I was bored one night after having tapped a new keg and decided to do a little experimenting with my trusty Blindside. I put a 8.5 x 2.5 shock on the Blindside with 27.5 wheels. Lo and behold it worked.
The geometry is a very modern 13.5 " bb height with a 65 degree head angle. This is with the X-Fusion Vengeance at 170mm. The stated axle to crown with this fork is 565mm so those numbers would change a little with a Pike or 36 at 160mm but not too much. The de-stroked rear shock gives about 165mm in the short travel setting and about 175mm in the long travel setting.
I have ridden the bike at our local bike park and it rips as well as it ever has with 26" wheels but I feel a bit more "inside" the bike than before. Unfortunately winter set in before I had a chance to take in on terrain that is more rocky than the bike park but I think it will feel pretty rad with the low bb and slightly bigger wheels.
The geometry is a very modern 13.5 " bb height with a 65 degree head angle. This is with the X-Fusion Vengeance at 170mm. The stated axle to crown with this fork is 565mm so those numbers would change a little with a Pike or 36 at 160mm but not too much. The de-stroked rear shock gives about 165mm in the short travel setting and about 175mm in the long travel setting.
I have ridden the bike at our local bike park and it rips as well as it ever has with 26" wheels but I feel a bit more "inside" the bike than before. Unfortunately winter set in before I had a chance to take in on terrain that is more rocky than the bike park but I think it will feel pretty rad with the low bb and slightly bigger wheels.