How much did a longer travel bike improve your riding abilities?

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How much did a longer travel bike improve your riding abilities?
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flag wobblegoblin
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Posted: Dec 6, 2020 at 11:53 Quote
I am currently on a 2013 Banshee Prime with 135R and 160F and a -2 degree headset. I know that the 2 times I’ve been able ride DH bikes I’ve been much more comfortable hitting bigger jumps and drops. I don’t have a lot of access to demo a longer travel bike, but I’d love to hear from others what their experiences were going from a trail bike to a longer travel “enduro” bike was like.
flag nostalgicpear1
Posted: Dec 6, 2020 at 18:28 Quote
A longer travel bike did not directly contribute to improvement in my riding ability, but it did massively increase my confidence. Switching from a 100mm hardtail to a bike with 150mm and 130mm increased my confidence massively on jumps and tech. It opened possibilities that I had not considered before, and allowed me to expand the amount of features that I rode.
flag scared2jump
O+
Posted: Dec 6, 2020 at 18:55 Quote
It wasn’t the travel as much as the geometry that helped with my confidence.
flag joelsman
Posted: Dec 6, 2020 at 20:31 Quote
I don't think it helps your abilities but it gives you more confidence and cushion for landings. Easier to ride rough ground faster by a lot.
Brakes and tires are very important too. Being able to control your bike: holding a line or slow down quickly bring a lot of confidence too.
For steep trails, tires, brakes and slack geometry.
For rough high speed, suspension and geometry.

Heavier wheels help stability too. Light weight bikes are harder to jump straight, they tend to want to go sideways.
flag gafoto
Posted: Dec 6, 2020 at 20:37 Quote
s3ntin3l wrote:
It wasn’t the travel as much as the geometry that helped with my confidence.

Same. I went from a Banshee Prime V2 135/150 to a RAAW Madonna V2 160/170. Longer wheelbase, slacker head angle, more travel and lower bb all make the Madonna much more stable at high speed. The long travel mostly makes it so I can get away with making big errors and still ride away. I’m not a better rider on the Madonna, but the bike is more capable.

I was making my Prime into a really heavy duty trail bike whenever I purchased parts, which it isn’t. I built the Madonna from the frame up to be good at going downhill and it performs so much better in that regard. Now whenever I hop on the Banshee I’m reminded how much lighter and snappier it is. There are tradeoffs for everything.

All in all I’m very pleased with the upgrade. Depending on your terrain a longer travel rig might not be necessary. I think Transition is one brand that has enduro bike geometry without the massive travel.
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