roil profile

What about proper bar width?! So important for your entire upper body, not just your wrists. 

I was running bars that were too wide and putting excess strain on my shoulders + gave me arm pump. I cut the bars down to a width similar to what I would use for rowing, elbows behind my wrists so I could better engage my lats to stabilize my body. 

My next bike upgrade is definitely SQLab backsweep 12 and their 711 grips that are hand size specific.

Rider fitness is huge but so is rider skill. If you don't know how to pace yourself, use your gears, have a proper seating position, choose a good line, or just keep up with regular bike maintenance the climb is going to be much harder than it needs to be. 

I see a similar disconnect in the automotive space. People will spend mad money to improve the objective performance of the car when they themselves are the weakest link. 

Don't get me wrong, I drool over and occasionally buy parts that are beyond my skillset. But that being said, I agree that there is some backward logic (and planned obsolesce) that directs much of the design/engineering behind the bikes we ride.

Great article as usual! Your writing on bike geo inspired my latest bike purchase. I just received a Privateer 161 which I went up a size on. Compared to my old bike, the reach has increased 60+ mm with a much steeper seat tube angle. Tomorrow is my first trail ride but just cruising around the block has been an eye-opener. Body position feels so much better seated or standing. 

I also bought a 2.0 degree angleset to mess with the geo. My friends threw a fit when I told them what I intend to do. The 161 might not take to altering the geo as well as the G1 with all of its mutators but it should be a fun experiment.

I gave the section of the podcast a second listen and you're right. I have a new Lyrik Ultimate coming on a complete Privateer 161 so I'm just interested in getting the most of out my new fork. Considering a Diaz Runt as an option.

Where can I find instruction for Chris's adjustment to improve the sensitivity of the Lyrik's air spring?

Can't argue with that car/bike setup. Well done.

Rome wasn't built in a day. So cool of Miranda to share her process.

100% to all the above

Great stuff but I have some points on 2, 3 & 5.

The front center needs to be balanced with the rear center and the reach numbers play into this as well. Too many manufacturers design bikes with the same rear center (chainstay) and just increase the front center leading to an unbalanced bike. 

When standing on an MTB, we are typically in descent - on a decline as opposed to level ground. I don't see how the ability to lift one's hands off the bars without falling forward is applicable for this use case. That being said, rarely does anyone bring up the importance of stack height with respect to reach and its impact on body position and weight distribution. 

Every geometry is a compromise but would you rather have a setup that is well suited for the most challenging parts of the trail or the easiest?

The milk crate pics are great! Apologies if they were there all the time, and you're just humoring me. 

Regarding tri bikes and a steep seat tube being better, I think the kinetic chain reasoning makes sense and taking that idea even further, the position of the hips relative to the bottom bracket or centerline of the cranks needs further examination.    

The sprint position on a road bike or standing position when climbing any bike has your hips directly over the bottom bracket. Granted, you are no longer seated so there are other factors at play. However, this vertical hip and bb alignment also allows gravity to work in our favor, sitting or standing. 

Our bodies are designed for walking and running so it would make sense that our muscles are strongest at or near this vertical position as this is when the body's muscles experience the largest loads (initial ground contact).

Bottom line, MTBs geo needs to be completely reevaluated for its actual use case (seated climb and standing descent) as opposed to slowly tweaking flat road bike geo.