Originally Posted by Dave Kirk

First off I thank you all for the warm welcome. I find it to be near impossible to stay on the proper side of vague and wavering line when it comes to talking about my own work and not being self promoting..... and what feels to me like 'just informing' others about my work can come off as a sales pitch to those reading. So with all that said -

PanTerra - you and I are about the same height but I am so skinny (185lbs) I don't have a shadow so I have a lot of experience with making bikes in this size range. When it comes to the Terraplane stays there is a lot of customization for the size and weight of the rider that isn't obvious when looking at the bike. Here's how the Terraplane stays are customized -

* first factor is seat tube length. The longer the seat tube the longer the seat stays and the lower the spring rate becomes. A longer spring, all else being equal, is softer than a shorter spring. The other thing seat tube length affects is the angle that the seat stays take from the dropouts to the seat tube. This is very important. Tall bikes have very upright s-stays which gives a near 1:1 ratio of the stay compressing and the wheel moving. On very small bikes the s-stays are laid down at a much lower angle and the ratio of stay compression to wheel movement changes. So a little compression of the stays makes a good bit of wheel movement. So........... a big light rider will have a different bend than a big heavy rider and a small rider will have a different bend than those two and so on...........

* rider weight. A heavier rider will get less bend (both in radius and duration) than a lighter rider. The aim to to have everyone have the same ride regardless of size/weight.

* rider weight part B. A heavier rider will often (depends os frame size) have a s-stay with a heavier wall thickness to make the stay stiffer.

* how/where the bike will be used. If the bike is to be used on butter smooth roads without large hills (making for fast descents) then there is less need and advantage is having the rear wheel move. But if the rider's roads are not good (chip seal, back country farm roads, steep hills with fast corners) then there will be more to gain by having the stays a bit softer to give more wheel movement.

In the end I rarely do the same stay bend twice. The aim is to give each rider the same experience regardless of their size and weight. I love the way they ride and think that folks that have them will say the same thing. There are of course nay-sayers and skeptics that say that the Terraplane stays can't do anything (I've even had someone say they can only make the rear end of the bike stiffer!) but in every case I've seen those people have never ridden one. If you come to Bozeman you can ride my bike around and see what you think. It wouldn't be the same thing I would build for you but you would get an idea of the ride. It's a sincere offer.

Thanks for reading.

Dave