Lt-Scallywag

@BlakeXZjCl6: I kind of agree, but he did also say that he made some long chainstay prototypes for a brand. Not sure what to think other than I would love to buy an XL DW bike with chainstays in the 460mm range.

I was just listening to some podcast with Dave Weagle and he stated that the short rear center lengths are driven by the bike brands, not him. I would certainly like to see some proportional chainstay DW bikes.

@BrennanHuff: Bike handling/physics and how you feel on the bike are two sides of the same coin. With longer chainstays I don't feel like the rear wheel is further behind me, I feel more balanced front and rear wheel grip, better cornering dynamics, and am able to ride in a more upright and free position, allowing for less hand pressure which frees up my strength to be used for manipulating the bike instead of weighting the front wheel. I don't need a study to show that I am faster around corners with a more balanced front center/rear center ratio. What bike are you on? I am on a XL Kavenz VHP16 with +30mm chainstays. I am always curios to compare setups with other tall people. I feel like body geometry and proportions make a huge difference in people's opinions on bike fit and geometry. I have a +0 ape index and fairly normal proportions, whereas some of my tall friends have a huge ape index and much longer legs than me. I would also trust Steve's opinion on bikes far more than any frame manufacturer since he has no stake in trying to sell a frame.

@BrennanHuff: Ryan Palmer was trying to sell a bike in that podcast. There is a significant difference in front wheel grip with longer chaistays, and it allows riders to take excess pressure off their hands, reducing fatigue. I speak from experience as a 6'2" individual riding a bike with adjustable chainstays +-30mm.

Long chainstays in the larger sizes is a win. The stack is still way too low however. My current bike has a comparable wheelbase to the size large and has a stack of 653mm, and I am still running 30mm of spacers and a 35mm rise bar. Fox and Rockshocks limit the number of spacers to 30mm, so there is no option to add more. And higher rise bars just increase effective stem length which is not super desirable.

Hayes Dominions eliminated the slight arm pump I was getting from SRAM G2s. The SRAM brakes lacked power and have a much heavier lever pull, creating lots of fatigue.

I would have switched from 35 back to 31.8 but that would have also required a new stem, increasing the cost. The OneUp bars are compliant enough though.

@lwkwafi: Quarter HP and there have been a few others that have been saying the same thing. Can't remember off the top of my head who it was.

It's interesting that the Tallboy bumped up another 10mm of travel, especially with the number of MTB medial personalities talking about how the 130mm bike is "pointless" and lives in a weird in-between space between downcountry and long travel bikes.

Love those ATT clips.