I’m thinking about getting a Druid.
Anyone who has one - how’s the sizing? How tall are you and what size do you ride?
I’m 5’10”. Average proportions. S2 or S3?
I'm 6'2 on an s4. Apparently 500mm reach but it feels long. Comfort is much improved with a high bar/stem combo.
I'm 6'0, S3 feels perfect. I have short arms and legs and generally prefer smaller frames.
I'm also running a 160 fork and it feels better to me like that.
I don't own a Druid but I did test both the S3 and S4.
I'm 6' tall and normal proportions.
I found the S3 way to small and the S4 way too big which was a surprise as with a reach on the S4 of 500 it's shorter than all my other bikes.
I didn't get chance to actually measure it but something didn't stack up with the quoted geo.
The rear suspension feel was very good though.
Demo'd a V1 years ago, size large, mullet & 35mm stem, I'm 6' and it felt like I was way over the front, had a brief pedal on another large with a 29 rear wheel that felt better. The extending rear centre takes some getting used to I found.
In certain situations it cornered amazingly and compared to the Ripmo I was riding at the time I could pedal through roots and rough terrain much better.
To add to my post both bikes were v2 with 29 rear.
Mine is a V2 29er. 160mm fork because the 150 felt wrong.
If you're anywhere near Sheffield you can have a spin on it. It'll be too big but you can have a close look at the frame.
“I found the S3 way to small and the S4 way too big which was a surprise as with a reach on the S4 of 500 it's shorter than all my other bikes.”
So I have a bike sizing hypothesis which is that it’s not just reach and stack that determines how big a bike feels but also the chainstay length, or maybe the ratio of rear centre to front centre (at dynamic sag). I think if you make the chainstays longer whilst changing nothing else then the rider shifts their hips backwards when standing making the reach feel longer.
On the Druid the reach and stack and rear centre all increase significantly with size, whilst most bikes hardly change the chainstay length (if at all) and many don’t increase the stack as much either.
Thanks all. Current full sus is reach 460 (Pivot Mach 5.5) and could happily be a bit longer I think. Hardtail is reach 470 (Pipedream Moxie) and feels about right. Doesn’t the reach on a hardtail increase as suspension compresses though so a bit longer might be ok for a full sus?
On the Druid the reach and stack and rear centre all increase significantly with size, whilst most bikes hardly change the chainstay length (if at all)
I kind of agree with that but off the back of comparing to a Geometron G1 and G13 that I've swapped about chainstay and seatstay length I'd maybe add that the way the rear end grows under compression also had a a lot to do with it.
It really made me feel like a passenger that was being dragged down the hill with little control.
Bearing in mind that I'm a huge fan of longer bikes I was kind of taken back that I didn't get on with the S4 and the S3 felt horribly cramped on the climbs.
“I’d maybe add that the way the rear end grows under compression also had a a lot to do with it.”
Yes, I’m sure that must contribute! I think we’re all used to how full-sus bikes usually change between static and sagged (slightly slacker, slightly taller slack, slightly shorter reach, rear centre barely changes, front centre gets shorter, BB drops a lot), which is why people get confused by what hardtails do from static to sag.
But with a significantly lengthening rear centre as the back compresses you have a big change in weight distribution as it’s happening as the front centre does the opposite.
”Hardtail is reach 470 (Pipedream Moxie) and feels about right.”
That’s the static reach with a 140mm fork - so it’ll get longer at sag but not as much longer as you may think if you’re running a bigger fork.
To compare sizes I’d look at the diagonal of reach and stack for the frames (sq rt of reach squared plus stack squared).
I think Forbidden's sizing theory is that size is the distance from the bottom bracket to the bar. Very similar to diagonal of reach and stack, but constant whether you over/under fork it, change the chainstay length etc.
They do things their own way. As with anything, try to ride before you buy I guess.
I think the longer rear end of the Druid definitely puts a lot more weight on the front end. It feels super planted and harder to lift. It really made my old 150 Lyrik feel mushy and useless.
So I ended up spending £££ on custom tuned 160mm fork from J-Tech and that made all the difference.
I also experimented with the 60x10 Creature stem from my other thread. That was good but it's been cut short due to a product recall.
I'm currently running my highest regular bar which is a 40mm Fatbar. Annoyingly I cut the steerer for the Creature stem so now with a 10mm higher bar I'm just back to where I was.
I need something with at least 50mm rise in the near future.
It felt great yesterday. It's still got the most impressive rear suspension I've ever ridden despite the standard rear shock just being set to 'middle' on everything. The way it swallows big hits with only 130mm travel is nuts.
I've never hammered it on gnarly trails yet because I have the Airdrop for uplift days and bikepark stuff. I'll definitely take the Druid to BPW at some point.
