Why is it an advantage for a mountain bike to have a lower cross bar?
Hi There are several reasons in addition to those listed below (although never underestimate the benefit of the cross bar (its more commonly known as a top tube if you are gunning for extra marks) being as far away from your ‘delicate bits’ as possible. One of the main advantages in a bike having a lower cross bar is that it reduces the amount of tubing needed to make the bike. A bike is essentially made up of 2 triangles joined together and shortening the length of the side where these join means that 2 of the other sides are also shortened (the flip side of this is you need a longer seat tube but this is more than made up for by the other weight loss). Also, because the rear ‘triangle’ is smaller it is now stiffer. Mountain biking involves a lot of stopping and starting and having a stiff rear end means the power from the pedals is transferred more efficiently to the wheel which makes accelerations a lot easier. Interestingly some road bike manufacturers have started copying this des
