hi to all,

I don't get to ride other people's bikes much, but a few days ago I had the opportunity to ride a bike fitted with exactly the same wheels,components as my own - basically the same bike with a different frame and forks (same steel, both were fully rigid) but the ride felt sooooo much different that it set me thinking.

I think one very often overlooked factor for us commoners when buying a bike is the actual frame geometry - we first look at the componentry (which is now the same for most bikes in a price range anyway), then we look at frame material and size... but I don't think most of us consider the frame geometry enough to influence our decisions....

can anybody out there share some info on frame geometry basics in terms of strength and ride quality ? For example, what would the bend of the forks do to your ride ? What is the difference between having a bend in the forks or straight forks mounted on an angled head tube resulting in the same wheel position ? What about the seat tube angle ? How would a very short stem effect steering ?

cheers,

claude