FRAME GEOMETRY CLASS

Ok all students take their seats.....................students?

I said "TAKE YOUR SEATS................. (in a thunderous voice) NOW!!!"

Thank you for your attention, now class can begin.

Now that I have a big hooped bike, by chance - because I didn't go looking for one, I have been curious if the frame geometry is the reason that I'm diggin' the way this bike handles. My first 29er was a Specialized Rockhopper with paragon dropouts (sliders). I quickly turned it into a SS (my non-thinking days, sorry SS buds) and rode it for about 9 months before trading it off. I loved how the thing rolled over rocks but not how it handled at speed in the techy tight stuff. I flipped over the bars more on that Specialized 29er than I ever have in my mountain bike riding life! There is no comparison when you compare an aluminum hardtail to a Ti hardtail so I keep that in mind as well. It's been three years and alot can happen in the cycling industry in that amount of time. I'm now finding myself grabbing the Lynskey over my carbon BMC when I head out to the trails nowadays, weird. Don't get me wrong the BMC TE01 is the best handling bike I have ever ridden so far, hands down the best, I just like rolling over rocks with no effort on the 29 hoops is all.

I have been gathering data for classes and there was no specification to what data could be gathered so I chose things that interest me and may interest some of my readers, I hope! SO here ya go, several hours of Internet web browsing and beer drinking time well spent, I think so anyway. Find your frame brand and check it against bikes you have ridden, remember what they felt like and try to compare to the others - OR - the bike you rode that you liked best (hopefully you own) look at that geometry compared to some of the others... 1 degree makes a huge difference in steering keep that in mind. The steeper the seatpost angle the better you will be situated over your cranks for more power, laid back (or bent) seatpost frame geometry skues this process because they measure the angle coming out from the BB and not at the top of the seatpost tube.

All bikes geometry have been stated in the chart on a 100mm travel fork basis except for the Niner that gave geometries in both formats 80/100mm respectively. Some of the bikes have the same geometry, only thing different? paint and maybe tubing quality or thicknesses! A good informed rider will take into consideration many things before throwing down the $$ for a frame!

I hope I helped at least one person with my data gathering research. I know, I know I may have left out some models but I only needed a 5 or 6 for class, I took this farther than I had to so as maybe to help a rider somewhere. I googled a list of manufacturers and that's where I attained the list of frames, I know there are plenty more models I missed, sorry.

LAter G...................