Bike Geometry

[Bender is CRAZY]

Why is it better to have a longer bike for DH, would DHing on a bike with a shorter length be terrible?

Thanks

 

[ajay]

long wheelbase is more stable at speed while a short wheelbase
is arguabley more nimble. iride a demo9 - short (ish) wheel base and it kicks ass!

 

[Shaun]

it really is one of those personnel things i think. i wouldn't call a short bike terrible cause you adapt to what you ride. but like he said, a long bike is more stable at speed with a shorter bike being easier through tight corners and more nimble.

 

[Crany]

it all depends on the track wheather one bike or the other will peform better like on a fast wide open track a bike with a long wheel base (wb) and a slack head angle (ha) will perform better where as a bike with a short wb and a steeper ha will perform better. It also come down to your size and wheather your style is suited to a long or short bike. But there are many element to this equation

 

[thrasher]

if u want a longer wheel base just put on some super monsters.u get your longer wheel base as well as slacker head angle.u also wouldnt feel many bumps because there will be so much travel

 

[man]

and the weight and pointlessness you add cancels all those reasons out

 

[S.]

long wheelbase is more stable at speed while a short wheelbase
is arguabley more nimble. iride a demo9 - short (ish) wheel base and it kicks ass!

Demo 9s actually have pretty long wheelbases. A medium (stock build) Demo 9 is about 2" longer than an Iron Horse SGS (also stock build).

Generally speaking, longer wheelbase = more stable, shorter wheelbase = more agile. This is obviously because agility is derived from inherent instability. There is no best/worst until you start going to extremes (extremely short or extremely long) and even then it's partly because it has to throw all your other geometry out to do so.