jitsie varial vs jitsie varial race

[lennert]

hi

is it worth to pay more and go for the jitsie varial 26 race instead of the cheaper jitsie varial 26? on the race version some parts are better but like the stem, freewheel, chain,... but i already have some good parts from my old bike(magura hs33 rimbrakes and a carbon handlebar) so my question is, is it worth paying more to get the race version for the other better parts? i also saw that the headtube on the race version is slightly shorter 110 mm instead of 120 mm on the cheaper model but this isn't so much of a big deal right? 

thanks in adcanve!!

[La Bourde]

Hi,

 

 

on the race model, the fork shaft is tapered and the headtube is designed for tapered fork. This shall improve the stiffness and maybe also the longevity of the frame.

On the cheapest model, there is a straight shaft fork. Because the cheap model uses a semi integrated headset cup at the bottom, you can later build an external headset cup (for example EC44/40 from Hope, about 30 GBP) and tapered fork. But this comes with two drawbacks: the external cup is 10mm higher, so the head angle will be slacker (-0,5°) and the bottom bracket will be slightly higher (+3-4mm).

I have a tapered fork and I use to have a straight fork on my bike. For sure it is stiffer, but for my riding level, this does not make a big difference (and I weight 65kg). The difference is bigger on mountain bikes were the suspension forks are much longer (a2c value) and thus the lever longer.

With a 10mm lower head tube, one can lower his chest even further for some huge gaps to front.

If you plan to sell the frame after some months or riding, I think the tapered version will be easier to sell.

 

[Mark W]

23 hours ago, La Bourde said:

If you plan to sell the frame after some months or riding, I think the tapered version will be easier to sell.

If it was a "proper" tapered head tube (1.5" lower) then I'd agree, but the tapered standard Jitsie have used is unique to them and so you can only ever use Jitsie's forks with them. The same is true for the headset.

To the OP, it's hard to say which is really best in terms of parts. Getting a fresh setup means that you're starting from scratch so you know that everything should work well, but if you've got a decent amount of good parts on your current bike to swap over then you may benefit from going for the Varial and upgrading it with the bits you have. You should be able to sell on any other parts you don't need to help bring down the cost of the bike overall, or improve the other bits on the bike to a similar standard to the Race bike.

[lennert]

alright thanks for the answers!

bought the cheaper model. i don't think i need a tapered head tube because my weight is only 60 kgs and my level of riding isn't as jack carthy ;;)