Originally Posted by
LeeG
I am now in a place where 95% of my riding is off road, hilly and rural. I no longer go fast although I am getting into better shape. Got a Rivendell Clem Smith a few years ago and a modern REI hardtail last year. The Clem Smith was a bit of a revelation about very long chainstay geometry providing ride comfort in unpaved settings for easy speeds. So as I’m looking around it looks like Rivendell and Jones Bikes are the only folks making very long 20”+ chainstay bikes. Sure suspension enables one to fly down bumps but I really don’t feel like risking unintentional dismounts at speed these days. Touring bikes are around 17.5” chainstays which is not much longer than road racing bikes of the 60’s. And nearly all the hardtail or gravel bikes that take 2.6” tires are stuck in that 17” territory.
The long unsuspended bikes seem to be closer to the geometry of the bikes I see in pictures from the early 1900’s accounting for differences in modern fatter tire sizes. I guess I’ve become an outlier.
You're not that much of an outlier, and millions of boomers are becoming more like you! So far, we're WAY under-served in the cycling marketplace. With all the models that Trek, Specialized, Giant, and other manufacturers produce, there really is no excuse for the lack of suitable alternatives for older riders.
My brother's Clem Smith Jr. has a 53" wheelbase. I used 18 links from a second chain, iirc. It's such a cushy ride that it gets downright boingy sometimes. It also weighs 32 lbs. Where are the 45" wheelbase step-throughs, or quality DF frames with longer geometry? How about a 22 lb. step-through model? How about a 17 lb. step-through model? I want a step-through that is under UCI regs!
Some BF wags will probably respond that there is no demand for such, but that is confusion of cause and effect, I believe.