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Cheap, basic hard tail:
http://www.marinbikes.com/gb/bikes/description/2015-bobcat-trail-7.5
Is the 69deg head angle worth bothering about? It's not going to get raced or be thrown down the black run at a trail centre.
I don't get the obsession with people judging a bike based on one angle. It's not the be all and end all of bike design you know.
Whose it for, a friend starting out? (a recommedation)
Then it'd be just fine, they don't know any different, so it not too steep and it not too slack, a goldilocks angle for a newbie 😉
Thousands of years ago, 71 degree head angles were all we knew, and hardly anyone died. 69 degrees is a good 'chunk' slacker than that, and it's a 27er, which affects things a bit compared to the good old days.
Ok, 69 is maybe a little 'safe', but most of the time that's ok.
Marin have been making bikes forever, I reckon they know what they're doing.
Though I went from a hardtail Kona (68 deg HA) to a full suss Santacruz (71 deg HA) and was constantly being chucked over the bars. It does matter a bit.
I think a cotic soul with 120mm fork has a head angle of about 69 degrees. Don't hear many people complaining about them..
72 degree on my Open HT
Yes, I went from riding a patriot 66 to a heckler... Absolutely hated it, felt skittery, and I started thinking twice about riding some of the stuff I'd ride previously with no probs.
Sold it, bought a 5, much happier, business as usual!
I've had 8 mtbs and ridden dozens of others. I have no idea what the HA on any of them were.
chickenman - MemberÂThough I went from a hardtail Kona (68 deg HA) to a full suss Santacruz (71 deg HA) and was constantly being chucked over the bars. It does matter a bit.
I'll wager that's very little to do with the bike
I'll wager that's very little to do with the bike
And even less the head angle
It is only one e number, the whole bike is the thing to judge by riding it.
If I was spending that money on a hardtail I'd consider [url= http://www.genesisbikes.co.uk/bikes/mountain/trail/core-20 ]this[/url]
That's correct gentlemen: My riding style was fine with the Kona, rubbish for the 5 years I had the Blur but has miraculously improved now I ride a Liteville... 🙄
I swap between 2 bikes, on has about a 68 degree HA, the other a 70.6.
I swap between them and after a couple of rides I'm settled, I don't feel like I'm flying over the bars on the 70.6, I was dropping down some steep stuff on it and did a nice 6ft drop into a berm on the weekend without ejecting so perhaps you need to think a bit more about your style 😉 Which Blur was it? How was the rest of the set up, what was the rebound like, how much sag, what size, was it the right size for you?