Is big travel necessary for UK trails?

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Liam Mercer's picture

Liam Mercer

Deputy Tech Editor here at off.road.cc Liam can also be found photographing bikes as well as riding them. He's not shy of an enduro here or there and he's equally happy in the winter slop as he is ripping up the summer's dust.

1 comments

10 months 3 weeks ago

As someone who still rides 100mm travel, well 85mm rear, and on 26" wheels I can manage the Witches World Champs quite happily, the red Wild Goat/Happy Endings and grin like a nutter on Blue Steel at Fort William.

However there's no way I'd attempt Top Chief or the World Cup DH on it, mind you I'd not try either on a full pro DH bike either.

It all comes down to what your doing.  If like me you love a cracking XC descent or technical singletrack down then sometimes less is more.  If you love ripping down full on DH runs or doing race pace Enduro then yes 120mm, 150mm or more on 27.5s or 29s are definitely the way to go.  There's so many different options to our sport that trying to say "you have to have this or that" doesn't really work.

Mountains, like investments, go up as well as down