I’M ALL FOR LOWER, LONGER, SLACKER MOUNTAIN BIKES, BUT LET’S NOT TAKE IT TOO FAR!

THE EVOLUTION OF the road-race bike has come to a virtual standstill. In contrast, there’s so much new and exciting stuff happening in the rest of the bicycle world. The geometry rules of the mountain bike, for example, are in the midst of a major rewrite, with ‘lower/longer/slacker’ (LLS) being its hottest and most-evolving trend. Like a lot of trends, it’s difficult to pin down where, how, and why LLS got its start. Perhaps the movement towards shorter stems and wider handlebars, the proliferation of dropper posts, ever-changing wheel sizes, and the exploding popularity of bike parks and flow trails (both of which encourage riding at higher speeds than on typical singletrack) have something to do with it. Whatever the reason, almost every new mountain bike that launches is lower, longer,…

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Bicycling South Africa (Digital) - 1 Issue, July - August 2020

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