Quote Originally Posted by Gowest View Post
Your bike has a lot to do with confidence and how it feels descending - bikes with a long wheelbase - (center to center of both wheels) corner more like a cadillac when going down hill vs a bike with a more aggressive geometry and shorter wheelbase that corners more like a sports car. When I switched from long to short it took me a long time to build back up my speed, which sometimes I still feel is lacking - but is a tradeoff for other features of the new bike.

Oh, and most of us can't descend as fast as a man - they weigh more and have smaller brains...ha ha.

debi
Thx for chiming in on cornering. I never thought about the bike part, re: the length. I got a new bike last season that was the correct size for me, with my other bike being 2 frames sizes bigger. What a difference. But, yes, trying to adjust to the responsiveness and weight of the new bike is a big diff. On the men (sorry, no offense to our wiser men friend here)... well, this is true... my riding partner and I will joke about trying to yell out "gravel" in group rides to only have a guy go flying around you to pass, corner quicker, and somehow deaf to heads-up on gravel.