andylegrunge

I'm 5'10, I switched from a large Ripley LS at 428 reach (not planned, the frame broke) to a large Revel Rascal at 464 last year. The Rascal is a great bike in many ways, but I would say the marginal handling improvement at speed does not offset the loss in handling through tight and technical terrain. I added a medium Nimble 9 this summer which is effectively the same HT/ST angle as the Rascal at 450 reach and immediately felt more comfortable on switchbacks and technical chunk. At the end of the day, both bikes are light years ahead of the '06 Dawg Deluxe I learned on, it's pretty crazy just how good modern bikes are. Like so many things it's a matter of personal preference, local terrain, and mindset, and I only hope that the market continues to provide options, although I hope to ride the steel N9 for many years.