Fox Factory Grip2 36 160mm 27.5" 44mm Rake Mountain Bike Fork (2022)

To make things clear: the Axum is not a bike for a 150-160 fork. Period.

The geo doesn't support it, period.

The more travel a fork has, the more it...travels...with HTs as the front compresses and the rear doesn't, what happens is you effectively rorate around the "fixed" pivot in the equasion as the front wheel moves, which is the rear axle: the bike "knees" its front and steepens its effective HTA in the process. This is why 150mm Hardtails, have 64 or even 63deg HTA, because their "effective" HTA when sagged will be like 65.5 and during a rock garden and whatnot, 67 or so. Axum starts with that or close to that. It is designed around a 100mm fork. It is long-ish and slacker than old-school XC bikes, but it is an XC bike. The fact that you can overfork it a bit doesn't mean that you should. And it is not because the head-tube will break or dramatic stuff like this, it is because the bike will be worse-off this way as you will ruin its balance.

Yes you can upgrade it, but upgrade it towards its intended use, don't try to force an Enduro bike out of it. Better brakes, better tires, better wheels even, will make it a fine trail bike. But this long of a fork, is a mistake.

I got the Axum to play around and sh!talk friends with more expensive bikes, but it is my n+1 (with n being 3) and I had lots of part bin stuff to work with. I don't care what ppl think when they downvote my post above - or this - , the bike is riding great and Schwinn or whomever designed the frame did a good job. Yes, the build as you get it from walmart is mediocre, but for the $, its a fine bike, and for $230 that I pad for it complete, is amazing.

And as a big picture advice, make sure enduro HTs are your thing, even if you are building off something appropriate, like a Norco Torrent HT or Kona ESD. I personally think HTs with more than 120-130mm travel are not my cup of tea...more sluggish than i care for in the easy stuff, not confidence inspiring in the rowdy stuff. Just get a FS for these, or an aggressive HT that is designed around a 130mm tops, at least for trail riding.

For the Axum per se, look for a 100-120mm fork. A 120mm Fox 34 or Marchozzi Bomber Z2 will do fine. I went with a Funn ZS headset on mine.

Great price. 29" is available with 1.5" taper and 51mm offset for the same price: https://www.universalcycles.com/s...?id=106645 (scroll to the bottom option)