27.5 fork on a 2013 Blur LT 2.3 with 26er wheels?????

I want to get ahead of the curve….I can get a pretty good deal on a 27.5 (160mm) fox fork to replace my current fork (fox 160mm) on my Blur LT

Would there be an issue if I install a 27.5 and still run it with 26er wheels?


Thanks for your input!!

 

I went thru the same thing after I picked up a used Fox 40 Float 27.5. For my 40, the 650 fork has a 52mm offset while the 26 lower unit has only 45mm of offset. Your fork offset may be different, so check if the following applies to you.

The physics are as follows.

"Adding 7mm of offset will quicken the handling and make the wheelbase even longer. The added wheelbase is nice on the steep stuff or in the rocks, but when you get into tight switchbacks, it can be a handfull. Extremely slow speeds are another area where longer offset feels weird with headangles slacker than 68.5 degrees."

If you have a steep head angle, the effect may be more pronouced with the resulting lesser trail. You can ride it no problem. There will be effects on steering feel. Most people say that it's fine, some will not like the effects. Personally, I purchased a 26 lower unit and went with that.

 

I'm pretty sure it's the other way around. Less offset quickens handling, more offset slows handling. Same thing with head tube angle. Steeper is faster and less stable, slack is more stable, but slower steering.

 

Trail is opposite of offset. As you increase offset, you reduce trail, you quicken the handling. Think shopping cart casters, also as less trail having more tendency for wheel flop and less self centering.

 

That diagram helps. I wonder how much difference wheel diameter makes.

 

Nice explanation. I got my first 29er this year and noticed at 45 degrees if the front wheel is drifting it wanted to flop over. Nothing that couldn't be controlled because of the wide bars we sport now a days but I didn't know if it was the wheel size or the 51mm offset fork. When the bike is not leaned over that offset really does make the handling sharp and less of a plow.

 

i had a 29er in 2011 and i stuck a rockshox on it when they werent making 29er specific offsets. I didn't like it. It was good in a straight line but had wheel flop when turning tight on single track. I am intrigued by the 45 and 51-52 mm offset forks for 29ers, enough so that I might buy another one.

Gary Fisher was the pioneer of changing offsets with the bigger wheels sizes. He really had a good idea going there. With the developments in geometry and offsets pioneered by Gary Fisher, the new 650bs are coming out just as slack as 26ers, but compensated with more offset.