Bikerumor Podcast #013 – Pivot’s Chris Cocalis goes off about mountain bike design

The media industry hate in Chris is strong. I find his general view that the media is driving the long/low movement a bit It comes off like we (bike riders/buyers) are a bunch of lemmings with no thoughts or experiences of our own.

It ignores the reality that people buy and ride these bikes, and in some cases, actually lead the charge in changes to bike design. People were sizing up with larger frames, shrinking stems, and putting DH bars on trail bikes years ago.

It’s a bit of the chicken/egg scenario as there may be limits on how far consumers can push with the need to borrow or adapt, which can then drive manufacturers to make changes as well. I think the current movement to Long/Low is worthwhile as the old school stuff that many of us started with in the 1990’s to even the mid 2000’s have been properly surpassed with modern bikes.

But it is entirely possible we are seeing the end of the pendulum swing in that direction. We may find a middle ground in design that is a proper blend of the current manufacturing capabilities and geometries. The abilities we have at our fingers (bikes that climb and descend nearly equally well) is impressive. It may be that we are getting close to the ideal and will see slower progress with smaller steps to the “ultimate” in bike design. Of course, that also hinges on the use of the bikes and what customers demand, which can shift the design to follow those needs… all in a nearly never-ending cycle. But that is just my limited guess.