Hi.
I'm seriously thinking of getting a Rohloff MTB. The Raven Enduro is obviously on my list. I would like to know from owners what it's like up the real steep hills. I see the rear triangle geometry is shorter than most bikes which need clearance for 3 rings. What sort of effect does this have going up the very steep stuff? - The sort of stuff when you need to lean forward hard to keep the front wheel down?
I ask partly because my bike gets used not only for off-road commuting, but is also a "weekend" family bike. I carry a child seat on the rear of my current old alloy hardtail, which moves the centre of gravity backwards a fair bit. - There are some very steep hills round this way. Right now, with an additional ~ 15+ Kg on the back, I need to do some hefty leaning forward to keep the front down when riding up the steepies with the extra weight behind. Naturally if I found myself doing "wheelies" on the same hill with an Enduro I'd be irritated, and it could be a safety issue for my "passenger"
I suppose the stays are (...50mm??) shorter. Perhaps this only equates to ~3-4 degrees on the angle from the tyre contact to the centre of gravity, but that's 3-4 degrees of hill gradient.
What's folks opinions on that one? Do the short stays behave noticeably different to an "old school" hardtail up the steepest hills?
Rgds
