ROB’S MOJO/NICOLAI GEOMETRO G16 £2,600 (frame)

Rob’s been playing with geometry and he’s pleased with the results

As I frantically twisted the handle of the headset press and watched grease ooze from the head tube, I couldn’t help but think, “Is this going to suck the soul out of this impressive machine?” OK, I’m being a bit melodramatic, but by fitting an angled headset to steepen up the head angle and make the handling a little more mainstream, I was worried I’d chip away at what the G16 does best – go downhill fast.

Fitting the Works Components headset was pretty straightforward, though both cups took some coaxing to get them sitting flush in the head tube. My G16 started life with a head angle of just over 62 degrees, with a 180mm fork fitted. This increased slightly when the fork travel dropped to 170mm and the rear tyre volume increased. Now, with the Works headset, it sits at 63.5 degrees.

Hitting a few short local DH tracks that I know inside out, a small tweak to bar height and a couple more clicks of low-speed compression damping on the Fox 36 fork were all that was needed to get things feeling great. But it wasn’t until I got the bike over to some faster, longer tracks in the Forest of Dean that my worries about the steeper head angle were put to rest. While the steering feels that bit easier on flatter trails, the G16 remains incredibly composed and eager to attack every downhill. Phew!