I like the bike. Rides pretty good. But the cheap fork sucks.

Don't buy this fork: https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Catazer-27-5-29inch-MTB-Bicycle_1600178980732.html?spm=a2700.galleryofferlist.normal_offer.d_title.573c6378APkSBD

On Amazon it is sold as this: https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B08MZVDPXP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

After I ordered it they told me that they changed the stickers on the fork and send me the one with the ABC logos.

What's good about the fork? The rebound adjustment is pretty good. From fully open to super slow. Works surprisingly well.

But the stanchions slide into some sort of plastic tubes. The plastic inserts have only two ~10mm long rings. One at the top, one at the bottom. Between those rings is about 10cm mostly nothing with a little plastic. The stanchions slide in this two rings and it doesn't run smooth. The fork doesn't react on small impacts. Zero movement for small stuff. It needs quiet some hard impacts to get the fork moving. And the stanchions won't fully bounce back all the time. They stuck and need some hard pedal strokes or a hard pull on the handle bar to get back into position. It is possible to add more pressure but that would make the fork hard like shit.

I don't recommend this one. If the trail is rough it feels "ok". Hard stuff gets eaten well. High speed over a 10cm rock is no problem. But besides that the fork feels mostly stiff and it needs a pull on the bar to jump back up or higher PSI.. I guess if the plastic inserts would be different the fork would be a little better.


The plastic insert is the same concept as this one from a youtube video (ZTZ Fork)



If I look at the ZTZ fork it could be the same manufacturer as the "ABC" Fork.

Bike is ready. Looks like a dropperpost is a must have.

Shimano Deore XT FC-M8100-1 Kurbel 1x12, 170mm. 52mm chainline. 34T Chainwheel.
Shimano Deore Shadow Plus RD-M6100 12-speed rear derailleur
DNM AOY-36RC 200x55 rear shock

The fork should be this one:
https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Catazer-27-5-29inch-MTB-Bicycle_1600178980732.html?spm=a2700.galleryofferlist.normal_offer.d_title.573c6378APkSBD

36mm stanchions. They say that it has 160mm travel, but it comes at 140mm. It is possible to change the travel to 160mm but I guess it has a good reason that it is set to 140mm. There are some reports about broken stanchions after flat drops. I removed one 10mm spacer to get 150mm out of the fork. Since I won't jump or ride super hard it's ok for now. Will switch the fork in the future.

Overall the fork is not as responsible as I wish.





I used many parts from my old bike. Tektro brakes, an old ugly saddle, pedals with some rusty spikes, handlebar, stem, tyres etc.

I bought two 160mm centerlock discs. Turned out the fork wants a 180mm disc, so I recycled my old 180mm Hope 6 Bolt rotor.  Used a reverse 6 bolt to centerlock adapter. Didn't worked out of the box and the rivets dragged on the fork. It was just a tiny bit. Removed 0,3mm from the adapter. Was enough to get it running without any drag.



29" wheelset. 30mm rim inner width. Continental Kaiser Projekt 2.4" on the front, Maxxis aggressor 2,25" on the back.



Bottom bracket is a ninja token. Runs smooth.


How hard do you ride this frame?


PS: Don't panic. I laid the bike down super carefully. Nothing touches the frame.

The modified seat stay takes the full range of motion and still has about 2-3mm distance to the 200mm shock mount at the critical position. So yes, they fixed the problem.

@emu26 solved the question. 185x55mm seems to work with 29" wheels.