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I know very little about competitive cycling, but my guess re: why the cleland geo didn't catch on is that it isn't for racing, or bombing down things as it's raison dêtre, rather a bike for doing a sort of rambling kind of riding, completely off-trail rather than following off-road paths snd tracks. The Geos of MTBs and I think to some extent clunkers, is about having slack seat /headtubes for no trail, longish stems and weight of upper body forward, legs' weight back. Rather like road bikes. As you can see from Clelands etc you're basically standing up, not really possible to stand on tbe pedals with bum off saddle, little or no stem reach, and seat tube almost vertical so the pedal thrust is almost totally downward, not forward, like walking up stairs.
My other obsession, Pedersens, seem quite similar in some ways.
Skülly-
Here's a nice little video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1bYUSRhPRg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbWuIHESe5M
Curious things. kinda like a Tank.
There's some bits here on the modern incarnation . Slightly melancholy story if you read it all the way through.
It's basically the perfect bike for Epping Forest if you don't know where the trails are :)
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...it isn't for racing..
It's kinda sad, if a little inevitable, that competition is the driving force behind so much.
@Howard, videos are awesome, thanks for posting. That type of riding does look fun, I guess perhaps because it's quite different to what and how I currently tend to ride. Having hiked a bike up a few munroes to bomb back down I wonder if a Cleland style bike would allow for moer of the up to be ridden and wonder how it'd handle the down.
Howard
M_V
Those Clelands (I know, a few pages back now, sorry) are intriguing but there must be a reason that's not the way 'things' went?
Are they actually all that good or is it a bit of the retrogrouch rose tinted glasses kind of thing?