Seen that pic before, found it interesting how saddle-to-bars distance is similar, even with everything else so diferent.
interesting how saddle-to-bars distance is similar
Almost as if our bums and our hands are still in more or less the same place, relative to each other 🙂
I like his attitude.
And some people who haven't tried this new geo think they will be too stretched out riding these new long bikes when they look at the reach figures on paper, which this shows nicely isn't necessarily the case.
It's a good pic, but not really comparing the same type of bike, is it? I suppose downhill/enduro/gnarpoons of an age similar to the Klein are a bit thin on the ground, but the Klein should really be compared to something like an Epic hardtail....
Interesting pic, anyway.... 🙂
I suppose downhill/enduro/gnarpoons of an age similar to the Klein are a bit thin on the ground, but the Klein should really be compared to something like an Epic hardtail….
Back then everyone was riding something similar to the Klein. Now everyone’s riding something similar to the Sick.
should really be compared to something like an Epic hardtail….
The new Epic evo full suss perhaps, or the now defunct camber?
before my time, but was the Klein a dedicated xc race bike? did such a thing exist then? If it was intended for everything from woodland singletrack to a big day in the lakes, (basically everything bar DH competition) then it seems to be an apt comparison.
found it interesting how saddle-to-bars distance is similar
saddle to bar looks to be about 150 to 200mm shorter on the Klein? (horizontally, the extra drop compensates)
Horizontal bottom bracket to bar (is this 'reach') looks about the same though
Yes, I think Stumpy01 is right. Know what Idlejohn means though - people just used the same bike for almost everything, whereas now we’re flogged the idea that we all need the latest long & slack things for everything. I remember a couple of old fellas descending ‘The Beast’ in the Peak on their ancient MTB’s (one even had a mangy pannier hanging off the back:) They were rattling down as fast as me on my modern ‘Enduro bike’ 😄
It’s a good pic, but not really comparing the same type of bike, is it?
I originally thought that, but then again, all the current "streams" of bikes did evolve from essentially XC bikes. So it's not like it isn't a valid evolutionary comparison imo.
Makes you wonder what bikes will evolve to in another 20 years..........
It’s a comparison of two snapshots if different kinds of bikes.
people forget that 90s roady influenced XC MTBs with long stems and narrow bars were not ‘the beginning’ they’re as much diverged from early MTBs as current trail bikes are from them.
Go back another decade before that and bars were huge, rims were wide, wheelbases were long and angles were slack.
or compare the freeride and hucking phases of the early noughties to XC Bike’s of the same era and there’ll be just as big a juxtaposition (although in a different way)
interesting pic, but not exactly charting the evolution or divergence of MTB
Makes you wonder what bikes will evolve to in another 20 years……….
what will riding involve? I'd suggest most modern bikes can get their roots/intended purpose from one of 5 things:
1) xc race
2) long distance xc sportive/mile munching/bikepacking
3) trail centres
4) enduro race
5) DH race
Other terms have fallen by the wayside. An Enduro race bike will serve marvelously for Megaavalanche, freeride sessions, and a big day out in the mountains. All previous trends with subtle bike nerd differences. How do those small differences accumulate in 20 years