Why do most full suspension MTBs have a kink in the down tube?

pasta_paul

Back in the time... bikes did not have (rear) suspension and the most common frame design was the "diamond frame", with straight pipes. Today, mostly in full suspension bikes, there is mostly a bend in the down tube just in front of the bottom bracket. What for? In some cases I can understand the reasons: for frame layouts where the rear shock is connected at that point, or where the rear shock needs that space during compression, if that's the...

Originally asked by Apfelsaft on Stack Exchange (bicycles) (CC BY-SA 4.0).

uphilltech

Great question — answering as the UphillTech team:

This downtube shape provides extra space in the front triangle. For full suspension bikes, it's often required to fit the rear suspension and its range of motion. While this particular design could maybe only-just-fit with a straight tube, many designs have it take up more space within the front triangle, and wouldn't work with a straight downtube. Also, forget attaching a water bottle to the frame if the downtube was straight.

Full answer by Therac: https://bicycles.stackexchange.com/a/89432 (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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