Originally Posted by
ThermionicScott
The MTB has the same top tube length as my road bikes, but the slacker angles necessitated more reach.
In the old days, 1920's, the frames had very slack angles and they used a forward extension seat post to get the rider over the pedals and effectively reduced the reach. like so:
From collectvelo's flicker site
I measured my 1989 Giant Iguana against a 1917 frame in my collection and bingo! Same tube lenghts and angles. So maybe a forward set seat post has more advantages then a shorter stem? I've been thinking about that lately, may just flip a set-back post around and see how she rides