The U Factor article explains the premise perfectly. The major change since that writing has been Riv having access to/getting longer and longer chainstays made. I'm glad they've pushed it to the point where we can see the actual downsides rather than just the theoretical: It's difficult in a city to fit some of the longer stay bikes on a bus, it's hard to get them up the stairs, etc., but those aren't constraints for many others and the upsides outweigh the down. I love my late 90's Riv Road with long stays for a road bike of the time, but short compared to a Clem or similar. I also love my Appaloosa (and my Cheviot before it) that has insanely long stays, but is comfortable, feels nimble and still allows me to ride all the trails I'd ride any rigid bike on. Ride all the bikes you can and love them for what they are (or not!).
Eric On Thursday, April 4, 2024 at 8:49:10 AM UTC-4 ascpgh wrote: > The U Factor > <https://www.rivbike.com/pages/rivendell-archives-rivendell-reader-5-the-u-factor> > > Andy Cheatham > Pittsburgh > > On Sunday, March 31, 2024 at 1:50:18 PM UTC-4 John Hawrylak, Woodstown NJ > wrote: > >> Enjoyed reading the thread "Anyone else not a fan of long chainstays?", >> especially Bill L's explanation of the RBW bike design philosophy. Seems >> the prevailing thought is long stays are better for >> upright riding >> single track type trails (vs a Rails to Trails type trail) >> >> I'll just note 2 'facts' >> 1 The vast majority of RBW models (except the Roadeo type frame) use >> slack STA and HTA which may contribute to the ride effect when coupled with >> long stays. >> 2. In the beginning RBW addressed getting the bars higher and adopting a >> non-racer riding style (back at 45° with hands on hoods), which IMHO were >> solutions to actual problems. >> >> *So What problem or current deficiency in bike design is Grant solving by >> using long chain stays????* >> Just to bring bikes to market that no one else is building?? >> Or do they solve a real problem??? >> >> John Hawrylak >> Woodstown NJ >> >> FWIW 2 of 3 of my frames have 44 to 45cm chain stays, and 1 has a 43cm >> chain stay. It's hard to notice a ride difference. >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/d1d86966-f35c-4118-b342-ce2627dc24b5n%40googlegroups.com.
