[miuan]

Simple question. What is your DH rig wheelbase versus your height and how do your deal with fast sections vs. tight corners? Feel free to add your impressions.
The reason is, being 5'10", I came from a 1165mm medium Faith to a small Izimu which is 1135mm only. While the bike became much more lively, I fear of going full speed on the straights as I was used to. I am aware everything is a compromise, and I love how the Izimu feels on tight single tracks, but I am curious what other monkeys experience with their rides.
PS: anyone swaps my Izimu for your large?

 

[Udi]

1135 is really short.

I'm 5'11 and my previous DH bike was a medium 06 demo 8, I believe the wheelbase was 1180mm (~46.5"). When I first got on it, it felt quite long, but once I got used to it I was pulling some of the best times I ever had and quite a few respectable results.

I'm on a medium sunday now, and the wheelbase in stock guise w/ slammed boxxer was 1156mm (~45.5"). It was definitely a little less confidence inspiring at speed to begin with. I now have the boxxer dropped in the crowns a little, it's sitting at 45.8". Combined with getting used to the bike over the last year, I'm okay with it now, but I'd still be happy for it to be 46" flat.

But yeah, 1135 is pretty damn short... personally I know I wouldn't feel very comfortable in faster sections with a bike that short.

 

[miuan]

FYI, Morewood don't even list the WB on their 2007 model site.

 

[norbar]

I'm 179cm and my bike feels longish at 1180mm. At tight corners 1160mm feels perfect for me.

 

[- seb]

My DHi is 1148 and I'm 6ft2. It flicks around great, but conversely I never feel "unstable" at speed. That's running in the short wheelbase setting, I could increase it to 1165ish (at a guess) but I've never tried it.

 

[bizutch]

1135 is really short.

I'm 5'11 and my previous DH bike was a medium 06 demo 8, I believe the wheelbase was 1180mm (~46.5"). When I first got on it, it felt quite long, but once I got used to it I was pulling some of the best times I ever had and quite a few respectable results.

I'm on a medium sunday now, and the wheelbase in stock guise w/ slammed boxxer was 1156mm (~45.5"). It was definitely a little less confidence inspiring at speed to begin with. I now have the boxxer dropped in the crowns a little, it's sitting at 45.8". Combined with getting used to the bike over the last year, I'm okay with it now, but I'd still be happy for it to be 46" flat.

But yeah, 1135 is pretty damn short... personally I know I wouldn't feel very comfortable in faster sections with a bike that short.

Same bike transition for me too. Came off of DHR's with 45.5" wheelbases b4 that. The Demo & Sunday felt pretty identical to me in turns of manuverability. The other geometry factors play a big part in the handling characteristics too. The Demo was my longest bike yet, but turned quick b/c of the really short chainstays on the rear. The Sunday wasn't really that much shorter but had a slacker head angle to keep you relaxed in the steeps adn the rear turned as good, if not better than the Demo.

1/2 to 1" difference in wheelbase doesn't matter as much to me as do head angle and bottom bracket height. The Sunday & Demo both had silly low BB's so they turned awesome. Pro's are known for running even lower, ala the old Turner drill hole trick. As long as your head angle is relatively slack, high speeds aren't going to matter so much to you as your suspension tune. I mean, we're only getting up to 45mph tops most anytime. Unless you're setting land speed records in the Alps on a regular basis, any skilled rider shouldn't feel out of sorts at speed with a bike over 45" long. Heck, Hill rides a small which is almost XC short.

If you don't feel comfortable at speed, slide your fork all the way down in the crowns to slacken it out & lengthen it at the same time. If you are running a Boxxer, run the Tall crown. What year Izimu are you running? Bars? Which slot do you have your rear shock mounted in the shuttle? Pics?

 

[primo661]

Simple question. What is your DH rig wheelbase versus your height and how do your deal with fast sections vs. tight corners? Feel free to add your impressions.
The reason is, being 5'10", I came from a 1165mm medium Faith to a small Izimu which is 1135mm only. While the bike became much more lively, I fear of going full speed on the straights as I was used to. I am aware everything is a compromise, and I love how the Izimu feels on tight single tracks, but I am curious what other monkeys experience with their rides.
PS: anyone swaps my Izimu for your large?

a small izimu is way too small for you, large would be much better!!! small is like for 12year olds hahaha.. only kiddin but a large would be much better

 

[miuan]

The Izimu is a 07. I use the middle shuttle setting. I tried the slackest and liked it (though I got some more crank/dirt contact), but the rear tire liked to bump my seat tube couple times a ride, so I put it back in the middle. I may limit the shock stroke with some spacers between the bumper and spring collar to avoid seat tube contact and see if I like this setting. Bar is a normal riser, stem 45mm. Pic: http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=4i1ocz&s=3

 

[Inclag]

Heck, Hill rides a small which is almost XC short.

Do you get Dirt Mag? I think articles on Hill's bike are filler material for when they don't have enough written in each issue. Anywho, Hill rides a medium in terms of standover, but with the large sizes' geometry and a slacker HT.

 

[primo661]

very very nice... props to you, pity its too small for me or u'd be missing it tomorrow morning

 

[Jeremy R]

Are you sure your numbers are right?
My buddies on large Izimu's have their wheelbase at an even 46.
And the only difference between the large and small is 30mm in the top tube.
So, it should be coming in real close to 45.
That said, I LOVE small bikes.
My favorite race bike I ever had was a small Turner DHR and I am 5'10.
As long as the BB is low and the head angle is slack, I will take a 45 inch bike all day long.
Every time I drag out my 47 inch Demo around here, I always regret leaving my SX trail at home.
I need to test ride that small Izimu.:biggrin:

 

[miuan]

Are you sure your numbers are right?
My buddies on large Izimu's have their wheelbase at an even 46.
And the only difference between the large and small is 30mm in the top tube.
So, it should be coming in real close to 45.

46" x 2.54 = 1168.4mm - 30mm = 1138.4mm (small)
My gross measurement was 1135mm with boxxers all the way steep and a ritchey wcs low stack headset.

That said, I LOVE small bikes.
My favorite race bike I ever had was a small Turner DHR and I am 5'10.
As long as the BB is low and the head angle is slack, I will take a 45 inch bike all day long.

My mate who is 6'1" hammers the trails on his small 06 V10 and he is still so much faster. That's why I want to see others' opinions as well.

Every time I drag out my 47 inch Demo around here, I always regret leaving my SX trail at home.
I need to test ride that small Izimu.:biggrin:

Wanna swap?

Anyway, I will definitely try the nylon spacers to see if slackening does the trick for me.

 

[Udi]

Heck, Hill rides a small which is almost XC short.

No way! Hill is riding a frame that is essentially a 19" (large) - it has the same wheelbase as that, except with the seatube height/gusset from the 17" so it doesn't look horrid - like the 19" frame that us mortals get. Before that, so until '06 (inclusive), he rode a standard 17" / medium.

Also, dropping the fork in the crowns isn't the smartest idea because it raises your bar height directly... I would never go as far as running a drop crown to slacken the bike out more, as you'll have the equivalent of highrise bars (and then some) in no time.

 

[xy9ine]

i actually prefer longer bikes. my current big bike is 47-1/4" (i'm 6'-1"); it's dead planted in the fast & knarley and works just fine in the tight stuff - you can always square off or nose manny super tight corners.

 

[bizutch]

No way! Hill is riding a frame that is essentially a 19" (large) - it has the same wheelbase as that, except with the seatube height/gusset from the 17" so it doesn't look horrid - like the 19" frame that us mortals get. Before that, so until '06 (inclusive), he rode a standard 17" / medium.

Also, dropping the fork in the crowns isn't the smartest idea because it raises your bar height directly... I would never go as far as running a drop crown to slacken the bike out more, as you'll have the equivalent of highrise bars (and then some) in no time.

oh well...misread then. Should have known to ask you first about all things regarding Hill since you have a rectal cam installed on the guy & know all. :biggrin:

But as far as going to the tall crown, yes, it will slacken the front, get the BB up a whopping 6mm or something unnoticeable, but the cockpit can be corrected easily with a lower rise bar to get back to his normal position. If it's high speed trails he's trying to accomodate, raising the front would actually make him more comfortable & the nominal raise in BB wouldn't be noticeable. He'd have a slightly longer wheelbase & slacker head angle.

When he goes to a course that's tight & twisty, slide the stanchions up in the crowns the get the BB back & steep the head angle to it's current angle.
It's not a perfect solution but something pretty simple to make the bike smoke it on 2 different style courses.

I personally rode the Morewood Demo bike at the US Open which is an '07 Large & it was a millimeter or so longer than 46" and handled great so moving to the Large may be his ultimate answer, but not his cheapest.

 

[bballe336]

I'm on an R9 and it has a 46.75" wheelbase. It feels pretty good so far but I haven't really had enough time on the bike to say much more than that. The most noticeable change for me was how much longer the front end of the bike is than my small faith was, and that makes more difference in terms of how I feel on the bike than the wheelbase.

 

[Iridemtb]

Ok, ok, perfect place to post my question.

My yeti asx has a wheelbase of 43.75". And the head angle is 66 degrees with a 6.2 inch fork. I'm currently running 7 inches of travel on my fox 40 I have on the yeti asx. It jumps great, and corners pretty good (the bb is a little high at 14.5 inches). But I get real squirrely on gnarly downhill sections. I rode my friends demo 9, and was killing it in the rough sections, the only downside is, which your going to pay for no matter what with a full on downhill bike is the "flickability factor" when jumping. It even cornered better than my yeti asx.

Now here's where my question comes in. I am going to be getting a new frame here. I was looking at a bike with a really long wheelbase. A demo 8 has a wheel base of 47.3 inches. A blindsides is 46 inches.

So with a longer wheelbase obviously the more cumbersome a bike is in turns, jumping, etc. But if I buy a frame with a little, like 2 inches, of a longer wheelbase, but a slacker head angle, will it compensate for the wheelbase?

 

[karpi]

my old karpiel had 112,5 wheelbase, and I'm 183cm high. This made for a very short wheelbase for my height, but in the corners it made up for everthing. When going through hard stuff at high speeds, I'd feel unstable and would only dream of a 115 or 116 wheelbase bike!

 

[miuan]

I've put a 3mm worth of spacers under my shock bumper so the travel is exactly 200mm and my rear tire hopefully won't contact the seat tube anymore under the slack setting. I may also rise the fork to partly compensate for the lower BB, but don't feel like getting rid of the flat crown unless I don't get used to the lower BB position. I'm leaving for Morzine next Saturday, so there will be a lot of testing done over there.

 

[Jeremy R]

I've put a 3mm worth of spacers under my shock bumper so the travel is exactly 200mm and my rear tire hopefully won't contact the seat tube anymore under the slack setting. I may also rise the fork to partly compensate for the lower BB, but don't feel like getting rid of the flat crown unless I don't get used to the lower BB position. I'm leaving for Morzine next Saturday, so there will be a lot of testing done over there.

Cool, what is your wheelbase in the slack setting?

 

[TomBo]

I ride a small '06 Izimu, I get a bit of contact on the seat tube / collar / seat. (2.5 Intense 909 or 2.5 Nev) in the slack setting. Nothing that I am worried about, its only when I really mess up a line or g-out into sharp bumps, ect. I never notice it locking up, during, contact. Oh yah the shock is a Fox 5.0 with a 400lbs, I am 170 w gear. So I just let it ride.

As for wheel base. I had a med old school V-10 before. Man do I miss it in the open high speed stuff ( think St.Anne's open sections ). In reality it was too big for me (5'7") and the Morewood seems to be a better over all package.

 

[Alloy]

I'm 5.10 and run 46.5 or 47...same as you I tend to run faster times with a longer wheel base. Which kind of makes me wonder how the original small, medium, and large sizes developed. Were they from cross country standards?