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Posted

"steering behavior has been the same for over 100 years" (do the German accent yourself). Well, that's just bullsh*t.

Wheelsize, stem length, head angle, tyre size, tyre tread, tyre pressure, suspension settings, bar width, offset, bar roll, bar rise, geometry - etc etc etc - all influences and has been changing steering behavior from penny farthings. To say steering behaviour has been the same for 100 years is just not accurate.

Sure this is a new look and design, but has been done.  Cool that they are doing it for actual MTB now - I can see the value in that, but can't sit and listen to this dumbass press release.

Posted
1 hour ago, dave303e said:

ya but do you even make money if you don't convince the market to buy stupidly short stems and then follow it up with steering dampers to correct for the newly introduced twitchiness? 

I don't think short stems introduce twitchiness, rather too wide bars on a longish stem. As the review  states its not short stems but slack HTA's that lead to a tendency for the steering to be ponderous and "floppy" at low speed. Not an issue for experienced riders of course. 

I sometimes ride a 26er HT with a 70mm stem and 785mm bars and I call the twitchiness, "responsive,playfull handling" 🙂 . In fact its great fun to ride on the right trails. I was forced to run a longer than ideal stem to increase the reach a bit on a slightly too small frame but have kept the bars full width.

Also the bikes fitted with this device are not your average SA marathon bike - MTB is a different sport in Europe where the focus is on bike parks and descending, rather than masochistic stage races.

Posted
2 minutes ago, Headshot said:

I don't think short stems introduce twitchiness, rather too wide bars on a longish stem. As the review  states its not short stems but slack HTA's that lead to a tendency for the steering to be ponderous and "floppy" at low speed. Not an issue for experienced riders of course. 

I sometimes ride a 26er HT with a 70mm stem and 785mm bars and I call the twitchiness, "responsive,playfull handling" 🙂 . In fact its great fun to ride on the right trails. I was forced to run a longer than ideal stem to increase the reach a bit on a slightly too small frame but have kept the bars full width.

Also the bikes fitted with this device are not your average SA marathon bike - MTB is a different sport in Europe where the focus is on bike parks and descending, rather than masochistic stage races.

Yes, I agree, for me, "twitchyness" equals playfulness and quick responsive handling. They can keep their overly long slack frames. The slack long thing is completely overdone. There is always a trade-off, but for me, I prefer to have a short wheel base quick handling bike to throw around twisty singlestick and hairpin turns. 

Posted
2 minutes ago, Mtbiker404 said:

Yes, I agree, for me, "twitchyness" equals playfulness and quick responsive handling. They can keep their overly long slack frames. The slack long thing is completely overdone. There is always a trade-off, but for me, I prefer to have a short wheel base quick handling bike to throw around twisty singlestick and hairpin turns. 

For sure, but its horses for courses. If you want controllable speed on steep rough terrain then a longer wheelbase is safer and faster. Not always needed in SA of course.  

Posted
8 minutes ago, Headshot said:

For sure, but its horses for courses. If you want controllable speed on steep rough terrain then a longer wheelbase is safer and faster. Not always needed in SA of course.  

I agree, long slack is better for steep down, but I think worse for any steep up. Steep up the front will tend to lift and hairpin turns become more difficult.  Bombing down a straight rough trail is also better with long slack. But the part that I enjoy most is twisty singletracks, up or down, and I think a "twitchy" short wheel base bike is more fun and faster for this. I do not want a longer slacker bike and loose the responsive handling of an short steep bike. I know the pro XC tracks are becoming more technical and needs bikes that are capable of this, but to me it seems my local trail are always becoming easier, so I don`t need more slack, stability, or travel in my bike.

Posted
2 hours ago, Mtbiker404 said:

I agree, long slack is better for steep down, but I think worse for any steep up. Steep up the front will tend to lift and hairpin turns become more difficult.  Bombing down a straight rough trail is also better with long slack. But the part that I enjoy most is twisty singletracks, up or down, and I think a "twitchy" short wheel base bike is more fun and faster for this. I do not want a longer slacker bike and loose the responsive handling of an short steep bike. I know the pro XC tracks are becoming more technical and needs bikes that are capable of this, but to me it seems my local trail are always becoming easier, so I don`t need more slack, stability, or travel in my bike.

You can add big wheels to that equation as well. My 27.5 Enduro is easier to chuck through consecutive corners than the equivalent 29er but loses its advantage when it gets chunky and steep. 

Posted

Is this a good place to mention the new Spez Diverge SWorks SRT Red eTap AXS 2023 Gravel Bike complete with suspension in the "cross bar"?.....gives ever-changing seat angles that will really liven up your ride....

.yours for a mere 250K!!!!..

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