650B Ritchey

[Chopper the ex Copper]

Indeed, Sir! The modern trend for bars wider that the spacing between people's shoulder joints is another piece of inexplicable madness, although looking round contemporary MTB forums it seems to a phenomenon in them confined to those who spend more time talking online about their bikes than actually riding them.

 

[Rod_Saetan]

Re: Re:

'Compact frame' is such a diplomatic term for people buying the wrong sized bike and having more seat post exposed than the length of the frames seat tube, a strange condition that seems to have become most rampant the last few years.

I'll bite, you don't honestly believe this, do you?

As to the bars, well part of it is marketing - wider, fatter bars look more extreme - but really this idea of not needing bars any wider than your shoulders and a nice 150mm stem for stability is way outdated - I would suggest riding a modern trail bike with wide bars, stubby stem and a bit of 'suspension' at the front.

(For what it's worth, I still use all of the old school stuff on Vintage bikes, but if you are going to have a modern bike, you may as well get the most out of it.)