panaracer Fire XCs are also a popular choice.

The stem should give you a compromise between cockpit length, stability at speed and turning sharpness. A shorter stem will make the bike feel a bit more nimble. You don't want to go too short as you will be hampering your space a bit and this can affect your breathing. For trail riding, anything between 70-100mm is normally good.

Rockshox Rebas/Recons are the benchmark in XC forks. You can pick them up for very reasonable prices.

supersonic

You'll get lots of conflicting reviews on tyres - however many like Panaracrer Trailrakers for muddy conditions. Good allrounders are conti explorers and Panaracer Cinder.

Shorter stems usually mean faster steering resonses - it alsl places your weight in a different position and of course alters reach. Good to experiment here. Average is about 90mm.

I'd buy a new fork rather than 2nd hand, as you'll get a full warranty and no need to spend x amount servicing. Good budget options are the Marzocchi MX Pro and RockShox Tora