Yalla! Head Tube Adjustments

Using a 56mm diameter head tube means that if you’re ever in a pinch or want to use your favoured brand of headset, it’s a common diameter that shouldn’t make it hard to source parts.

But a 56mm diameter also gives us room inside the headtube to adjust the reach and head angle of the bike, or both in combination, while keeping everything zero stack.

The head tube of the Yalla! is marked with two small marks that match to the markings on the headset cups, meaning that it’s simple and quick to swap from one setup to another.

Reach

Frames come delivered with the 0mm reach setting. From there you can use our reach adjust headset cups to make the front of the bike shorter or longer by 5mm.

That gives the M size frames a window of 450 - 460mm, L size 475 - 485mm, and XL size 500 - 510mm.

Changing the reach not only changes the fit and length of the bike, but also changes the load on the front wheel and the feel of the bike in terms of stability and manoeuvrability.

Shorter will make the bike more agile and easier to move around and put a bit more load on the front wheel. It will do this at the expense of stability.

Longer will make the bike more stable and less bothered by what the trail is doing, great for going fast in rough terrain. It will take a little more input to make it do what you want and it will take a little load off the front wheel. But this is the trade off for that stability and speed.

Head Angle

Frames come delivered with the 0 degree setting and the head angle at 63 degrees. From there you can use our angle adjust headset cups to steepen or slacken the bike by 1 degree. This gives an overall range of 62 - 64 degrees.

Fork length is also going to play a part in the head angle. If you run your fork at minimum axle to crown, then it will have a steeper head angle than if you run it with the stanchions all the way through the crowns.

Steeper will make the steering more responsive and load the front wheel a little more. But it will reduce the stability of the bike and how much the front wheel gets knocked around by the trail.

Slacker will make the front of the bike more stable, particularly in steep or fast and rough terrain where the ground is trying to knock the front wheel around. But it will take a little of the load off the front wheel and make the steering less responsive.

Combinations

There is also the possibility to combine a reach adjustment with an angle adjustment. We have cups for all the combinations of options, with many of the cups doubling up their options depending on if you run them one way or another.

If you like the sound of a shorter bike with a steeper head angle, then we have cups for that. If you like the sound of a longer bike and a slacker head angle, then we have that option too.

Our full list of options is:

  • 0mm reach / 0 degree - Default setting that the frame is delivered with.
  • +5mm reach / 0 degree
  • -5mm reach / 0 degree - Same as above option, just installed the other way round.
  • 0mm reach / +1 degree
  • 0mm reach / -1 degree - Same as above option, just installed the other way round.
  • +5mm reach / +1 degree
  • -5mm reach / +1 degree - Same as above option, just installed the other way round.
  • +5mm reach / -1 degree
  • -5mm reach / -1 degree - Same as above option, just installed the other way round.