do short travel (4 inch) all mountain bikes exist?

saintadolf

i was just wondering because i really do hate riding bikes with more than 5 inchs of travel (they just feel to wallowey if thats a word)

clarkson

you could always increase the spring rate/compression damping.

in answer to your question, no, i dont think they do

dhxcme

Orange did the sub 3 which you can get off ebay and they are all mountianish. Like clarkson say though, you can always change the shock characteristics but stiffening and slowing them.

Anonymous

Try a hardtail? :roll:

grantway

Get an AM bike with adjustable travel and use the high end of the travel
only for its purpose if thats the size of fork you need.

Food for thought only three year back 140mm travel was a down hill fork.

I agree with the above about fork changes, no idea how much this will cost.

Anonymous

grantway, 3 years ago a 140mm fork was a DH fork? you're kidding, right? 2005?

Thewaylander

there are bikes like the kona Kikapu, with solid frames you could make all mountain very easily i think

cunning-stunt

Doesn't the travel pretty much characterise an 'AM' bike these days?

Hardcore hardtails may be the exception I suppose,but everything with 100mm seems to be branded 'XC' or (BMX wannabee) DJ.
I remember when 100mm was cutting edge DH territory :oops:

I suppose the best option is to buy a rig that has travel reduction on the shock and fork if you want the frame/build but not the travel?

Does that even make sense?

supersonic

My Gt Idrive XC4 (ok labelled XC ;-)), but have a 130 fork, pretty durable.

schmako

I thrash my Club Roost like an AM bike, its 4" of travel.

supersonic

TBH, I think a lot of people are getting 5 and 6 inch travel bikes and simply don't need them. But bigger is best and all that.

ride_whenever

Couldn't you get a freeride/4x style frame in a biggish size, like a transition double or that yeti one...

Marjory Stewart BAxtor

or just change the shock?? (I'm a hard tail fan so don't kjnow if that's a camp idea)

supersonic

It buggerz ze geometry up

rob cole

the problem is finding a tough (for all mountain) 4" travel suspension frame that is also stretched out enough for proper all day riding

there are numerous tough 4" travel 4X race and 4" slopestyle / dirt jump suspension frames starting to appear, but all of these are too short in the top tube for climbing / all day riding and too sketchy (steep angles) to use as all mountain bikes....

Sickbed

Even bike companies can't decide what 'All Mountain' means. Some say 36lb 6inchers, some say 30lb 5inchers, and then then of course there's 'All Mountain Light'. The fact that 'All Mountain Hardtails' is a concept too would suggest that it can mean whatever you want it to mean. Personally, I love my 'All Mountain Tricycle', although I'm thinking of inventing a new 'Most Mountain' category.

saintadolf

i did think about a kona howler but im 6 foot 4 so i dont think that it would be than practical for longer trips

Anonymous

It's true that bike companies bandy these terms around willy nilly.
But for what it's worth, I see an all-mountain bike as, basically, a normal mountain bike.

it's not light to the point of fragility, it's also not over-built such that it weighs a ton. It has plenty of gear range, for going up and down hills. Has neutral geometry that will be fine for all terrain types.
Basically, an all-round machine that is not designed to excel specifically in any one particular field at the expense of other types of riding.

To be honest, most bikes fit this category, irrespective of amount of travel.

but if one company starts calling their bike "all-mountain", then the others will follow suit, because if they don't, it will appear as though their machine is somehow less capable.

saintadolf

maybe i should have asked does anyone make a fairly haevy duty short travel trail bike not one that designed for cross country racing as well as most 4 inch bikes seem to be now days

Anonymous

saintadolf wrote:

maybe i should have asked does anyone make a fairly haevy duty short travel trail bike not one that designed for cross country racing as well as most 4 inch bikes seem to be now days

You could do worse than one of the Marin quad XC bikes. they're sold as XC bikes, but they'll handle most things perfectly. They do have 4.7" of travel though, but they're notorious for being good climbers.
(I'm drooling over the new wolf ridge in the marin catalogue again, which is what made me think of them!)

grantway

My All Mountain bike is the Orange 5 AM this spec is slightly different to the
Orange 5 Pro, which is a good 5 inch bike as well as the Commencal 5

This is my spec difference to the 5 pro.

Fox Talas 36 r with 100-130-160mm travel

Hope mono 4 brakes

Race Face double crank

The whole bike weighs in at 29lbs.

To me All Mountain is a five inch bike as the frames lighter with adjustable fork
and better brakes.

Chaka Ping

I was going to suggest a 4x bike like the Santa Cruz Blur 4x, which has had some positive reviews as a trail bike - but in the light of the Rob Cole's post, perhaps it wouldn't be such a good idea.

I suppose the six million dollar question is "what do you mean by all mountain?" though. Many 4in bikes are relatively sturdy.

Actually, I've just thought of the Cotic Hemlock - that has a choice of long or short travel rockers at the rear - maybe that'd be a good option with an adjustable fork?

rob cole

its a tricky one for sure but

the best option for a rider is to try out something like the SC Blur 4X or Mythic Rampant (4x) and see how they fit

if you find you have enough room in the top tube for breathing on climbs (and being able to shift weight forward for steeps) and the angles feel good, there is nothing to stop you using such a bike for all round (all mountain) riding

personally i have found that bikes like the Blur 4X, Rampant and Transition Double feel like big bmx's rather than proper sized MTBs but that could just be the way they fit me

try them out, and see how they fit?

god1406

I was going to suggest a Santa Cruz Blur LT, also, the Kona King has 4", but it's more XC than AM.

i feel like such a tool using marketing terms like 'All Mountain'

Surf-Matt

Such silly bike terms.

I would class all my bikes as:

"Most hills, all roads and almost all tracks except really steep muddy, rooty climbs, scary drops and big jumps"

Bit of a mouthful though.

grantway

Really five inches are more than enough and a good strong frame like a
5 pro will be great and will soak up more than enough for you to worry about.

Commencal 5 ,s some guys on here have different versions of this
but i have no knowledge on them so i can only put the 5 forward.

I think this thread can go on for a number of months if not longer
has its not really clear as you can tell from above.

Don't even know if there as been a bike test done by any magazines in this
category.

Be interesting on what terrain they would try them on and how they
perform against a Trail bike?

sid_day

The Blur 4X has very slack angles. the large has a 23.5 inch TT which is comfortable for riders up to 5'11"
(although Dickon from Jungle rides one as his personal bike and he's over 6')

Bike Radar review:

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... ur-4x-9132

I have a Blur 4X frame for sale if someone wants to try the idea out without paying full wack for a frame.

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... 1#14798401

Father Faff

I've got a Commencal Meta 5 which can handle pretty tough terrain. Isn't the Commencal Meta 4 pretty similar but with shorter travel?

Splasher

It's true that the suspension travel tends to characterise a bike and make it fit one of the marketing pigeon holes.

If I wanted a 4" susser for general antics, I'd put an Argyle fork on a Blur 4X.

icedmind

it wont really feel wallow of you have a long travel with compression
the newer float 120 rlc have high and low spd compression which on the wholt trail i remein it lock out and its works perfect as a terrlogic
what about go for the terrlogic or rlc forks and rearshox that have good compression or spike valve

passout

The Giant Trance is a tough frame and has 4.2 inches of rear travel. Sizing is small - I'm usually a small on most bikes but a medium on Giants. The Trance can cope with most things but it is only designed for 100m fork - would a 2.35 front tyre compensate?? Anyway, it won't break.