Clyde1820

I'm uncertain whether there's any primary driving factor, but I suspect that racing cycling along with the rise of mountain biking has seen to it that much of cycling's geometry remains "compact."

I, too, am fond of the more-relaxed geometries, a la the Rivendell Clem Smith type bikes. Love the ride quality. But then, I've never needed to cope with rougher cross-country mountain biking, never had an interest in outright speed or climbing performance, etc. I don't much like "twitchy" character in a bike. And while I suspect many people out there also would prefer the longer type frames, basically the whole of the industry has gone the other way in the past ~40yrs.