[Lelandjt]

I've been wanting a new DH bike next year and was specifically interested in a bike that is made for 27.5 or 29" wheels so I can build it with 27s but have the option of 29s later. Kona, GT, and Scott were on my short list but I went with Scott for the weight savings. I've only seen these bikes built with 29" wheels. With 27s you just put the shock mount in "high"? Do you stick with the 29" fork and raise the front end as much as the legs allow?

 

[jstuhlman]

dude, do whatever. i ran my nomad in the high setting with 26" wheels for a good year and it was bueno.

 

[buckoW]

With 27s you just put the shock mount in "high"?
Do you stick with the 29" fork and raise the front end as much as the legs allow?

Yes to the high hole and not necessary to raise the fork.
Here you can see where I like my fork in 27, high forward hole. Ignore the truck. I’ve been living in Europe for so long that I had forgotten how big NA trucks are.

 

[Nick]

That thing looks bad ass.

 

[Lelandjt]

View attachment 136712

That's a 29" fork, right? That was the biggest thing I was wondering, which fork to get.
It looks like I should use a 29" 203mm travel Fox 40, regardless of wheel size.

 

[6thElement]

That's a 27.5 fork, right? That was the biggest thing I was wondering, which fork to get. A 29" fork would make it easy to try bigger wheels but a 27.5 fork would be lighter. Either could be set to the same axle-to-crown by sliding the legs up and down, right?

Not really, wouldn't the extra height be in the lowers?

 

[englertracing]

Well I can tell you the 58mm fork offset from the 49 is going to push very easily and have kind of a floppy light feel.
The 27.5 variant is 52 and it's already kind of a lot for a 27.5
Formula is 50, Rock shox is 48, (which is more correct)
Hell a 27.5 wheel in 26" forks works great with 45mm offset.

I would advise getting your hands on some 27.5 lowers.

Or better yet ordering one of Aaron blands adjustable triple clamp sets
I think it will do -8mm so you can get down to 50 which is reasonable, actually a mid ground between the 275 40, and the 275 boxxer.

Then if you ever run a 29 you'll be in the middle of the range.

But personally I'd get the 275 lowers and the clamps
That would allow you down to 46, which feels wicked bad ass IMO, but you can still get into the 50s for a 29, just need a crown brace notch

 

[buckoW]

I run the 40 for the lower offset and I can get the bar and bb height I want with either fork.

 

[Lelandjt]

Okay, now that I see how big the offset is on the 49 I want to use the 27.5" 40.
And just to be clear, I can raise the fork up enough to get the A-C close to what the frame was designed around and if I want to try a 29" wheel I can grind a little material out of the arch and it'll fit?

 

[jonKranked]

I’ve been living in Europe for so long that I had forgotten how big NA trucks are.

Brodozers aren't a thing over there?

 

[englertracing]

I'm wicked handy with a grinder, but id never do that. Too easy to put it in the mill and machine it ohh so cleanly...

 

[buckoW]

Okay, now that I see how big the offset is on the 49 I want to use the 27.5" 40.
And just to be clear, I can raise the fork up enough to get the A-C close to what the frame was designed around and if I want to try a 29" wheel I can grind a little material out of the arch and it'll fit?

Yes. The drop crown makes a bigger difference than the lowers for getting your bb and bar height. You can raise the fork way too tall with the drop crown. I can measure some things for you if you want to get specific numbers.

 

[Lelandjt]

It looks like you're using regular flat crowns and still have some leg above the top crown. Is that a medium or large frame? I guess I'm hoping with the flat crowns and large frame I can get the 27.5 fork's A-C close to the 600mm that the bike was designed around, but if not I'll buy drop crowns. It still seems to me like the BB would be lower and the HA steeper if you switch from a 29 to 27.5 front wheel and don't increase A-C to make up for that.

 

[buckoW]

I have a -1* headset in there to get the head angle back to 63* when I run 27.5 wheels. It’s a large.

 

[Udi]

Can you post a picture of front-on clearance with a 29" wheel in the 27.5" 40?
Might be useful to lelandjt, and I'm curious too.

With a 2.35" Magic or whatever the equivalent size is in 29.

BTW @Lelandjt you made the right choice with the Gambler, I think there are plenty of good DH bikes these days, but for the last ~7 years the big advantage to the Scott has been forward compatibility with wheel sizes and class-leading geometry correction in both modes. Not something I even cared for initially but appreciated it since the industry went standard-crazy.

 

[Lelandjt]

Can you post a picture of front-on clearance with a 29" wheel in the 27.5" 40?
Might be useful to lelandjt, and I'm curious too.

With a 2.35" Magic or whatever the equivalent size is in 29.

BTW @Lelandjt you made the right choice with the Gambler, I think there are plenty of good DH bikes these days, but for the last ~7 years the big advantage to the Scott has been forward compatibility with wheel sizes and class-leading geometry correction in both modes. Not something I even cared for initially but appreciated it since the industry went standard-crazy.

Good question about the 29 wheel in a 27 fork. I'm stoked on the Gambler frame and the ability to run either wheel size is icing on the cake. Between Fox's huge offset on their DH forks and concerns over height and HA I'm still not sure which fork to get. My Capra 29 is a slack bike and when I switched from a 51 to 44 offset I really liked the change. Why is Fox making their DH forks with so much more offset than the 36?
I guess my two paths are the 29" 40 with adjustable crowns or the 27.5" 40 and trust bucko that I can get the geo right and hope I don't get the urge to try a 29" wheel (or that it fits). I might even want the adjustable crowns on the 27.5 fork. 52mm offset sounds huge for that wheel size.
Maybe I should be looking at Boxxers.

 

[buckoW]

trust bucko that I can get the geo right

What numbers are you trying to get? Definitely don’t just trust me... Let me know what you are trying to get and I will measure for you. The 600mm a2c you mentioned is possible with flat crowns and a 27.5 40. What bb height are you looking to have?

Have you seen the Mojo Morc crowns? Outsider Bikes crowns? The Ohlins fork is available with 46mm and 50mm crowns.

Here she is with a 29 front wheel and the Ohlins

The low setting is with 29 and the high setting is with 27 wheels

 

[Lelandjt]

The 600mm a2c you mentioned is possible with flat crowns and a 27.5 40.

Thanks, this is really helpful. It looks like I can get the "stock" geometry with either 29 or 27.5 fork so the decision will come down to tire clearance and offset.
I may never put a 29" wheel on the front so maybe I shouldn't worry about clearance and only focus on offset. I've only paid attention to offset on my 29" enduro bike (switched from 51 to 44) but these Fox 40 numbers seem huge on both size forks. I'm gonna do a little research on what people think is a good offset on a 63° bike with each wheel size. I guess you're happy with the 52mm offset and 27.5 wheel?