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Hi all, been thinking of building up an old frame as I used to love it.
It's an Azonic propulsion from about 2004/5 & has a whopping 3.75" of rear travel, I only relegated it as I bought a NOS 2004 turner burner frame which I thought had the same geometry & rear travel in a size more appropriate for my lanky 6' frame, the Azonic is a 18" & the Turner 19".
I have only ridden the Turner the once in over a year of ownership as it felt wrong to me, more like I was sat 'on' the bike than the Azonic if that makes sense? It's hard to explain, but the only other bike I felt the same way about was a Specialized Enduro that also only lasted the one ride before I got rid of it.
Of all the bikes I have had, and there have been many, only the Azonic, a Stiffee & a Pipedream (with the same geo as the stiffee) have been constants, and they all have fairly slack seat tubes.
So is it the slackness of the seat tube that makes me enjoy these bikes more, or could there be more to it?
On paper the Turner should of been a keeper, it worked out to have the same reach as the Azonic because of the steeper seat tube, but it feels so different to ride & sluggish in singletrack in comparison.
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Any thoughts as to why this should be?
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Cheers in advance.
i think its a combination of factors; bb height, wheelbase, head angle, stem length, handlebar height etc.
Agree with the above, I usually move from frame to frame swapping the bits over. Some will feel a bit odd to begin with, but usually with a bit of tinkering with stem/ bars and seat posistion, and shock pressures etc, they all seem to fit. One ride wouldn't be enough for me to decide. I guess if it was something fundamental about the geometry of the frame that doesn't suit then it just ain't the right frame.
Thanks, but does anyone get what I mean by 'in' rather than 'on'?
The Azonic is like a mini DH bike & very agile, the Turner feels more like a big hardtail with a bit of squish.
Does that make sense?
I often read people saying "sitting in the bike" to me this just
conjures up an image of handlebars higher than the saddle!
Bb height seems to affect things a fair bit. Think of your current bike but raise the bb one inch in your head. Your centre of mass is raised so you feel less stable espesially cornering imo.
I used to have a pair of those clear Madison glasses years ago and whenever I put them on I immediately felt like I was another foot above the ground. They made riding anything frightening.
I agree. Ridden a number of bikes where you feel you are pereched on it. Abig lump of weight sitting on a light bike below you. Others where you feel nice and in the centre.
the only time you sit on a bike is to chill, climb or ride along non tech trail.
BB height is the key figure, with other having a combined effect.
BB hight is a good call, the Turner is nearly an inch higher.
As for Jedi's comment, I'm sure you know what I mean Tony, the slack seat tube means your weight is further over the back of the bike making it easier to loft etc, not only when seated as you base a frame on reach which is also affected by the seat tube angle, it would may make climbing harder & that may well go some way to explaining my distinct lack of skill in that area 😉
I know what you mean - but only as far as 29er bikes feel to me after 26" bikes.