Fork Conundrum - Update!

I don't use technology as a crutch - it's a freakin' wheelchair!

Thanks to a great bike shop, I am now the proud owner of 2012 Fox TALAS RC2 180.

Mmmm.  Kashima.  Jumping around in my basement, the fork travel is smooth and has less stiction than my old TALAS 160.  It feels solid, to say the least.  I'm leaving the steerer long until I figure out the correct position.  The bar is still below the seat at full fork extension.  It seriously looks like an XC bike, due to the high seat position.  Long legs - blessing/curse.


When I installed the fork, I also installed an Angleset.  The front end of the El Guapo is really slack now - 66 or 66.5 degrees.  If it's too slack I can bump it back to 67 [same as the SC Nomad II] or 67.5.  It's also possible to go beyond 1.5 degrees of reduced head angle to 2, 2.5 or even 3 degrees by replacing the bottom zero-degree cup with one of the angled ones.  I can't imagine what the EG would be like with a 65-degree head angle.  In case you're wondering, installation was relatively easy.  I pressed in the cups with the bearings and gimbals in place, as I didn't want to score the cups.  The top cup went in really smoothly.  The bottom cup took two tries and needed a lot of force to install, but it did go in.  Lots of grease is your friend. No binding, smooth turning.

No test ride yet, but I'm sure I can find a set of stairs or something to bounce down.  My hope is that the bike as built will compensate for my shortcomings as a rider.  :-)