TECH OPINION
WHERE ARE WE GOING?
WITH GEOMETRY, THAT IS. BENJI OPINES ON WHAT IS RIGHT AND WRONG WITH THE WORLD OF MOUNTAIN BIKES RIGHT NOW.
WORDS BENJI
Choosing a mountain bike is like buying a house. I don't just mean that it's way more expensive to get a decent one than it used to be. I mean that the selection process is governed by three things. But insteadof'location, location, location·, mountain bike choosing is dictated by ·geometry, geometry, geometry·.
Or it should be anyway. People still choose bikes due to what spec is the fanciest at any given price point (which is hugely overestimated in importance). Or which bike just looks the coolest (which is a sound and honest reasoning that I'm totally fine with!.
Comply with me
I'm firmly of the opinion that geometry trumps all. Experience has shown that a bike with a 'poor· spec but the most suitable geometry is significantly more capable - and fun - than a bike with ·great value· spec but ill-suited geometry.
It's more than a decade since Mondraker came out with the genuinely revolutionary concept of Forward Geometry [nutshell: massively more reach) and recent years have seen a massive cooling off of geometry change. Even among the MTB Illuminati (of which Iam the current bursar), there's a general air of reactionariness seeping back in. "Bike geometry is sorted now· is an oft-heard sentiment.