Thanks Ryan, I was reading your comment correctly, just confused by the opening.
I addressed the crank graphic elsewhere but honestly it’s all gotten a bit unwieldy. I am curious what issue you’ve heard of with eeWings generally though. I’ve handled quite a few bikes with them installed and from an on-trail perspective they’ve been faultless. I have seen a couple installation f*** ups that were 100% user error. Just mentioning it in the spirit of good information.
They’re outside my budget anyway with there being such good aluminum options but they’d definitely feature on my 15k bike.
Also, just for the record, I didn’t say/mean riders can’t tell the difference between two or more suspension designs. Yes, different platforms behave differently. I said/meant it won’t make a difference for them on the trail (comfort, times, performance). I mean, assuming we’re talking about bikes with good geometry. I think it’s an important distinction. See Paul Austin for someone a lot faster/better than me whose written a fair bit on the subject. See the range of designs that win WC DH / EWS races, where seconds actually count, for proof of concept.
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As to sizing. We used to size frames for aggressive riding with a range of stem lengths from ~30-70mm. 40mm of variation. Now we size frames using 35-50mm stem lengths. 15mm of variation. Most companies make the same number of sizes, or less. People are quite adaptable but I hear riders talk about being “between sizes” on bikes all the time. Some future standards like 56/56 head tubes allowing for more range of reach adjust help.
Also, the amount of reach adjust and angle adjust headsets on the trails speak for themselves.
Anyway, most folks I know with truly-custom frames have something that couldn’t have been replicated using and off the rack bike. Also, going back to my piece on crate suspension, I think if folks could combine whatever rear end they like with a custom front (semi-custom frame) we’d see a lot more of it. STA, Reach, HTA, BB height. Big companies are building global bikes and there’s plenty of local and personal nuance to be enjoyed.
Again, talking about basically limitless bike budgets.
Cheers,
July 15, 2022, 7:04 a.m. - Andrew Major
Thanks Ryan, I was reading your comment correctly, just confused by the opening. I addressed the crank graphic elsewhere but honestly it’s all gotten a bit unwieldy. I am curious what issue you’ve heard of with eeWings generally though. I’ve handled quite a few bikes with them installed and from an on-trail perspective they’ve been faultless. I have seen a couple installation f*** ups that were 100% user error. Just mentioning it in the spirit of good information. They’re outside my budget anyway with there being such good aluminum options but they’d definitely feature on my 15k bike. Also, just for the record, I didn’t say/mean riders can’t tell the difference between two or more suspension designs. Yes, different platforms behave differently. I said/meant it won’t make a difference for them on the trail (comfort, times, performance). I mean, assuming we’re talking about bikes with good geometry. I think it’s an important distinction. See Paul Austin for someone a lot faster/better than me whose written a fair bit on the subject. See the range of designs that win WC DH / EWS races, where seconds actually count, for proof of concept. ——— As to sizing. We used to size frames for aggressive riding with a range of stem lengths from ~30-70mm. 40mm of variation. Now we size frames using 35-50mm stem lengths. 15mm of variation. Most companies make the same number of sizes, or less. People are quite adaptable but I hear riders talk about being “between sizes” on bikes all the time. Some future standards like 56/56 head tubes allowing for more range of reach adjust help. Also, the amount of reach adjust and angle adjust headsets on the trails speak for themselves. Anyway, most folks I know with truly-custom frames have something that couldn’t have been replicated using and off the rack bike. Also, going back to my piece on crate suspension, I think if folks could combine whatever rear end they like with a custom front (semi-custom frame) we’d see a lot more of it. STA, Reach, HTA, BB height. Big companies are building global bikes and there’s plenty of local and personal nuance to be enjoyed. Again, talking about basically limitless bike budgets. Cheers,