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Morning, looking to be riding in February 2022, following disc prolapse to C5/6/7 and subsequent reduction in feeling in right hand. Consultant is confident I will be riding mellow tracks early nextyear.
Looking for a recommendation for a full suss with....
Excellent Small bump compliance
Pedals well as I will be on road and firetracks to start with.
Can cope with 2.5 rear tyre and mud.
Not LLS ....I cannot cope with the long and low due to the damage in my neck.
No gravel bikes or drop bar suggestions
I have 150 fork which can be 160 so the frame needs to be comparable.
Rear travel fairly open to suggestion.
Second hand ideal option but open to new frame if they are in stock...?..
Cheers
Not LLS ….I cannot cope with the long and low due to the damage in my neck.
What is it about LLS that your neck doesn’t like? A lot of LLS bikes appear to have quite high stack heights which I’d assumed would be a help and the top tube length is no longer than other bikes if the seat tube is suitably steep?
Not LLS ….I cannot cope with the long and low due to the damage in my neck.
How tall are you and/or leg length?
FWIW my LLS bike feels like the saddle/bar height is far more manageable than older bikes when it felt like my hands were down by my knees.
Look at stack height and definitely 29er.
Long reach should generally be paired with steep seat angles and lead to a similar seated riding position to older geometry. Looking for a high stack would help for a more upright position. The low part of LLS was about standover and shorter seat tubes for longer droppers.
If you want small bump compliance then I would look at getting the biggest volume tyres you're able to and running low pressure tubeless
Cheers I have had a Knolly warden and oh so briefly a Nicolai ....both were too low at the front, so low stack pushing me lower than a aged older injuries body can go. Nicolai was also too long 510 reach.
both were too low at the front
How much rise are you running, and what about stem spacers?
I run 40mm risers and 50mm of spacer.
OP. I think you may have completely misunderstood what LLS actually means.
I'll sell you an XL 2018 SC Bronson 😉
I'd suggest the first generation Orange Stage 5, assuming your fork is 29in.
Or a Five from a few years ago if 650b.
They pedal extremely well and have great tyre clearance. The small bump compliance is dependent on the shock to some extent.
@the generalist...very probably I have misunderstood so please if you care to share the meaning of Lls.
Edit
Long equals reach
Low is BB height
Slack how far the bike is in front of you....headangle and fork offset.
????
Basically Harley Davidson.
I'm sure someone will explain it bettrr
The frame is long. You are in the middle of the bike rather than perched on top.
As you say, theBB is low down. More stable but irritating as hell if you actually like pedalling your bikes along and up.
Slack. Head angle. Front wheel is long way out in front of the bike. ( I exaggerate for effect)
Weirdly enough, on a LLS bike, the rider is anything but L &L. Which I think was your confusion. They're sat very upright ( imagine Harley Davidson exaggerated position) compared to an older style mtb with a big long stem where they'd be hunched right over the front end leaning far over ( in a position that would indeed kill your back/ neck)
All IMHO of course. I have very little knowledge or interest in geometry compared to most on here. I'm sure they'll put me right
OToh, if you're anywhere near Manchester, you're welcome to try my Anthem ( steep, twitchy, awesome on fireroads and easy stuff) and compare it to my other bike, which is much more LLS ( Though in reality not that much compared to some)
( once I've ditched the 'rona)
I'd always assumed the 'long and low' related to the top tube, not necessarily chain stays, but I may be wrong. Long (and slack), for stability when charging through rock gardens and low for better clearance/manoeuvrability. Really, though, it's just a term describing more nu-school descent-focussed geometry, which includes a bunch of changes that have been introduced over the last 5-ish years including reach, BB height, chainstay length, head angle, fork offset etc.
As an aside, trials riders were using 'LLS' to mean "long, low and slack" 20 years ago, but I'm not sure when it really came into MTB usage. It seems like a recent thing (past year or two maybe?). In fact, IIRC LLS was originally "long, low and silver" as a sort of pejorative term for the many far-eastern similar-looking trials frames that came out at the same sort of time. Then it became "long low and slack" so we could keep the acronym even after a few more colours became available.
Consider getting a coil shock. They're generally smoother and have better small bump sensitivity than air shocks. That'll probably make more of a difference than frame.
As for frame, modern LLS trail or enduro bikes generally have quite comfortable upright seating positions.
Something like the Bird Aether might fit the bill. High leverage ratio so coil compatible, short travel, 2.5 tyre clearance, and pedals very well.
low for better clearance
OMG!
coil shock. ...probably make more of a difference than frame.
OMFG!
Harley Riders must have an effective seat angle of like 30 degrees