To play the devil’s advocate:
- A lot of gravel riders want road handling feeling and fit
- Q factor affects smaller riders (and bigger riders too)
- Smaller bikes should have shorter chainstays if you want to keep the weight distribution the same
- shorter is a relative term
I created this thread for gravel standards:
Short, long CS, 1x, 2x, is all fine. But in general, I think it’s a good practice to set the design goals first (handling, tire clearance, fit, q-factor, gear ratio) and figure out the fabrication, tooling, engineering, and compromises required to get there.