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I’m thinking of fitting a Angleset to slacken out my YT Decoy MX but then thought about trying a reach adjust headset instead and just wondered how much difference 5mm would actually make and if I’d notice at all.
AI know people bang on about how important reach is and a little makes a big difference, but just looking for advice from the STW hive mind.
Or do I just not bother, do what I was planning on doing anyway and run it in the high/steep setting with a -2 angleset to offset the difference in HA and not bother about changing the reach?
I’ve checked and the fork on the size large clears the downtube to the existing Acros Knock Block can be ditched if I want to
why not a 5mm longer stem ?
Also, a negative angleset will effectively reduce reach... so what is it exactly you're after?
@Kelvin, I was thinking that, but I seem to remember that when I’ve done it with previous bikes the drop in head tube height from the forks being slacker pretty much cancelled out the change in reach.
@Weeksy, I really like the way the Renthal stem I have feels (it’s either 45 or 50mm) and has been on previous several bikes so I know I like the length.
Like I said, I was thinking of slackening it out originally (the high setting has a 65* head angle compared to 64.5ish and I’ve usually preferred all my bikes to be 63-64* (from short travel trail bikes to DH bikes).
I could keep running the bike in low setting but the Decoy has got a bit of a slack seat angle and I like to fiddle (only I can’t afford to try all the options).
Reach is something that I’ve never really played with once I’ve bought a bike so I was curious.
And I like my stem length as it is
I doubt you will be able to fit any kind of angle or reach headset to your bike - had the same issue with an E-bike of my own which I think has the same headset - its integrated and has some kind of 'knock block' function to limit bar rotation.
Why e-bikes seem to come with odd headset designs I have no idea - they seem to be going back to 'standard' stuff after everybody went mad about internal routing though.
Edit - It might not be integrated after all - but I think it has the knock block thing you would need to do away with.
Oh and angle headset's don't really change reach at all like previous posters have suggested - I asked Works about this before and they talked about how raising / lowering front end when slackening / steepening means there is hardly any change there - an online bike geometry calc thing confirms that - take a look.
I used a +5mm reach adjust headset and it made a bit of a difference. You could certainly feel the reach was longer but it was more of a tweak in the right direction rather than totally different handling bike.
Does the actual reach increase you get depend on your bike's headset angle? I never actually measured the real reach increase.
I say go with the -2 headset as you want to slacken you headset anyways and that will also increase the reach too.
Maybe stick the numbers into one of those bike geometry websites and see if you can calculate the actual reach increase from the -2 headset? Maybe it puts you in a similar ball park to the reach adjust headset?
Edit: just seen crankrider's comment that the reach doesn't really change... Do you have any stem spacers below the stem? maybe put them above the stem and use a higher rise bar?
Stem length is separate to reach.
I see this line far too often (no offence tom). Reach goes out of the window bike to bike unless you are always using the same atc/stack/spacers/stem/bars. It's good to know your starting point, but effective reach and where your hands end up are what matters.
You could have two bikes with 10mm reach difference and end up with your hands in exactly the same place depending on your setup
I’d argue that you have bike fit geometry, which is the relationship between grips, saddle and pedals;
you have steering geometry which is the combination of head angle, tyre size, fork offset, and bar+stem pairing (it doesn’t matter how your grips get to where they are vs the steerer, just where they are in 3D space);
and then you have bike handling geometry which combines all the above and adds in BB height, chainstay length, rear tyre size and so on.
You could have two bikes with 10mm reach difference and end up with your hands in exactly the same place depending on your setup
And those bikes would feel (a bit) different, assuming bar width, other geo numbers etc are the same.
To take it to the extreme, does a 400mm reach frame with a 115mm tiller stem feel the same as a 500mm reach frame with a 15mm stem?
You could have two bikes with 10mm reach difference and end up with your hands in exactly the same place
Yes your hands will be in the same place but the steering will feel different due to the stem length.
Think of different stem lengths as changing the position between your hands and the front tyre contact patch not your hands and feet.
Get an Angleset. IME the reach etc will end up virtually the same due to the slacker fork lowering the front end of the bike.
Is the stack effected by an angleset? Presumably the stack decreases as the bike gets slacker?
Oh and angle headset's don't really change reach at all like previous posters have suggested
Is the stack effected by an angleset?
Partly depends on how tall the lower cup is compared to the one being removed.