ED’S SANTA CRUZ NO MADS ALUMINIUM £4,299

Ed bucks the longer and slacker trend, just in time for a trip to BC

I made a pretty drastic change to my bike this month, in the form of a complete frame switch. No, I hadn’t managed to snap the burly Nomad, I just decided to downsize from an XL to a large. I’d always been slightly skeptical of enormous, limousinelike bikes, but with everyone harping on about longer and slacker being better, I thought I’d see what the fuss was about. At 6ft tall, riding a 490mm-reach frame didn’t seem outrageous, but, after seven months of trying to adapt, I came to the conclusion that elongated front centres just aren’t for me.

There’s no denying that there are advantages to long bikes, in the shape of extra stability on faster, DH-track-like trails, but for me, this comes at the expense of compromised handling on more technical terrain. The longer wheelbase of the XL Nomad meant I frequently found myself understeering in tight, rutted turns – an issue that was compounded by the need to run a taller stack height. (I found that the stretched-out riding position necessitated a higher bar height, to help with lifting the front wheel, but this pushed my weight back, making it harder to weight the front wheel.) Leaning the bike through tight tree gaps was a more cumbersome affair too, due to the longer bar-to-axle measurement. Playfulness in the air is something that won’t bother efficiency-focused racers, but for me, being able to throw in a whip or table over the jumps is a big source of fun and something I’m finding much easier on the more compact frame.

To complement the shorter 460mm reach, I’ve upsized to a 50mm stem, in the shape of a Chromag Ranger V2. I’ve also fitted a matching OSX bar. To test my new set-up, I’ve just spent three weeks riding and racing in British Columbia, Canada. I’ll report back on how the bike and kit fared next month. www.santacruzbikes.co.uk