From 21” TT, to 20.8, back to 21, to 21.25, and finally back to 21. Explained

I’m 6’ (5’11 3/4” according to my doctors office) and I’ve been riding for quite a long time. Been toying around with different geometries and top tube length’s for the past decade and think I finally have found what’s best for me/my style of riding.

My last 4 frames were a Haro SD V2 21”, Mutiny Obscura V2 20.8”, Fly Fuego 6 21”, and a Fiend Morrow V4 21.25”. Each had its pros and cons.I wanted a smaller frame to muscle around going from the haro to the mutiny but I lost the ability to barspin because I felt too cramped with the shorter TT and low stand over but tailwhips were almost effortless.

After bumping back up to 21”, I re-learned barspin variations but it seemed like I could hop to my highest potential as I could with the haro 21” because of the short chainstay on the Fly Fuego. I would also watch my clips and notice I was kind of hunched over. I figured a longer top tube might be the trick.

So now we’re in the present, I love the extra room a 21.25 gives me, barspins are very forgiving but I still feel my hops are limited. Not only that, sang spin that is past 180 spins are a lot more effort and don’t come as natural. I’ve been hopping on friends bikes with random frames and seeing how they feel in comparison with what I want my next frame geometry to resemble.

I’ve gathered that I should sacrifice the .25” in the front and add it to the chainstay. I believe this will increase my hop height without sacrificing barspin tricks. With that being said, today I’m going to put together a new 21” S&M BTM XL. The geometry is everything I’m looking for according to my past experiences so there are no excuses!