Quote:
Originally Posted by Dirk Hofman
Certainly there is some kind of sweet spot for rider size and wheel size. One of my riding buddies is probably about your height, and he was always rubbing the back wheel on his keester in the mega steeps due to leg length. He kept trying 29s and not liking them for this reason, the 27.5s always worked better. He talked about getting a mullet bike (29 or business in front and 27.5 or party in the rear) to accommodate his desire for ground chewing performance in the steeps, but he finally found the Transition Sentinel, with its ultra slack head tube (63.7 I think) and 77 degree seat tube to fix all that, and I rarely see him ride anything else. I haven’t seen him on his Mojo HD5 in well over a year.
The feeling of sitting in versus on the bike is a very common way of describing mountain bike feel, but I suspect this is much more geo than tire size. What year, make, and model we’re the two bikes, if I might ask? Same for the OP, as I suspect that geo is a big factor in the feeling of maneuverability between your 26 and your 700c bikes. It’s the most important and most overlooked factor in ride feel and performance. It’s common to focus on weight, components, wheel, suspension…they all matter, but combined they don’t matter as much as starting with the right geometry for the job. The geo dictates everything about how the rest of the bike’s components will respond, it’s the heart of everything.
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Absolutely right on that focus.
For that Transition and Ibis example, many focus on Ibis sophisticated suspension but having had and still having a Transition, they really get the geometry and feel of the bike right.
We have a bike called Kona Honzo that was a leader the modern geometry. We have completely worn out all the parts and redid it. People joke why we love the heavy steel bike with nice wheels and low end parts. Well, it's just got the makes you smile stuff every time you ride it.
In May I supervised some new trail building with Trek's engineering staff. It was hilarious to listen to product/marketing vs engineering squabbling over changes to a popular model - following trends vs stick with what is otherwise a tremendously versatile and reliable bike.
Over and over I repeat delay gratification and try stuff. Try stuff with an open mind and make sure the setup is right when you test stuff.
I only cared about weight again because this year I'm trying stuff and aiming at stuff where it will make a difference. Rides that are nearly all day, mixing terrain, and hanging out with riders who are often 20 - 40 years younger than me. In all that fit and comfort are still most important.