I cracked up reading it. Totally foreign language to me
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Shoutout to their Youtube channel, if you like engineering content on mountain bikes and suspension components in particular, youâll enjoy this for sure.
True. Although Iâd say that the initial suppleness is an asset, just one that works on terrain trail bikes havenât been optimized for.
When I got my new-to-me XC hardtail, it came with a top-of-the-line XC fork from 2018. We have lots of tactile pavement tiles for the blind here in Japan, and I almost donât feel them on this fork.
Likewise, on fire roads, even very rough ones with ruts, the front end purrs along and remains super comfortable.
I reckon with a larger travel fork, youâd lose that suppleness.
I agree, but what Iâm picking up from Joe is that he wants the suppleness of a trail fork and general small bump compliance whilst not needing 160mm of travel.
(Forgive me if Iâm wrong here Joe)
To me that means either play with pressure and tokens, or something like a Vorsprung Luftkappe. The people who I know that use them absolutely rave about them.
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There are so many more factors other than the fork to consider - tyres, pressures, bars, wheelsâŚ
I thought an XC bike was built for out right speed, and the sacrifice is often comfort. A trail bike is a little heavier, but more travel, able to tackle more difficult terrain and generally more comfortable.
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I wouldnât say comfort, they put you in a different position and that might be more or less comfortable for you. I prefer more aggressive positions on both, my road bikes and my mountain bikes.
The most significant difference is how the ride feels to you, whether you enjoy it or not. XC bikes usually have quicker handling. Whether you think of that as an asset (because the bike is more nimble) or a detriment (the handling is more nervous and less stable at speed) is up to you.
300 psi?!?! I am not sure my shock pump goes that high. And if it does, I am pretty sure it is its max pressure. When I wrote my previous responses, I wasnât aware of your weight.
If I were you, Iâd definitely go for a beefier bike: a fork with wider stanchions, 4-pot brakes and larger rotors, etc.
Trust me, people other than myself are 
In any case, if you prefer to ride a bike with more travel, but you donât use all of it, who cares? It isnât a bad thing to have something in reserve should things go wrong. 
Sorry, I cut that reply short. When I was talking about comfort I was meaning things like less travel, stiff frame, maybe hardtail over full suspension rather than position.
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Out of interest, what bars/stem do you have on the bike? I recently changed out my bars and stem to a RSL integrated cockpit and have noticed that it soaks up those kind of vibrations really well.
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I have an aluminum stem and a carbon handlebar, but I forgot the make and model. Iâm sure, though, that the biggest component is the fork, though, because the ridges are too tall to be absorbed the by handlebars alone. Still, the handlebars absorb quite a bit of the buzz.
Iâll replace ithem very soon with a Shimano carbon handlebar â I wasnât careful enough when I fastened the screws on my stem and cracked the bar. (I torqued it up to spec with a torque wrench, but still, a cracked bar is a cracked bar.)
However, you are right that carbon handlebars have some vibration damping properties that makes them more comfortable. I really love my 3T handlebars on my road bike. Iâll see how I will get along with the Shimano handlebars, but Iâm sure theyâll be fine. Geometry-wise, they are spot-on. (The previous handlebars were a bit too short for my liking, 670 mm, so I ordered 720 mm bars.)
yep thatâs exactly right and I have a 2018 specialized epic pro hardtail with the brain sid (definitely NOT supple!) and have ridden my buddyâs signal peak and recently a SC tallboy. (The tallboy pedaled great btw)
[quote=âmailman, post:18, topic:73916, full:trueâ]
What and how are you riding?
Iâm skeptical of that, Iâm not convinced a firm ride is faster off road. Iâm halfway convinced a more supple ride is faster. I have different power meters (soâŚwho knows right?) on my bikes (carbon hardtail vs. the spectral) but if I ride a loop with each bike the hardtail at the same power the hardtail takes more power and isnât as comfortable.
As for position, Iâm in an XC position, the only difference between the spectral and epic is that the reach is 1" shorter on the spectral. Setback saddle height handlebar dropâŚall identical. The XC bikes feel more âslicey diceyâ and the spectral is more âmonster truckâ but the handling doesnât bother me either way.
Iâm kinda wondering if weigh even matters. Ready to ride my buddyâs signal peak is 28.5#'s (with pedals, computer, bottle mountâŚyou know, ready to go) vs. my spectral at 30.5#'s. I did some runs up a climb on my spectralâŚone run ânormalâ, the next run with a 10# backpack on. I alternated zero weight and plus 10#'s every other lap The data is belowâŚIâm not entirely sure the runs are statistically different (didnât do well in statistics back in the dayâŚ).
Joe
and on the basis of thatâŚon one bars in shipping now!
Joe
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I agree, a firm ride isnât necessarily faster. But I think there are many more factors at play. I do suspect that ultimately the SuperCaliber would be faster than my ProCaliber on account of the rear travel, and this would negate the weight penalty. But I suspect the SuperCaliber will be much faster than the Fuel Ex. Might put my XR2 tyres on the Fuel Ex and see how it goes!!!
If you can just run the same wheelset, give it a shot. I tell you what, the big bikes feel way slowerâŚlike as in âthis thing is a pigâ but then you ride a lap at the same power (or you can even go average heart rate if you want) and look at the times and theyâre just as fast. Itâs crazy.
The most consistent data I have between tires is on a twisty 14-ish minute loop, the paper thin XC tires consistently run 20 seconds faster than the lightest âtrailâ tires on the same power/same bike/same rider. But put the soft sticky jumbo knob stock tires back on and itâs another 30 seconds slower and feels like pedaling thru mud (spectral came with maxxis dhf and something else super sticky). You rail all of the turns and think itâs the tires and then you find out that itâs just because you were going so slow.
Joe
My gut says youâre overbiked for what you ride. You could definitely make a DC bike feel a lot like a trail bike in terms of all day comfort, but youâd be gaining some efficiency.
Just my gut feeling.
Totally agree Iâm overbiked no doubt about that
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Just not sure Iâd gain anything going to downcountry, those bikes weigh just as much as the spectral and it pedals as well as an xc rig.
How much does a Spectral weigh? For Apples to Apples, a Lux Trail in Medium is something like 11kg in a not crazy spec.
I donât know for sure, but Iâm thinking the Spectral has a particularly high anti-squat for a trail bike, but the XC bikes youâve compared donât (except for the HT, but I donât think theyâre the fastest for most people anyway unless very smooth, or very climby).
Iâll get a weight in a day or two but 30.5# ready to go. Those lists weight on the canyon website are extremely optimistic and donât include pedals.
And another questionâŚwhat is âbike weightâ? Does it include pedals? Seat? Paint? Bottle cage? Tools?
I think your right about anti squat and I like it!!
I consider bike weight as in ready to race. Not bottle, but definitely cage, spares, or anything that lives attached to my bike (maybe not computer, that depends on if you remembered to bring it when you were near a set of scales and were inspired to weigh your bike).
I think the listed weights are sans pedals, size medium, but as pictured i.e. complete bike, no tubes, no bottle cage.
For reference/example, my bike is 12.4kg with my saddle bag, EDC tool, computer mount, and âheavyâ Maxxis tyres. A quick Google says thatâs 27lbs and the Canyon Lux Trail, which is the best comparison to your Spectral, is expected to be ~1kg lighter.
What bike are you riding?
Scott Spark 910 (size XL)