[Closed] Dilemma...Kinesis FF29 or Sync? or other?

Love my FF29. Very little I won't have a go at on it. Takes it all in its' stride. My mate has a similar specced Solaris and we swapped for half a ride around Brechfa and I didn't think there was a whole lot of difference. That is the sum of my 29 HT experience 🙂

Frame is extreme value for money at £375

Kinesis has offered me a demo on sync which will be nice.

Kinesis direct? I wouldn't mind a demo on a FF29.

I've got a Sync and can't fault it as a one bike fits all MTB. Having said that, the FF29 sounds like it might fit the bill better for you as its a bit racier. No idea which is quicker. The Sync doesn't hang about.

Racier = FF29. The Sync's a little more trail, tho not much. Neither are slouches.

The Kinesis Sync is definitely not just a flash frame, what you can't see from the pics is the quality frame build and shaping of the tubes, and the ultra stiff back end 142 x 12 DT Swiss Thru-axle. I said on here many times that for me it's a very versatile and comfortable bike, from all day long distance or a blast in the woods. It's loving the winter slop too.

Give it a try, what have you got to lose apart from £££ 🙂

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Thanks chaps.
I will demo the sync just for my own thoughts.
The ff29 is a very good price, and so far maybe better reviews.
I have googled so many times titanium mtb frames and in my opinion the sync is best looking.
The sync is beautifully put together.
I would personnally love the sync.
Money could be an issue by the time I've bought frame and fork. Would need to sell anthem and fork on.
Arrrrrrrrrrrg

Just to throw my spanner in the works I'd demo a Fireline if I were in your position.
Yeah it's a little slacker but still climbs steep short sharp climbs in the Peaks well and descends better than my previous Solaris imho.
It's very light but stiff at b/b, headtube etc where it's needed.
I believe the new batch have straight head tubes?
And £ wise it's between a FF29 and Sync.

Thanks danti

I had the pleasure of riding an FF29 on a long ride at the weekend, and it is a really nice frame. Really good climber, you can feel it surging uphill with pedal inputs. Solid handler on the downs too with a stiff front end. Very light too, not a huge difference to a ti frame and it makes longer rides feel easier. It's a nicely made frame too, so value is excellent.

I also went for a short ride on a Parkwood the next day, and that felt very good also. Not as light, but a great handling frame. A Fireline of the same geometry would be a great choice, as danti says.

OP if you're open to other options, especially a bit slacker and more trail geo, there are many, look up the various 29er HT threads in the history.

But if you've got your heart set on an FF29 or Sync and you know you want a racy bike, either would be a good choice IMO, I'd think the FF29 is closer to your 'spec'.

I've just bought a Solaris, but it was a fairly close run thing between the FF29 and the Solaris

I did quite a bit of research on the FF29 but wasn't able to demo one, and one of my LBSs had a Solaris I could. That was one of the main clinchers

The FF29 full build was on sale a little while ag

If you wanted to look for some owners experiences on here Roverpig has had an FF29 and now has a Solaris. Also Mboy runs a Sync.

FWIW I could wax lyrical about the Solaris all day too but then I do have one 😀 and my previous 29er HT was the more xc Spesh Carve.

You're all wrong and the OP should buy what I have.

But I'm not saying what it is.

Are you set on a 120mm fork? If not and 100mm would be ok then a great option (if you can get past the looks that seem either love or hate) would be a Lurcher - they're still silly cheap too... (Actually, people do seem to have been riding them with 120mm forks too)

My thread on them: http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/pics-of-your-xl21-lurchers-please

http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/FROOLUR29/on-one-lurcher-carbon-hardtail-29er-frame

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mattjg - Member
You're all wrong and the OP should buy what I have.
But I'm not saying what it is.

Well that's just not cricket!

You know the STW rules of recommending what you ride. The more unsuitable for an OP request the better!

For eg:

Question: recommend me a DH bike.

STW reply: what you really need is a Fatbike/BMX/XC HT/Fixie (delete as appropriate) like I ride.

Now behave Matt 😉

You're having a go at me and ignoring the bloke up there who's put up a pic of a Lurcher with a dropper post on!

Something short travel but a bit slacker - Stanton Sherpa... Coming soon in TI.

I think that might be my N+1 for next year.

THe Charge Cooker is the cheaper/better option

(of course I'm biased, I own one)

mattjg - Member
You're having a go at me and ignoring the bloke up there who's put up a pic of a Lurcher with a dropper post on!

Well that wasn't lost on me but since the OP stated 'or other' I felt it was a fair contribution... 😉

😆 I'm just playing Matt.

Lurcher / dropper post / bar ends 😯

I thought I was bad fussing over my saddle angle 😉

I'll stop now and behave myself!

Edit: @nemesis - no offence btw I'm just messing about

None taken 😉

Bar ends I've always used though actually I'm taking them off as I've found that I hardly use them on that bike. Dropper - well that's my attempt to learn to be less of an XC jeyboy...

Lurcher / dropper post / bar ends

That's like some kind of retro sci-fi steampunk horror flick, with added dinosaurs too.

But as for the Lurcher itself (sans dropper of course), a good call for the OP's requirement IMO.

retro sci-fi steampunk horror flick, with added dinosaurs too.

I might get that as a sticker for the top tube 🙂

my attempt to learn to be less of an XC jeyboy...

Get a trail bike. And keep the Lurcher for your XC too. One of my buddys has one, it looks good to me.

Nah, I'm not that keen to do it 🙂

Besides, IMO the Lurcher is a trail bike.

(and we're derailing the OP's thread...)

(and we're derailing the OP's thread...)

Yes I was trying to avoid that by not saying "get a trail bike, mine is a ...".

Look where it got us.

I have now bought a second hand FF29 but still going to demo sync.
I could run the FF29 rigid singlespeed through winter?
We will see.

I was going to keep out of this as I haven't ridden a Sync, but since Normal Man has outed me 🙂 and the thread has gone off topic anyway, I might a well stick my tuppence worth* into the ring.

I did indeed have an FF29, which got replaced by a Solaris. The FF29 frame is still in the shed in fact (although Rosss has first dibs on that). I'd disagree with welshfarmer about the lack of difference between the two. It's all subjective of course but having swapped the same kit between the two I thought the difference was quite noticeable; the FF29 being a fair bit faster and more racy, so probably better suited to the OP. It is lighter, stiffer and more willing to change direction. It climbs faster and is faster overall, but not as "planted" (if that's the right term) on the steep descents. I thought it worked well with 680mm bars, a 100mm stem and (gasp) bar ends. It didn't work so well when I fitted 720mm riser bars, a 60mm stem and a dropper, which is when I switched to the Solaris.

*actual value may be lower than advertized

I could run the FF29 rigid singlespeed through winter?

Yup, I have a buddy who runs an FF29 SS rigid and a Sync 140mm geared.

I have now bought a second hand FF29

Here's a rider who makes a decision rather than talking for days.

Won't last long around here.

Interesting thread.
Considering a Sync as a do it all with maybe a set of rigids for winter.
Also have a Anthem 29 and an alloy XTC.
Thinking of the same thing trail riding,summer racing and night rides.
Will watch this thread with interest.
Thanx,
Max

Owned both a Sync and FF29 om the past and whilst the Sync being stunning in the flesh, the FF29 was my favourite. They are surprisingly similar handling frames with a 100mm fork despite the difference in geometry. The Sync is also pretty harsh for a Ti frame, that beefy rear triangle felt stiffer than the FF29 when running the same tyres and wheels. I bought my Sync as an xc racer that was capable of some abuse, a replacement for a Lynskey Ridgeline that i loved but regretted selling; it was good but not a patch on the Lynskey.

Hi bigfugsbaws
I have a 100mm fox fork that could go on my build, was all ok running 100mm?
Ff29 good for racing?

Yeah 100 mm fine. Whilst FF29 is fast, you can get a carbon Dirty Harry frame from Planet x for a fraction of the price of the Kinesis. Thats where my money would go if i wete building an xc racer.

The dirty harry is £500, FF29 available for £375...

Pretty sure he was referring to the Sync

I had a FF29 and also an Anthem 29'er too, the FF is a hoot to ride ok everything I took it over. It was built up with 10m Rebas, XT 2x10, crests n' all that, it was very light and very fast.

The Anthem was also as mentioned by the op is a very stable and fast machine.

Thanks chaps.
I had a Dirty Harry 29er built up light.
I flared the head tube somehow then went to the anthem x.
I will build up the ff29 light as I can.

Thread hijack but Mattjg you say you have a mate running a sync 140mm? I'd be very interested to hear how he gets on with that set up as it's designed to be run 120 max. I have a sync with 120mm sids which I'd like to sell and if possible run with more travel...

If you can get down to Worcester, you're more than welcome to take my medium Sync out on a demo.

Be warned though, you'll buy one!

OK, so I've had both, I bought the FF29 and built it, but it was only ever keeping shed space till the Sync came out. As soon as it was available I got one and sold the FF.

I love titanium bikes and how they ride, I've got three!

I was lucky enough to borrow the Sync prototype and use it in a 24 hour race so I had a pretty good idea how it rode. The Sync is a truly awesome bit of kit and will go as fast as you want it too, over pretty much anything if you are that way inclined. I can't recommend it highly enough.

It does ride differently to the FF, it is slightly slacker and more stable, but more importantly for me with my dodgy back, it's a whole lot more comfortable.

@myti someone I know is running a pike at 140 on a sync and says it is awesome, I think I will go that way too as soon as I can afford it, currently running a Manitou Tower at 120mm and it is a noodly piece of crap! I really should have kept the X fusion I had before as it was so much better!

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[url= https://flic.kr/p/eFi6Rq ]DSC01768[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/52769476@N00/ ]South Downs MTB Skills[/url], on Flickr

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[url= https://flic.kr/p/i8meW5 ]Kinesis Maxlight Sync[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/52769476@N00/ ]South Downs MTB Skills[/url], on Flickr

140 on a Sync? Interesting, might have to give that a try, shorter stem and maybe an angle set headset too.

Thread hijack but Mattjg you say you have a mate running a sync 140mm? I'd be very interested to hear how he gets on with that set up as it's designed to be run 120 max.

I believe it's warrantied to 140mm but don't quote me. He had XFusion somethings and switched to 140mm Pikes, very happy with it. I can't tell you much more as it's not my bike (and when I did try it, when he first bought the frame, I didn't really like it, but that's personal of course).

What I can tell you is I did the same thing on my Canfield Nimble 9, switched from 120mm Rebas to 140mm Pikes. To me it made a big difference to how hard I ride the bike and how much fun it is. I don't think that's really just down to the extra 20mm of travel (15mm after sag, and rarely used), it's more a combo of slacker HA, higher bars, improved damping and a stiffer front so the wheel goes where it's pointed. That all adds up to a worthwhile upgrade - no good reason not to IMO.

We do, mostly, XC/trail riding around Surrey Hills.

What's the head angle on the Sync? On the website it states it as 70.5 but doesn't say what a-c that is based on, despite stating a fork rec of 100 - 130mm.

Getting tempted by a trail bike built up nice and light with gears for some variety. FF29 looks good for the money, Pivot Les looks good at the expensive end and the Stanton Sherpa looks like a hoot but unlikely to be particularly light.

Ok great! Anyone want to buy some hardly used SIDs or swap me some 140mm trail forks!?

140 on a Sync? Interesting, might have to give that a try, shorter stem and maybe an angle set headset too.

Direct fit bearings (no cups) in the headtube, so no chance of fitting an angleset. Not that it really needs one. It's not designed as an ultra slack hoon bike, it's the ultimate XC/Trail bike designed around a 120mm fork.

What's the head angle on the Sync? On the website it states it as 70.5 but doesn't say what a-c that is based on, despite stating a fork rec of 100 - 130mm.

I think (but may be wrong) it was based on a 100mm fork static, or roughly a 120-130mm fork in the sag. It's not XC race bike steep anyway, though it's on the steeper side of general trail bikes (with a 120mm fork at least).

@gotama ping me if you want an intro to my friend with the FF29 & Sync.

Matt - ta. Will work out what I'm doing and drop you a mail if I head down this route.

Direct fit bearings (no cups) in the headtube

Hi
I have now finished my build of FF29.

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[url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/quintet100/15438144153/ ]FF29[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/quintet100/ ]Quintet100[/url], on Flickr

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[url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/quintet100/15870347038/ ]FF29[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/quintet100/ ]Quintet100[/url], on Flickr

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[url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/quintet100/15870519320/ ]FF29[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/quintet100/ ]Quintet100[/url], on Flickr

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[url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/quintet100/15870518510/ ]FF29[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/quintet100/ ]Quintet100[/url], on Flickr

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[url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/quintet100/16057805275/ ]FF29[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/quintet100/ ]Quintet100[/url], on Flickr

^^ good job

Nice. We could have a game of Snap!

PS, a fine collection of bike stands on the patio 🙂

Thanks.

You can never have enough bike stands.

but more importantly for me with my dodgy back, it's a whole lot more comfortable

Rubbish, the Sync has as stiff if not stiffer rear end than the FF29.