2 underrated innovations to which we owe the fact that mountain bikes can do more and more

An interesting article on www.singletracks.com by Jeff Barber entitled " Mountain Bikes Are More Capable Than Ever Before, and 2 Innovations Deserve Much of the Credit " explains why today's mountain bikes are getting better and better. The article attributes this ability to two recent but still underappreciated innovations, one revolutionary - sudden - character and the other, which is rather evolutionary - creeping. Let's discuss the context of the telescopic seatpost and the modern "long and low geometry" of mountain bikes.

But first, let's say what we mean when we say that mountain bikes can do more. The article cites the pioneer of design of modern (especially fully-sprung wheels) founder and owner of the Pivot brand, Chris Cocalis. Cocalis claims that thanks to modern mountain bikes, bikers can "ride with more effort, more technical trails, faster and more confident". Veteran mountain biking Jeff Lenosky adds that the bikes can handle "a wider range of riding skills and styles on a wider range of terrain.

According to the article, the invention of the telescopic seat post made the greater capabilities of today's mountain bikes possible. It was this that allowed the fully sprung mountain bikes with high strokes to work for pedaling uphill, because thanks to it, it was suddenly possible to have a saddle high enough. Downwards, the saddle is so low that the full potential of their stroke is used. After the telescopic seatpost allowed the high-lift pedal wheels, the fairy tale industry noticed that it could innovate the geometry and the work of the shock absorber. However, the telescopic seatpost also enabled a boom in platform pedals and the entire eMTB category. The telescope actually made it possible for us to own two bikes in one - DHčko, which goes downhill, and XCčko, which works when pedaling.

Figure 1: Steel Orange P7 is a model example of modern fable geometry

If I call the telescopic seat post a revolution, according to Barber's article, we should also notice creeping changes - modern fable geometry. It is clear that this geometry is inextricably linked to the telescopic seatpost, but its development has been gradual. It took us several years to get to the current bikes with a long "reach" (ie long front) with a fork, a low center, a more vertical saddle tube and wide handlebars with a short stem.

These changes, according to MTB instructor Simon Lawton, with whom Singletracks.com also did a podcast , have caused today's wheels to handlebars behind the front wheel axle, a thing that gives riders confidence. You have to get them down a really steep hill so that the handlebars get in front of the axle and you lose that certainty. "Modern geometry has also added a steeper saddle tube to the wheels, which makes riders in a far more efficient position when driving uphill," explains Cocalis.

And what is most important about these changes? Yeah, they allowed professional riders unprecedented speeds and flights. At Singltrek, however, we mainly enjoy how they made it easier for beginning bikers to ride on the trails. Just as modern carving skis will allow people from the people to cut an arc like Micheala Schiffer, the new bikes allow us to feel more average when riding trails like Manon Carpenter.

POSTSCRIPT:

Without wishing to reheat eintopf in this text, it is worth mentioning that the Orange Bikes brand, which we represent on the Czech market, whether in the category of hardtails or full-suspension bikes, is in the first line of innovators who together pushed our bikes to modern "long and low "geometry. You can't even buy a bike without a telescope from them. For those who would like to try out how such a bike behaves, there is a fleet of Singltrek Center rental in Nové Město pod Smrkem . Historically, we struggled with the fact that the older generation teleskopek to fail demanding operations in lending (both uninformed clients in the field changed height and "Pulling Bowden." But this year the container arrives enough telescopic seat posts RST us to have launched our steel hardtail P7 .

Figure 2: You can rent bikes with modern geometry at Singltrek pod Smrkem