• They seem to be reaching the limit now, actually. Pole Bicycles and Geometron have experimented with even more extreme angles and wheelbases than they have on their current bikes, then walked it back as the handling started deteriorating. Going past 62° (at least with a single crown fork) and a 1400mm wheelbase, IIRC, seems to be a general cut off point. Porter did make a downhill specific Geometron with a 59° head angle but it had a downhill fork, I think flex becomes an issue with more extreme head angles.

    https://m.pinkbike.com/news/jack-readings-nicolai-geometron-dh-lourdes-dh-world-cup-2016.html

    That bike still has a wheel base shorter than the Extra Longest size Geometron, I think. Which has a 62.5° head angle.

    My Bfe has a 65° head angle and a 1220mm wheel base. Conservative by comparison but still reasonably LLS. Rides better than anything else I've tried.

  • Not much offset on those forks -

    The longer and lower that frames get the more they need leaning to turn, and it isn't always the best. When I went to Swinley I had trouble getting my Crush down the particularly winding trails. Planet X are doing a 62º hard tail these days, which is pretty raked out.

    One of the other things is that the slacker head angles get the more prone they are to wandering, and getting right over the bars when doing steep climbs isn't particularly comfortable. Not that this is an issue in enduro/DH.

  • There's going to be natural limits according to rider height, ability, terrain and trail type. If you consider that LLS should operate in a spectrum then the bikes generally perform better than steeper, higher, shorter bikes of just a few years ago.
    I'm not advocating everyone rides the most extreme versions of this trend in geometry. Just that having a spectrum to choose your ideal geometry within that range, especially in terms of custom builds, is a boon today.

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