Guerrilla Gravity, Denver CO

Thanks for the correction, Brett. Since I’ve sized you up in person I was scratching my head over that, but forgot about it. :)

FWIW I’m on a 350# spring at ~175 rtr, and Plush feels good for everything. I have a tendency to run tires harder than they need to be on terrain that’s not DH (road habits die hard), which might affect how Crush worked for me.

In coming weeks I’m going to be trying the air shock that came with my frame, which is likely to better enable use of Crush mode. Wondering if Crush could be made a worthy endurance setup for me. Right now Plush works wonders simply because it insulates from the trail feedback that beats me down after 6-8 hours. Not looking to change up my general coil shock trail setup, though. Maybe a fork mod to get closer to the plushness of the rear.

Interested to hear how it shakes down, Dio.


Interested also to hear what you guys have going on fork-wise. Good, bad, ugly... I’m still on the 140 Pike RC. I’ve suspected this fork is holding the bike back from its potential. No immediate solution in mind, but that Luftencappen thingie looks interesting. Coil conversion? Coil fork?
 
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DangerDirtyD said:
How do you Smash? @mike @Sassyquatch @littlewave @knucklebuster: help me count the ways. To plush or to crush? That is the question...
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Since mine is a Megatrail, the shock position change is a little different from you Smash/Pistol guys. Mostly changes just the geometry, not so much the leverage ratio like the Smash. Trail mode is 150mm travel, 66 ish head angle, 13.4 BB. Gravity mode is 165mm travel, 65 ish HA and 13.0 BB. The seat tube angle changes also, so usually I do longer and steeper climbs in the Trail mode. I don't notice much change in the leverage ratio. Pedaling is good in either but steering wanders more at low speed in gravity mode.

Lately I've been running trail mode for some tight but still techy downhills, sharpens up the steering some. I did this on Joplin, which was probably a mistake, could have used the extra degree of HA and travel to help save me from myself.
 
mike said:
Thanks for the correction, Brett. Since I’ve sized you up in person I was scratching my head over that, but forgot about it. :)

FWIW I’m on a 350# spring at ~175 rtr, and Plush feels good for everything. I have a tendency to run tires harder than they need to be on terrain that’s not DH (road habits die hard), which might affect how Crush worked for me.

In coming weeks I’m going to be trying the air shock that came with my frame, which is likely to better enable use of Crush mode. Wondering if Crush could be made a worthy endurance setup for me. Right now Plush works wonders simply because it insulates from the trail feedback that beats me down after 6-8 hours. Not looking to change up my general coil shock trail setup, though. Maybe a fork mod to get closer to the plushness of the rear.

Interested to hear how it shakes down, Dio.


Interested also to hear what you guys have going on fork-wise. Good, bad, ugly... I’m still on the 140 Pike RC. I’ve suspected this fork is holding the bike back from its potential. No immediate solution in mind, but that Luftencappen thingie looks interesting. Coil conversion? Coil fork?
Click to expand...
The 150 Lyrik RC feels good for me. I wouldn’t mind a 160, but that might raise the front end too much for my liking. With a 150F/140R, the bike climbs predictably with minimal wander.

When in doubt, add travel and let the nay-sayers say “nay!”

I notice with the Horst link (looks like Specialized FSR) on the Smash that locking out the rear shock puts downward pressure on the fork (by prohibiting sag in the rear) and makes the bike feel like I’m pedaling into the ground. In other words, it drags. This also is the case with my Trek Slash and Giant AC2 (both variations of the Horst link) but not with the single-pivot Rumblefish. I wonder if a 160 fork would attenuate this on the Smash somewhat. Do ya’ll get the same feeling on your GGs?
 
DangerDirtyD said:
The 150 Lyrik RC feels good for me. I wouldn’t mind a 160, but that might raise the front end too much for my liking. With a 150F/140R, the bike climbs predictably with minimal wander.

When in doubt, add travel and let the nay-sayers say “nay!”

I notice with the Horst link (looks like Specialized FSR) on the Smash that locking out the rear shock puts downward pressure on the fork (by prohibiting sag in the rear) and makes the bike feel like I’m pedaling into the ground. In other words, it drags. This also is the case with my Trek Slash and Giant AC2 (both variations of the Horst link) but not with the single-pivot Rumblefish. I wonder if a 160 fork would attenuate this on the Smash somewhat. Do ya’ll get the same feeling on your GGs?
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Can’t say since I’ve never locked out the rear, but it makes at least common sense that that phenomenon would be reduced by more stack height to start with. Not a bad way to go, as numerous riders seem to like 160 in front on the alum Smashes. Being not a featherweight, could be a good move for you, D. I certainly don’t think it would be a bad move.
 
Metal Smash news...

In anticipation of the Tahoe Rim event (Rose to Toads, you prolly never heard me mention it :rolleyes:) next weekend, I swapped out tires for lighter/faster and coil shock for air, getting my bike under 30 lbs including bottle cage and pump clip. (Extra-medium size.)

Though GG owners generally don't put a premium on weight, (myself included), I think it's noteworthy that this bike can be set up light (relative to similar bikes of any frame material) when it needs to be. Performance sacrifices, of course – race-day setups have them.

After two year years of riding metal Smashes, I'm still pushing what this bike can do, and the bike is rising to all occasions.

Bold prediction: GG will again produce alloy frames at some point. Probably updated ones to match current geos, and not surprised to see the flip-headset incorporated. CF stays will be an upgrade option for all front tri's later. *unplugs crystal ball*
 
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More metal bike fan news...

It's official: Despite more than token resistance, the wheze will become the newest GG rider on (near?) IMTBTrails. '17 Trail Pistol, getting new pivot bearings this week at GG. Parts are ready to wrench up. More than likely it'll ultimately be set up as a "Pistola," with a 55 mm shock stroke giving it 130 mm travel. Aside from that, we'll noodle with fork travel and figure out where she belongs in the 130-150 travel range.

We never consider color, but this one is black with gold decals. Elegant murder – works for us. :geek:
 
mike said:
More metal bike fan news...

It's official: Despite more than token resistance, the wheze will become the newest GG rider on (near?) IMTBTrails. '17 Trail Pistol, getting new pivot bearings this week at GG. Parts are ready to wrench up. More than likely it'll ultimately be set up as a "Pistola," with a 55 mm shock stroke giving it 130 mm travel. Aside from that, we'll noodle with fork travel and figure out where she belongs in the 130-150 travel range.

We never consider color, but this one is black with gold decals. Elegant murder – works for us. :geek:
Click to expand...

Congrats to the Wheze!
I can't figure or why she would get a GG... maybe she knows someone that knows...;)
 
ECE3F695-B6F8-4E01-B533-131F4AE3422D.jpeg


Hmm, what have we here? Hint: Not a new frame. :sneaky:
 
GGs.jpg


GGs2.jpg



The weez could not wait for the dropper post. I mean, this rigid post will not drop one mm below her full leg extension. She cleaned all of black Lloyds Loop anyway. Raved about the climbing ability compared to her Bronson. Loves the geo, loved the fit and everything else as much as a prelim test like this could allow. We're both GGiddy.
 
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