THE OFFICIAL HEIGHT / BIKE DATABASE

[DaddyCool]

Wow, Pat seems to still have them!
http://flatlandfuel.com/stmartinajforkrisers.aspx

[aliasdck]

It looks like flatlandfuel still has the 14mm (-1 degree)


http://flatlandfuel.com/stmartinajforkrisers.aspx

I've thought about trying one of these, I use a lot of spacers under the stem so it would not be a problem to remove some so that the height of the bars stays the same with the riser installed. My only concern is that my forks are the kind with integrated headset race. The riser should still work ok I think, I'm just not sure if installing the riser will cause any deformation to the integrated headset race when everything is compressed together. If it deforms the race then it might not work so well if I later want to use the forks without the riser. I'm not sure if this is a valid concern though maybe no harm happens to the integrated race.

[aliasdck]

Lol yes you beat me to it about flatlandfuel having them

[Mambocowboy]

I started "serious" flatland riding with a S&M Dirtbike with platform (because the Homeless Soul Bro was not available and it was basically a longer version of that frame) and the HT was below 74 ° I assume. Than I rode a KHE Catweazle and later a Premium Lagger V1 and these two have also 74 ° if not lower (for all these frames I have never seen official numbers). Then I switched to a Suelo Simpe V1 with 75 ° and it was horrible for a few weeks because my backwheel hit the ground whenever I did any kind of whip (pinky squeaks for example). Later I got used to this and enjoyed how easy I could pop into a hang five or karl cruiser. Then I started to think about my custom frame and wanted to try it out again. I was quite sure that it should not be steeper so I bought a St. Martin "fork riser". Do you know these? You can put it on top of your fork below the lower bearing. In the end your HT gets smaller. I tried the one with -1 ° so I had a 74 ° HT on the Suelo frame. I gave it a try for a couple of sessions and decided that 75 ° is my preference. I can really recommed to use these "fork risers". It is simple and works. The only thing is that you need some spacers underneath your stem that you can remove because otherwise you would change your handlebar height and this would mix too many parameters... There is a version with - 0.5 ° and I believe it is 7 mm high. The only problem will be how to get these... I believe they are out of production for a long time. Ares had a similar product.

Obviously Dandois is a freak and can ride any bike but his ht angle is 75.5 , probably for all those g turns he does so well. Jumelin is another g turn master. I wonder what his frame geometry is?

[DaddyCool]

Hi aliasdck, I used the fork riser with a Odyssey Classic Flatland fork which has an integrated race and later removed it again without any problems. The fork riser is made from aluminium so it will hardly damage your fork.
Hi Mambocowboy, I fully agree it seems not to matter for Matthias... I assume he designed his frame with street riders in mind and most of them prefer 75 ° HT and above, but the main difference here is that they ride offset forks! Matthias is riding a minimal (about 15 mm) offset for some years and so maybe 75.5 ° HT with zero offset would feel not so good.
I am almost sure that Alex' frames in the past years were all with 75 ° HT.

[Mambocowboy]

Hi aliasdck, I used the fork riser with a Odyssey Classic Flatland fork which has an integrated race and later removed it again without any problems. The fork riser is made from aluminium so it will hardly damage your fork.
Hi Mambocowboy, I fully agree it seems not to matter for Matthias... I assume he designed his frame with street riders in mind and most of them prefer 75 ° HT and above, but the main difference here is that they ride offset forks! Matthias is riding a minimal (about 15 mm) offset for some years and so maybe 75.5 ° HT with zero offset would feel not so good.
I am almost sure that Alex' frames in the past years were all with 75 ° HT.

Yeah zero offset for Dandois would be nuts because he uses that bike for big drops and pure street at times. He badly injured himself on a drop 360 in San Diego a couple years ago. Landed on the side of his face with no helmet...

[Rufus]

I have those St. Martin risers, both the 7 and the 14 mm versions. They do make your bike feel different. However, I tried to use them with Odyssey Flatware forks, and there is some play on the bearing that sits on top of the riser, no matter how strong you tighten your compression bolt. Later on I tried them with St. Martin AJ forks, and the fit is perfect, no play at all. So they seem to be made specifically for St. Martin forks. I have not tried them with any other brand. Just letting you know.
PS: I also know someone who tried to use them with older, non-integrated forks, and the riser broke after a while. It also seems that there was some play.