>>1661997the older bikes late 1970s and early 1980s have more in common with a beach cruiser
some what slack head and seat tube angle along with a more upright riding posture
good for descents down hill, and more manageable over obstacle due to the ability of the rider to shift weight around
as road cyclists entered the early mtb events they took some of the road biking ideas with them
the longer stem / longer reach is good for aerodynamics and also makes more use of the Glutes
the focus on higher speed also affected the head tube and seat tube angle and chain stays got a lot shorter, over all the handling is a bit more twitchy
chain stay length also affects how well the bike can climb hills but that's a topic with not much clear information about it
