Riding positions

[Niallmo]

Tonight I had a proper first ride on my Karakoram. My impression is of a long bike with a very road bike stretched out riding position. The set up is the same as this picture.



My Charge Spoon 29er is much more upright, as are most MTB's I've ridden. My Marin feels a bit stretched but nowhere near as much as the GT.

Is this just the long stem? Are there more road feeling geometries on certain bikes like the Karakoram?

I actually like it a lot. Have I just not ridden the right or wrong bikes?

 

[My_Teenage_Self]

long stem on that, but looking at your saddle height, it looks like the frame may be too big for you?

How tall are you?

 

[Niallmo]

5' 10". 18 inch frame.

 

[M-Power]

Re:

Long flat stems were derigeur in the early 90s. Looks like a 150mm + reach, so maybe swop it for a 120/130 with a bit more rise and it will feel better for an older gent GT geometry was pretty dialled in perfect.

 

[Niallmo]

Re: Re:

Long flat stems were derigeur in the early 90s. Looks like a 150mm + reach, so maybe swop it for a 120/130 with a bit more rise and it will feel better for an older gent GT geometry was pretty dialled in perfect.

Don't mind the position actually, coming from road bikes it feels more like that. Really wondered if it was a 90's thing, which it does seem to be. I might try something a bit shorter, forgot to check the stem length. It's got road orientated tyres on it for my commute tomorrow. 15 miles each way.

My Marin is also an 18" frame but must have a shorter stem. I'll be setting that up for XC mainly so that could go shorter with more rise.

My 40 year old body isn't doing too bad on the road bikes so we'll see how that GT position fares Tomorrow.

 

[petitpal]

Re:

I think the retro position was much more akin to roadie than the newer mtbs I've ridden which always tend to be a lot more upright and, like you, I prefer the old way.

My Zaskar has always felt a little bit short, despite me being quite tiny and having a 16". Love the position though.

 

[FluffyChicken]

Re:

A GT 18" is a pretty large frame, similar to ~20" for other manufacturers in my opinion.


Given the seat height, I would say the next size down would be better, a bit shorter too.

Nitride it. Modern bike are more sit up as they have little choice, big wheels and long travel means a long fork, which means the front has to be higher...
so the frame and bars and stem have to be altered to make where the bars are and handling feel right.

 

[al-onestare]

Yep, echoing others, a smaller frame would help.

 

[daugs]

Re:

I had similar issues getting back on a 1992 19" marin I had had from new. It was the right size back then, allegedly, based on inside leg etc. I was pretty fit and flexible back then so probably didn't notice the stretch.

Having messed around with smaller marins, while the size may drop 1.5" the top tube only fell by 0.5" when going the next size down. Shorter stems definitely help.

 

[legrandefromage]

You have Tom Ritchey to thank for the arse up in the air roadie race positioning on bikes until around the late 1990's. After that suspension became the priority and the riders position became more relaxed and upright as down was more important than riding back up.

Unfortunately, that teeny tiny window of the mid 1980's where UK builders built for the UK was swamped with the mainstream manufacturers so the mainstream became the norm despite not being that suitable.

Those era of GT steel frames are very short top tubes and long stems with 390 forks - its an arse up in the air bike. To relax that frame, a 410 fork, shorter higher rise stem and risers make them a little easier to live with but can make the steering a little lively.