My geometry question for today:
Take two bikes with identical geometries. Hardtails, to keep it simple. The only difference is the chainstays – really short on one bike, longer on the other. What are the differences in handling going to be?
My take on it is that shorter chainstays shift the weight balance further back and give a relatively long front-centre. If they’re overly short then not enough weight on the front wheel, so you’re going to have to actively shift your weight on to it through corners – the front wheel will wash out if you’re not careful. And slower, flatter corners are going to be tricky. So why would you have super-short chainstays? You’d think it would be more nimble due to the reduced wheelbase – provided you keep the wheel weighted.
The bike with the longer chainstays is going to be more balanced, weight-wise. There will be more of the rider’s weight on the front, so it’ll be easier to keep the front wheel gripping through these same corners. But does the extra length make the bike more cumbersome? Or does the fact that it’s in the chainstay, rather than the front-centre, mean that the more balanced handling makes up for this? Yeah, you’re going to have to shift your weight back in certain situations, but this is often easier than shifting it forwards.