Ripley sizing runs small. Im slightly cramped seated, but it feels perfect with the dropper down. They overcooked the steeper seat tube angle.

I do not live there, but I visit there regularly. On my way down today for the Bike Fest.

@ShadLife my son, bro-on-law and myself will be there sat and sun.

RAD doesn't come into play while seated. The effective top tube is different from Reach which is the measurement you want to factor in while standing. Both reach and RAD are based on the center of the bottom bracket, not where the seat is positioned. This is likely why the bikes feel similar while seated and pedalling. One thing more modern full suspension bikes are doing is having a much steeper effective seat tube angle. This reduces the effective top tube, but it doesn't change the reach. They do this because modern trail and enduro bikes have a longer reach measurement so they steepen the seat tube so your seated position still feels normal. Whether you want a shorter full suspension bike or not is personal preference. If it's harder to pull up the front end while standing and riding tech and you would like that effort to be less, a shorter front end will allow for you to have more arm leverage and use less effort to get the front end up. A shorter reach can make a bike easier to move around, what I call pitch control. At the extreme end of this would be a BMX bike. I am also 5' 7" and for me personally, 450mm would be way too much reach. Like I said in the video, I am pushing it at 435mm with the Spectral 125 in size small. This bike is slightly RAD+ for me. My previous bike had a 420mm reach and I really felt comfortable on that frame. I am however getting used to the 435mm reach and I am finding its advantages when at higher speeds and hitting bigger jumps and such.

@@ShadLife That is a good explanation, and totally describes why it's tough for me to manual the Izzo. I have short legs and normal torso, so bike fit is difficult for me to get right. I guess the trick will be to find a bike with similar measurements to what I'm looking for and test ride that before buying a DTC brand bike. Thanks!

RAD is essentially measuring your leverage ability over the bike. It's definitely one measurement to consider when buying a bike.

@@ShadLife I have M size with 50mm stem and it's perfect but I'm wondering if L size frame with shorter stem like 35mm would be better with new bike

The longer frame size will give a longer front center. So if you do a lot of downhill and higher speed riding I suggest trying that. If it's mostly tight twisty singletrack your current setup is probably fine.

@@ShadLife I'll try longer frame, thanks:)

It's all personal preference. The reach measurement is a specific frame measurement, so a longer stem can't change the frame. What a longer stem does is it puts you farther over the front wheel. I think it makes more sense to have the correct size frame, longer for taller riders, than put a longer stem on. You actually want the front wheel out further in front of you, especially on steep descending stuff. The front center is another important measurement for that sort of stuff.

Lee McCormick came up with that theory and it’s definitely not rooted in any real science. Plus, his “opinion” has changed over the years too.

It's a pretty good way to measure your leverage over the bike. He recently did a video, and I touched on it here, where he talks about how the more RAD plus you are the more strength and training you need to do to have better control over the bike. So people can certainly go with a longer reach as long as they understand how much more effort they will need to put in in order to pull back in the bars.

​@@ShadLifeive never had any issue with reach. Frame reach, effective reach and RAD= WGAF lol

It matters because frame reach creates a longer front center and moves the front wheel out in front of you as you lengthen the frame. Adding a longer stem leaves the front wheel where it is, so the longer the stem, the more forward you are in relationship to the front wheel. So they may feel the same and give you a similar feel as far as leverage goes, but when the front end points down, where the front wheel is matters...😉

What grade are you in? 🤦‍♂️

That's a tough question to answer here because there are so many of them. A good rule of thumb is that for a full suspension bike the good entry level ones start at around $2500 retail and go up from there. There might be sales with less expensive prices, but look at the retail price to see what the discount is. Don't buy from a department store or big box (like Dick's) type store. A few legitimate brands are Trek, Specialized, Giant, Canyon, YT, Cannondale, Rocky Mountain, NORCO, Kona, Haro, and many other brands I didn't mention.

@@ShadLifeMany a lot of brands to choose from but I don’t know what brand to buy? What’s good for beginner like trail or enduro bike? Is your bike good for beginner or someone advanced? Thanks….

@@rickysolis8291 My bike would be fine for any skill level. It's usually that beginners don't generally want to spend a lot of money on a bike until they know if they are going to like the sport. So basically I was suggesting a starting baseline and then go up from there. Almost all brands sell a wide variety of price ranges starting from entry level $2500 (retail) full suspension bikes and then go up from there. So there isn't one particular brand that is better for beginners. I think if you want a good bike brand so you can get a feel for the sport, a Giant Trance would be a good place to start. They make entry, mid, and higher end Trance's.

@@ShadLifegood to know, thanks for your input. Like your videos!

No, I only mentioned the amount of reach it has. It's a size small.

Alex isn't really doing Joy of Bike anymore, but I agree, they talked about it quite a bit back then and did a good job of it.