I don’t think stem length has a whole lot to do with steering feel.
fork offset is an obvious issue and handlebar length will feel different because you end up moving your arms more to push a longer bar but I’m not convinced the stem length matters much for this.
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That’s the gist of what that post I linked to above communicated with a bit of explanation behind it.
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Someone post the 1m/m patch
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how about an order of magnitude’r patch
(hoomer drooling)
I just wish I liked the fit of the Spur since it was otherwise a really rad bike. Just didn’t mesh with it as well as the Banshee Phantom I went back to. Don’t think I love over 500mm reach, though the Spec Levo s5 is 500. But def higher stack than Spur. I dind’t like the s5 enduro for steeper stuff.
And maybe I just don’t know if I need a 78* sta. I thought 75 was fine, now two bikes with 76. At least that gives me a bit more top tube for pedaling stuff. Because i like the 485 reach number on the large Smuggler, but the tt then is 617.
And shit, I could probably get a Stumpjumper complete for the cost of the frame.
But TAF.
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love the clean unsagged tt/st lines
whoa, just noticed the fox34 fork.
I mean on the one hand lol capitalism/rampant consumerism in selling people big bikes then small bikes then big bikes etc… Zeb this Fox 38 that.
on the other hand cool that’s exactly what I want after riding a sentinel for years.
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Part of the desire comes from always wanting a smuggler, the og one with the pretty blue. Never got it. But that was why I went for the Spur, but the 510 reach, or maybe 505 after the 130 pike, just never felt right. Slightly lower stack vs banshee, but don’t know. So this is one I would def like to actually demo (lol) before buying. Who does that?! I guess a greater chance now that covid and some bike shortage ish is over.
was the reach too long on the spur or are you used to xxl bikes? My sentinel is the old 500 reach model and I kind of don’t think I want to go longer.
I tried the S5 enduro, which was 511 in low, but I def run it in high coz rocks here, so likely longer. Was great for trail riding, because tt seated was really comfy and fine. But when it came to steep or even more so drops (trying to push bike out of the way), just never felt great. So I went down to S4 size, and happened upon the dope raspberry and gold colorway. Fits much better. That is 487 reach, 644mm tt, but I adjusted to the slightly shorter tt. Prior to this most of my bikes in XL were about 660, but the STA got steeper, thus so did reach. It was fine for a while, then started to get too much (see XXL with 66x tt and 535 reach or something silly).
I rode the S5 Spec Levo, which had 500mm reach, but likely a taller stack height and it was p chill. Looking at the Enduro, it has a silly low stack height. I mean, you point the bike downwards, right? Don’t we want the bars in a reasonable position?
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I very much feel all of this except I never tried the longer reach. Just looked at the numbers and was like “yeah I’m good on 500”.
It was my fist foray beyond 500 (previous was 495 on xl jekyll 27.5 with a 35mm stem that I really loved). I demoed it for a bit and thought it was fine, but this was mostly just trail riding. When I bought it and took to bike parks, it was okay but felt a bit too long. So eventually sized down, sold frame for about what I paid for new frame, so no worries.
Then Spur was available about a year after I was initally interested. Great color, was what I thought I really wanted. Even had a much better rider friend on one, so I bit. But just never gelled. I mean, I know other riders can rock longer reach like that, but I just don’t really get it. Def see my sweet spot being 485-500.
Which is why I was jazzed they had a Smuggler at 485 stock. But then the super steep STA means seated pedaling would be much smaller. I guess given what you are more likely interested in with this bike, it could work, but damn it is a lot to work with. i mean, it is only 140 front, so front end shouldn’t be too crazy out there, but they gonna do what they gonna do (I later saw Spur was only 76 sta vs this 78ish).
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My favorite flats are the SDG Comps. Why? The platform is perfectly flat. Works great for my wonky-ass foot positioning.
when i came into your shop you didn’t take my photo, wtf
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Sorry bro, but our Nate bottles haven’t arrived yet.
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as much as aspects of it frustrate me, sure do love this bike and the magic of our present mtb age
as much as i am frustrated by aspects of east coast living, i’m glad there’s been lots of sick trails getting built within 1-1.5 hours of me (lol philly orgs take a cue from lehigh valley trail building successes)
edit: also fwiw i love my HT pa03a nylon pedals. had some burgtecs that were ok but clearly more suited to ex-bmxers riding in vans
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I’m coming around to nylon. Figure if this new bike is going to be plastic then plastic pedals kinda make sense lol.
Man it seems like new trails are getting built all over in this general region. There’s going to be feasibility study to put some in on an old ski hill in a state park just outside of NYC.
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God knows skiing here has gone to shit.
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to be honest that’s no small part of it, particularly for the resorts. bike park or die
though tbh they still charge astronomical prices for winter lift tickets and seem to still get crowds for absolute dogshit conditions so idk
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