radiustrails

I was just thinking of those. Had a massive 27mm/24mm axle with clamps. Obviously the axle alone wasn't enough to make it work good but maybe with modern stanchion diameters it would work.

My first bike was a Gary Fisher Marlin in 2003, on year end clearance for like $375. Honestly kind of ahead of its time with the long top tubes. Rode the absolute piss out of that thing.

Are we just accepting that 125% anti-squat in the middle of the cassette is normal? It's nice on purpose built climbing trails and fire roads and certain kinds of ledgy power-moves, but the reviewers should at least mention the compromises of less active bump absorption with high anti-squat designs. Feels like active bikes are getting forced out of the market by reviewers who don't like climb switches. But a climb switch just widens the overall performance envelope of a bike. Most of the brands that used to be at 70-90% AS are now at 120% AS, and maybe I'm particularly sensitive to it but I personally find the additional pedal kickback bothersome. It's not that high anti-squat bikes shouldn't exist, just that bikes are already so homogenized now, I hate to see one of the last meaningful philosophical differences between brands go away.

This takes me back to my 2004 Banshee Scirocco hard tail. Back when we used to size down on already wildly small sizing, basically a BMX bike with a suspension fork. I do wish Banshee would bend their chainstays in a way more compatible with people with big feet and heels-in pedaling stroke. No reason it needs to be that wide that far from the cassette and rotor.