Originally Posted by
Clem von Jones
The geometry on 99.9% of 29ers is completely INSANE. I'm 6'2" and that's a large frame. I don't want no stinking flat bar bike, nor do I want a frame geometry that limits the choices of how I set it up. There's a two inch gap between my toes and the back of the front wheel. Look at that huge gap between the front wheel and frame. That enormous stretched-out wheelbase on 29ers is a flaw. It's more like train than a bicycle. No other mountain bikes are designed that way and 29ers shouldn't be that way either. And despite that crazy long and high geometry the bottom bracket still isn't high enough to run anything longer than 175mm cranks. I loathe modern mtb geometry. This frame is actually a lot better than most which is why I bought it. Most 29er frames are impossible to set up with drop bars even for tall people. The larger wheels are a good thing, especially for tall people, but the frame geometry of 29ers is totally botched. I prefer the first and second generation geometry of rigid 26" mtbs, but also 29" wheels.
Actually Kapusta is correct, the issue is that you're trying to fit drop bars on a frame that was designed for flat bars. A 29er MTB frame was never designed with drop bars in mind, so it's actually completely sane and logical that the geometry isn't optimized for that. Furthermore, the wheelbase, reach, head angle, etc. (all contributors to the "huge gap" between front wheel and frame) are designed with off-road stability in mind. There's nothing insane about it except your insistence that geometry is "wrong." If you "don't want no stinking flat bar" then buy a frame intended for a drop bar. There's a huge selection of gravel bikes now that remedy all of your issues, which again, are 100% a result of you trying to use a bike for a purpose it was never intended. A gravel bike will have a shorter wheelbase, steeper head angle, higher BB, etc. all while running 29" wheels. Problem(s) solved.