Mountain bike question

[jgbjgb]

I presently have an early 90"s Cannondale Delta V 1000 HT:
front susp (80mm headshock), head tube 70 deg, seat tube 73.5 deg

I am looking at the new Cannondale full susp mountain bikes, specifically the RZ 120 and the RZ 140.

The 120 has a head tube of 69 deg, seat tube of 73.5 deg.

http://www3.cannondale.com/bikes/10/...odel-0VL1.html

The 140 has a head tube of 68 deg, seat tube of 72 deg.

http://www3.cannondale.com/bikes/10/...odel-0VT3.html


Trails range from some hardpack to mostly gravel to stony to rocky. I do a lot of climbing, of course what goes up must come down, but I do not barrel down hill like a want-to-be down hill racer.

With a lot of climbing, would the 69 deg be better than the 68 deg head tube angle?
Going from 70 to 69 is just a small increment, how would going from 70 to 68 be?

How would going from a 73.5 seat tube angle to a 72 deg affect the way I pedal?

Thanks in advance.

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[bajafox]

There was a whole thread about mountain biking a few months ago, maybe more, you should try a quick search and maybe resurrect it, it got pretty big

Although I don't think it will answer your specific questions...

[mikeyfrombc]

when i road yrs back i just adjusted my seat and bar positions to suit the seat angles and headtube angle , the 68deg is that with some one on the bike or as pictured i forget how the measure it . if i remember correctly the DH bikes had 65/68 ht angles XC where 70/71 and DS where similar to bmx ht angles for quick cornering , i,ve ridden them all and they all shine at times and fall flat on their faces as well i did dh race and freeride on my dh bike i also rode xc/freeride bikes and xc bikes on all the same trails at some point in time , my fave once you got used to doing real tight switchbacks and such was my dh bike with a 34 up front and a 11/30 cogset in the back worked well on the northshore mountains and my local stuff up here in bc

[jgbjgb]

There was a whole thread about mountain biking a few months ago, maybe more, you should try a quick search and maybe resurrect it, it got pretty big

Although I don't think it will answer your specific questions...

I remembered that thread, I figured there were lots of mountain bikers here, that is why I started this new thread, just to get some specific opinons.

[Alex Paterson]

Mt. Bike design has changed a lot over the years so I wouldn't get too picky on the numbers if I were you. With new technology and better suspension geometry has changed a lot.

There is a difference between geometry on those bikes becasue one is 140 mm of travel and the other is 120.

Alex