Owner's Review Technical Review

[Mark911]

I've been sitting on this for almost 8 months and figured why not share it with the members. It's my personal assessment of my 2017 Alta MX (remember, it was written before the 18s were even announced). This installment is mostly from an engineers perspective. I have an equal but as of now unreleased riders perspective as well. I shared most of this with Phil and Marc (at Alta) many months ago. Obviously, since much of what I've written is "engineering Judgment" and some downright speculation, Alta could not confirm or deny its validity. So read at your own risk!

 

[rayivers]

Nice write up, thanks!

 

[Bionicman]

I've been sitting on this for almost 8 months and figured why not share it with the members. It's my personal assessment of my 2017 Alta MX (remember, it was written before the 18s were even announced). This installment is mostly from an engineers perspective. I have an equal but as of now unreleased riders perspective as well. I shared most of this with Phil and Marc (at Alta) many months ago. Obviously, since much of what I've written is "engineering Judgment" and some downright speculation, Alta could not confirm or deny its validity. So read at your own risk!

Appreciate the contribution but I gotta ask Mark. Are you retired? Lol this question is asked with respect so no offense intended.

 

[Mark911]

Yes, over five years now. I worked for Hughes Space Communications (now Boeing Satellite Systems) for 30 years before retiring at 55.

 

[rtf]

Yes, over five years now. I worked for Hughes Space Communications (now Boeing Satellite Systems) for 30 years before retiring at 55.

That must have been a great career. Howard Hughes had quite the empire. I've been into Aviation for quite some time and learning about him is fascinating.

 

[rtf]

Here is a question for you Mark. You've said the forks are slightly wider to accommodate the SM larger wheel. Does that mean one could fit the SM with EXR wheels/tires and essentially go back and forth? From what I understand, all you would need to do and switch the caliper bracket.

 

[snydes]

Here is a question for you Mark. You've said the forks are slightly wider to accommodate the SM larger wheel. Does that mean one could fit the SM with EXR wheels/tires and essentially go back and forth? From what I understand, all you would need to do and switch the caliper bracket.

Not knowing anything about it I would assume the offset would be off and you would have to have a custom caliper bracket made to space it back in, or perhaps the EX bracket could be spaced in..,

 

[Philip]

Here is a question for you Mark. You've said the forks are slightly wider to accommodate the SM larger wheel. Does that mean one could fit the SM with EXR wheels/tires and essentially go back and forth? From what I understand, all you would need to do and switch the caliper bracket.

I thought Alta used to have an answer to that in their FAQ on their website, but I just went there and could not find it. However, my memory is working today:

You can easily convert an MX into an SM, but you will have somewhat underpowered front brakes. It is much more difficult to convert an SM into an MX, IIRC mostly because of the front brakes.

The Alta's FAQ section is getting periodic updates. It is worth re-reading periodically: altamotors.co/faq