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Struggling with the handling,steering feels light and unpredictable, is that because of the 51mm offset or is it the head angle and normal for this bike , cheers
I’ve never ridden one but the geometry looks fairly middle of the road. Offset listed as 42 rather than 51 from what I can see.
What were you riding before it?
Mine seems OK TBH, that's with a 51mm Pike, but I have just bought a 42mm Fox 34 for it, so lets see if that makes a difference (I doubt it will TBH)
I find myself having to ride longer bikes more 'over the front', which is very different for me and still a bit alien
I love mine. I’m 6ft1 and ride a large. Feels very nimble and playful compared to my large Transition Spire which feels like a barge in comparison. Sure, it’s less stable in very rough fast sections but that’s not really what it’s made for! (I have the RS model)
I have the last design of Stage 5 so not a million miles off. What stem are you using? I tried a 35mm on mine and it ruined the handling so went back to 50mm and it's ace. My forks are 'wrong' at 51mm offset but can't say I can feel a difference compared to 42mm.
Is it your first time on a long and slack bike? If so, you need to get over the front and weight the bars more than with other bikes.
Thanks for replies , just changed stem to a 50mm from 35mm and moved bar position , feeling better . Still curious if a 42mm offset would feel different , i,m running a 51mm pike , Commencal,s new short travel bikes are all equipped with 51mm offset.
It's not likely to be the fork offset that was creating the feeling you didn't like.
My experience is that longer offset forks just feel a bit more floppy in certain corners, and a little more twitchy at speed. But it's not a huge difference.
I have a Stage 4 with modifications so the geometry is close to the Stage Evo, and I went from 51mm to 44mm offset. Still felt pretty much the same.
as above you need to weight the front more than a more traditional geometry based bike- once you get that dialled its a
really stable ride
I have a stage evo with CC Helm 44mm offset. It’s perfect; stable, predictable - couldn’t be better.
I think the effect of offset is actually a little overstated, with both fork & rear shock setup being bigger factors with how stable a bike feels (in my opinion, of course). I’m a bit of a Princess when it comes to suspension setup, and MUST have the front and rear feeling matched; stable around the sag point but reacting very quickly to the trail.
That said, one of the reasons I like my Stage Evo so much is that it is very quick to react to rider input; for example, a quick shoulder flash can send the bike off its line - if I use it for commuting I have to actually concentrate when I look over my shoulder otherwise I’ll end up under a car..! When on the trail I can pretty much steer with my hips and body weight shifts, much more so than any other bike I’ve used.
What I'm getting at is if you have a fork with a 51mm offset, which is claimed to make steering quicker, and make you feel like you’re flipping into corners (all stuff I’ve read on t’ internet), then perhaps this is exaggerated on a frame like the Stage Evo??