Was it the Quake XLT? A 14.5" BB height is pretty excessive for a bike with 6.7" of travel. Not saying it's a bad bike (never ridden one), but it would rule it out for me personally.I was reading a review of a Marin bike, and it criticized its high BB height, over 14 inches.
I know many bikes are designed around a low BB for better cornering and center-of-gravity.
Is there an advantage besides clearance for a high BB?
It was a trail bike, but it got me thinking about the VP-Free, which I have been told is high.Was it the Quake XLT? A 14.5" BB height is pretty excessive for a bike with 6.7" of travel. Not saying it's a bad bike (never ridden one), but it would rule it out for me personally.
Not really so, a lower BB results in dropping the COG of a bike significantly, considering that the rider (the largest mass on a bike by a long shot) is lowered. I feel it translates into cornering pretty favourably; over the years I've gone from 15" to 14" to 13.6" BB heights on 8" travel frames, and the bikes have progressively been quicker in and out of corners and just felt faster all round as the height dropped.Yes, one of the biggest things that is completely blown out of proportion these days.
Not really so, a lower BB results in dropping the COG of a bike significantly
You can't compare BB heights between 20" and 26" wheel sizes.John Cowan says a high bottom bracket provides more leverage for pumping rollers and jumps and such. At least, that's what I read in an old Decline.
It makes sense, but BMX bikes have ~11" BB heights, and they pump much better than MTBs. However, that's possibly too broad of a comparison. Head angle, chainstay length, wheelbase, and all that jazz probably determine the pump of a bicycle more than just the BB height measurement. A 14" BB isn't really bad at all, and one could adapt to that pretty quickly and easily. My XC bike has a 12.25" BB height, and I can hop on much taller bikes and ride just fine.
Super low seats is a fad, you need to be brigning your seats up a touch to help keep you in an attack postion, Alot of people are running the seat height no lower than an inch and a half lower than the bars.
Almost every bike I've replaced in the last 5 years was due largely in part to achieving a lower bottom bracket. I've not once been unhappy with the decision.Should people go selling their bikes just because one is half an inch lower? I don't think so. Does half an inch of lower BB necessarily mean you'll end up with a lower COG or dynamic BB? No.
remember that all BB heights are static without sagMy '08 V10 has a 14.8" BB but it corners SOOOOO fast compared to the '07 V10. It also hits the pedals and bashgaurd on stuff I expect to clear. Basically I wouldn't want to go any lower but I feel the improvement from the higher old bike.