My bikes BB is around 13 inches high when I'm sitting on it. According to various accepted wisdom apparently I'm now on the bike and not in it, thus my bike is shite and suitable only for riding to the shops. I prefer the idea of an extra inch of clearance for my pedals as mmany a little stump has jumped out on me in the past.

What does this on the bike in the bike stuff mean or is it simply more guff from those with copy to write?

Lower bb's will corner better and IMHO give a more confident feeling and fun ride.

Sounds like mbukbabble.

Whatever works for you.

From what I can tell we are talking about and inch of difference between high and low, bearing in mind I have 6 inches of travel I seriously cant see it.

Ride a bike with a low bb and you'll notice the difference.

ride a trials bike with negative bottom bracket drop (that means the axles are below the bb)

that will indicate why low BBs are stable.

Also on that note i'm more interested in BB drop than actual height from the ground.

So as a quick example a Santa Cruz Superlight has a 12.5 inch BB and a nickel has a 13.6 inch BB is the idea that the Superlight will be more stable and nimble because it has a lower BB?

Can that many people really tell the difference in what 1/2" of BB height makes to handling out there in the real world.

One thing I did notice when I got my Nic' was the fact I wasn't hitting the pedals half as much, but then again I'm also a better rider now 😆

You stand on the pedals. You sit on the seat. Your hands are on the grips. You get on your bike, not in it.

Sounds like your bike is just fine, Joolsburger. Those who claim to be in their bikes are doing it all wrong.

I wouldn't call 13inches especailly high, Is it a full sus? 13 inches is about right for a trial oriented full-sus any lower is more xc-race (jey-xc-gnar-bimble)

It's even worse if you're tall. A 6' person can have a significantly higher centre of mass compared to a 5' tall person. 😐

Those who claim to be in their bikes are doing it all wrong.

I did wonder why I was feeling a little tender around the genitals.

I had a bike with 7inch travel fr/rear with a BB height of about 14", even with sag I could pedal through anything, I now have a 5 inch travel bike with a 12.5" (approx) BB and tend to clout pedals as a result, I enjoyed riding both, but there was a marked difference in feel to them both.

13" sagged isn't that high on a long-fork hardtail though, and is about right / fairly average on a 5"+ FS?

a low BB has subtle advantages in corners, on climbs, on descents, in fact almost all the time, apart from when pedalling in rocky / rutted areas. a high BB only really has advantages when pedalling in very rough areas. i'd go for a mid-to-low BB everytime and learn to hop or time pedalling in the rough, as the best compromise. an extra inch of BB height can destabilise a bike a bit from what your're used to, but it's no big deal and whithin reason whatever BB height a bike has you can catch a pedal now and then if not careful, we all do i think.

having said that with trail-rider head on, a short rear / higher bb combo is easier to hop / jump, from my limited jumping experience )

13" sagged isn't that high on a long-fork hardtail though

which is exactly why long forks and hardtails should never mix

a 6inch bike with a 14inch static bb and 30% sag will ride at the same height as a 4inch bike with a static 13inch bb with 20-25% sag, roughly 12-12.3inch ride height, plus longer travel bikes tend to run fatter tyres which raise the bb a bit til you squash em down, wheelbase combined with bb height is what makes more of a diffrance than bb height alone, imo
long and low=fast stable dh, berms ect, short and high=good peddling over rough stuff, easy to pop the front up for freeride drops and suchlike, then theres head angles to add in as well, lot more to it than just the bb height i reckon

GW, yeah to a point I agree, depends on waht you call long i guess. 13" on a FS or a HT, it's pretty much the same right? it's higher than i'd go for on a HT pesonally, but not so high i'd bother about it too much, depends on a load of other things too.