You are reading a single comment by @gbj_tester and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
London Fixed Gear and Single-Speed is a community of predominantly fixed gear and single-speed cyclists in and around London, UK.
This site is supported almost exclusively by donations. Please consider donating a small amount regularly.
@gbj_tester
Why is layback essential? Because frame builders make the seat tube too steep. Why is the seat tube too steep? Because that allows for short chainstays. Why do chainstays have to be short? Well, in the olden days, thin steel chainstays needed all the help they could get to provide adequate stiffness especially during out-of-the-saddle sprints where highly asymmetric loads are applied to the rear triangle. We suffered from the poor comfort and handling of these short wheelbase machines because either a: we were on a track where it didn't matter or b: the trade off was considered (rightly or wrongly) acceptable.
Now, with the sudden realisation that you're allowed to make the chainstays from something meatier than ¾" tapering to ½" thin walled steel tubes, it's hard to see why the fashion for short chainstays persists.