Bike Geometry Deep Dive - Trail figures
joeyhalloran
Posts: 1,080
in Road general
Perhaps a bit of a deep dive but here goes:
Trail is one of the main geometry figures that impact how a bike handles. GCN even did a video on this with Tom Sturdy making two very similar bikes with different trail figures and seeing how they compared.
My question relates to the relationship between trail and bike size. Should it change?
BMC (Roadmachine its 63 on all frame sizes) and Cannondale (System Six it's either 58 or 57) seem to keep a reasonable consistent trail figure. However, the Specialized SL7 ranges from 52 to 71.
So do bikes of a similar trail handle similarly regardless of wheelbase or do larger bikes with longer wheelbased need less trail to make them feel as 'lively' or 'agile' as the shorter wheelbased smaller versions?
Trail is one of the main geometry figures that impact how a bike handles. GCN even did a video on this with Tom Sturdy making two very similar bikes with different trail figures and seeing how they compared.
My question relates to the relationship between trail and bike size. Should it change?
BMC (Roadmachine its 63 on all frame sizes) and Cannondale (System Six it's either 58 or 57) seem to keep a reasonable consistent trail figure. However, the Specialized SL7 ranges from 52 to 71.
So do bikes of a similar trail handle similarly regardless of wheelbase or do larger bikes with longer wheelbased need less trail to make them feel as 'lively' or 'agile' as the shorter wheelbased smaller versions?
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