Heavy Rider 6'1" 210 pounds



guppie

New Member
Aug 10, 2004
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I'm not fat by any means (10% body fat) but at 210 I am above average I think. I'm concerned about my MTB. I have an 04 Rockhopper Comp with Trutativ FiveD crank, Mavic 117 rims and Manitou Axel Elite.

I'm all ready upgrading the crank to Trutativ FireX.

As for the others, will they be fine at my weight? I'm thinking about upgrading the rims to Mavic 717's, would that be better?

The fork is all ready mushy even if I was 150 pounds but I'm waiting for a nice Fox 100 Vanilla to show up on ebay.

Is my thinking correct or not?
 
guppie said:
I'm not fat by any means (10% body fat) but at 210 I am above average I think. I'm concerned about my MTB. I have an 04 Rockhopper Comp with Trutativ FiveD crank, Mavic 117 rims and Manitou Axel Elite.

I'm all ready upgrading the crank to Trutativ FireX.

As for the others, will they be fine at my weight? I'm thinking about upgrading the rims to Mavic 717's, would that be better?

The fork is all ready mushy even if I was 150 pounds but I'm waiting for a nice Fox 100 Vanilla to show up on ebay.

Is my thinking correct or not?
Until you get a new fork, you can put an extra firm spring in the Axel for ~20 bucks. The installation is very easy.

Matt
 
im in a similar situation, im 6 2 220, i have a rockhopper base model with the manitou six fork and truativ 5-d.. the fork is total ****, and the crank fells like its flexing..

i was looking at the race face evolve xc crank set and a race face signature ti ISIS bottom bracket.

and up front swapping out the fork for either a fox terralogic or float 100mm
..


im pretty sure i cant go wrong with either fox fork, but im not sure about the crank set up, any suggestions?

i ride a wide veriety of terrain from street to single track/trail, loose gravel, mud, smooth packed dirt.. basically whatever i can find that keeps me entertained..
 
nismo driver said:
i was looking at the race face evolve xc crank set and a race face signature ti ISIS bottom bracket.
You might want to move up to RaceFace Turbine LP crankset. It's a little more costly, but much better crankset in my opinion. Also it offers lifetime warranty on the crank.
 
guppie said:
The fork is all ready mushy even if I was 150 pounds but I'm waiting for a nice Fox 100 Vanilla to show up on ebay.

MUSHY... the perfect word for the Manitou Axel Elite forks. I'm a fair bit heavier than you and have just bought the same bike. I don't want to spend too much extra dosh 'cos I think the bike is pretty good at least it is for my needs. I've ordered a Firm Coil kit (couldn't find Extra Firm) to get rid of the "mush".
 
guppie said:
I'm not fat by any means (10% body fat) but at 210 I am above average I think. I'm concerned about my MTB. I have an 04 Rockhopper Comp with Trutativ FiveD crank, Mavic 117 rims and Manitou Axel Elite.

I'm all ready upgrading the crank to Trutativ FireX.

As for the others, will they be fine at my weight? I'm thinking about upgrading the rims to Mavic 717's, would that be better?

The fork is all ready mushy even if I was 150 pounds but I'm waiting for a nice Fox 100 Vanilla to show up on ebay.

Is my thinking correct or not?

The Mavic rims are junk, but don't tell anyone since they are the most popular rim on mtb bikes. I myself am 6'3" @ 250 and know a thing or two about killing parts/bikes. Sun/Ringle' rims have done nothing except treat me right since switching to them. I run the Singlewide and Rhyno-lite rims (used to have the Rhyno-xl) and have *never* had a single issue with a wheel caused by them. I've folded one Singlewide and three (I think) Rhyno wheels, but each of those instances were due to my error not the quality of the rim. The Rhynos are very affordable at $39 (US) and the Singlewides are a bit pricey ($100).

The fork on that bike is not suitable for predictable riding with a clydesdale on it. The spring fix will help (in the short term) with the extra sag and mushy feel, but will do nothing to address the imprecise steering and flex from it. You can not go wrong with the Fox Forks. I am a Marzocchi fan, but the two rides I've had on Fox's were very nice!

The Truvativ crank is fine. I've yet to find a set of cranks I've fallen in love with. I've tried Truvativ, Shimano XT (old and "new"), and Race Face. I've broken the Truvativ and hate paying the price for the Race Face, but...
I have "new" XT on my current "all around" bike and so far they have been OK. The new Saint looks swank, but the weight (should a clydesdale be worrying about things so trivial, I think not) and price right now...

Good luck bro. Keep the rubber side down.

K.
 
ireman_1 said:
The Mavic rims are junk, but don't tell anyone since they are the most popular rim on mtb bikes. I myself am 6'3" @ 250 and know a thing or two about killing parts/bikes. Sun/Ringle' rims have done nothing except treat me right since switching to them. I run the Singlewide and Rhyno-lite rims (used to have the Rhyno-xl) and have *never* had a single issue with a wheel caused by them. I've folded one Singlewide and three (I think) Rhyno wheels, but each of those instances were due to my error not the quality of the rim. The Rhynos are very affordable at $39 (US) and the Singlewides are a bit pricey ($100).

The fork on that bike is not suitable for predictable riding with a clydesdale on it. The spring fix will help (in the short term) with the extra sag and mushy feel, but will do nothing to address the imprecise steering and flex from it. You can not go wrong with the Fox Forks. I am a Marzocchi fan, but the two rides I've had on Fox's were very nice!

The Truvativ crank is fine. I've yet to find a set of cranks I've fallen in love with. I've tried Truvativ, Shimano XT (old and "new"), and Race Face. I've broken the Truvativ and hate paying the price for the Race Face, but...
I have "new" XT on my current "all around" bike and so far they have been OK. The new Saint looks swank, but the weight (should a clydesdale be worrying about things so trivial, I think not) and price right now...

Good luck bro. Keep the rubber side down.

K.
I agree about flex on a fork.. I'm 6'2" and ~260 in ridingtrim. Many singlecrown forks are too flexy for heavy riders. I haven't ridden a fox or marzocchi but I've played a lot on manitous and rockshox.

I really prefer a Dual crown fork. I've test ridden a few bikes and hate the flex in the front end.

I run an old x-vert r and love it. My spare bike that I built for my dad has a Manitou FS-Ti stroker 80mm. I hadn't riden the for in a couple years until last monday. It was brutal. I never realized how much flex there is in a single crown fork unilt I rode the two back to back.

Granted the newer forks are stifffer at both the crown and leg assy but I just can't believe that that a SC will ever be stronger than the same fork in a DC config. .

As for wheels I run Crosslands and love 'em.

Later,
Mark
 
sungchang said:
You might want to move up to RaceFace Turbine LP crankset. It's a little more costly, but much better crankset in my opinion. Also it offers lifetime warranty on the crank.
thanks for the suggestion, its is more but who cares, its still light and strong and available in a square taper which would give me more choices for bottom brackets and possibly less expensive options for bb's, is there much differance between riding a 170mm and 175 mm crank arm length? im not sure what lenght i have now..
 
guppie said:
What fork do you recommend for a clydes?
I've owned "old" ('97) Z2 forks and they were OK for us, but the newer forks are awesome. I have an '03 Z1 FR (with QR 20) and it is so stable on 90% of the riding I do. It's not a full on DH fork, of course, but it can/has handle "everything" even with my heft on board. Before that I had a 2001 Z3 (with QR 20) and it was fine as well (not near the external adjustment, but it was stiff and reliable). I would advise any clyde to get something with a 20 mm hub. That used to leave us with DH forks or *insanely* expensive "converted" (uppers from an XC for and legs from a DH) forks that were hard to find/afford (Manitou made one and Marzocchis could be done as well). Now we have several options and for the most part they are all OK. The only 20 mm FR/Heavy-duty XC forks I would steer someone away from are the Rock Shock offering (Tulio?) and the lefty fork by C'dale.

Being a Marzocchi guy I would say get a Z1 QR 20 (130mm travel) or the new Z 150 QR 20 (150mm). They are sturdy and reliable. If you want another option I was very impressed with the Manitou Sherman forks I rode last year. Their 20mm front end is not of the QR variety, but that's not a big deal for me really. You can get them in "regular" steerer or the newer 1.5. I rode a Yeti with the 1.5 over some harsh stuff and it was stiff and sturdy. The reality is: regardless of the fork you buy as a clyde you will have to upgrade to stiffer springs. Get the stiffest springs you can find. If you are lucky you may even be able to find a shop (probably a 4X4/suspension shop) that can make you some custom springs. I would also suggest changing the oil viscosity to something thicker (stock is often 7wt). I "custom" blend a 9wt or 11wt (depending on things) oil from Bel-Ray fork oil you can buy at motorcycle shops. It's easy to do and will not only save you money (DIY) but will allow you to tune your fork to you and your riding making your experience (ideally) better.

Keep the rubber side down.

K.
 
nismo driver said:
thanks for the suggestion, its is more but who cares, its still light and strong and available in a square taper which would give me more choices for bottom brackets and possibly less expensive options for bb's, is there much differance between riding a 170mm and 175 mm crank arm length? im not sure what lenght i have now..
Lose the sqare taper BB. The newer splined ISIS brackets provide long creak free lives. I went through several sq taper types then I bought Truvative Hussfelts and the DH BB ($99 on ebay lately... I paid way more:( ). They have yet to make a sound.

Later,
MK
 
Glad i bought an 05 Rockhopper. every problem that you guys have said has been fixed. I'm 6'1", 215. My rockhopper has a Manitou Axle Comp that i would describe as anything BUT mushy. I actually had to crank it down because it was too firm. As for the cranks, the FiveD cranks were decent, i've since replaced them with M-760 Shimano XT Holotech cranks though. The bike also came with Alexrims DH20 rims, even at my massiveness i've jumped this bike off as much a 4 foot drops and the rims are perfect, don't know how much more abuse i would need them to stand up to. Only thing i had a problem with was all the damn Alivio equipment, but $500 later and i'm up to snuff with all my XT gear.

happy trails, thanks and gig em