Short chainstays. They win the parking lot test. They’re great for trials, pump tracks, manuals and dirt jumps. On actual technical terrain - fast or slow - a lot of geometry evolution has been to add to wheel base forward of the bottom bracket.
Longer Reach. Slacker HTA. Shorter stem, reduce fork offset.
I usually ride a large and have ridden some XL bikes (with short stems) - I’m 5’9” - and I think a big part of that is chasing wheelbase / balance stability. I believe if the standard 150/160mm bikes were running 450mm+ chainstays I could be happier with a bit shorter Reach (and maybe a bit longer stem & larger fork offset).
I’ve been saying for a while now I think rear centers will grow (wheelbase is the new head angle) and I like what Santa Cruz and Rocky and Kona and... are doing with flip-chips on a limited number of models. Short rear Center for the parking lot & longer for the trail. I just wish the short settings where the long settings and the long was ++
Sept. 16, 2020, 4:39 p.m. - Andrew Major
Short chainstays. They win the parking lot test. They’re great for trials, pump tracks, manuals and dirt jumps. On actual technical terrain - fast or slow - a lot of geometry evolution has been to add to wheel base forward of the bottom bracket. Longer Reach. Slacker HTA. Shorter stem, reduce fork offset. I usually ride a large and have ridden some XL bikes (with short stems) - I’m 5’9” - and I think a big part of that is chasing wheelbase / balance stability. I believe if the standard 150/160mm bikes were running 450mm+ chainstays I could be happier with a bit shorter Reach (and maybe a bit longer stem & larger fork offset). I’ve been saying for a while now I think rear centers will grow (wheelbase is the new head angle) and I like what Santa Cruz and Rocky and Kona and... are doing with flip-chips on a limited number of models. Short rear Center for the parking lot & longer for the trail. I just wish the short settings where the long settings and the long was ++