Between the Lines - The Foots Cray Development Story: BB height, handling and cornering

I always knew that Bowman would do a Cross Bike. Why the Foots Cray turned out the way it did? Well that’s just a tiny bit more convoluted…

First here’s an explanation of something central to Bowman Cycles. As the man behind all the bikes here at HQ, there’s a selfish thread that runs through the design process of each of our frames. Basically any Bowman has to be something I want to ride myself. I see no point making things I don’t see a reason for. Certainly not just to fill a theoretical gap in a range. It’s a huge part in why I started the company back in Nov 2013. Thankfully I’ve yet to find a branch of the cycling family tree I don’t enjoy. But my focus on what makes a good bike for ‘x’ might be a little different from other companies. Every frame we do has my own personal fun potential at the core and it’s why I put handling as the central tenet of all of the bikes. If you’re not smiling when riding round a corner, something is fundamentally wrong with that bike!

When it comes to cyclo cross, the most fun can be had on wet, muddy and loose corners. Especially threading it on a tight, twisty line between trees, heather or scrub - basically any kind of single-track. The way I see it, if a bike is fun there (and away from the competitive sphere) it should put a smile on your face all the time. Then, once a number is pinned to your back, the exciting fun stuff can be somewhere to relax and recover, as the bike wont throw you off. And then you can save any energy for the tough pressing-on-the-pedal ‘kinda stuff. And if you’re so inclined, you can then push on the technical parts, and pressurise those fitter (but less skilled) riders into expending nervous energy. Possibly even crashing out as they overstep their skill line trying to keep up. Even writing this puts a mischievous smirk on my face. In my world, when skills overcome fitness, it’s a great day.

So how is the Foots Cray different? Well, the eagle eyed amongst you may have spotted prototypes (featured on our social media feed during development) with pretty short stems- even as short as 65mm on occasions. That’s not because our testers are incapable of stretching or bending. The length in the bike comes primarily from the frame. So a longer top tube and a shorter stem to attain the same saddle to bar reach.
For example:

a typical 5’11” rider would need to set up the two bikes as follows:

Pilgrims – 560mm effective horizontal top tube, 110mm stem

Foots Cray – 585mm effective top tube, 80-90mm stem.

What’s the point in that you’re asking? Well, the front centre (distance between BB centre and front hub) is longer. This adds stability. Traditionally you’d get extra stability by running a slacker head angle. The problem there is that the steering slows down – maaasssiiiiivveeelllyyyy! That’s dull. Especially when pedalling out of the saddle. Our head angle is a touch slacker. But we’ve reined it in from early prototypes and received extra stability by extending the front centre (just a touch) on the 2nd generation test bikes. A long top tube and short stem concept isn’t new. Our MTB cousins have been using it for a long time. And the more progressive thinking brands are starting to do the same on their cross and off road, drop barred bikes, too.

Another part of traditional cross bikes that I’m not a fan of (and that’s a huge understatement) is the high bottom bracket design. Traditional (Belgian Elite level) CX race bikes are designed so that the pro’s can do what they need to do in a Super Prestige race, or B-Post trophy every Sunday from October to February. Dead 180 degree turns across a rutted farmers fields then pedal through deep sandy ruts, or run through mud without catching their pedals. A high BB position allows them to do this – combined with a big old bag of skills. For the rest of us, a tall BB sets the rider up high on the bike making cornering more difficult than it needs to be. Granted you cant go too low on a cross bike as you will need to pedal through rougher terrain. But the 60mm BB drop of many Belgian frames is just not right for us. So we specced a very similar BB height to that found on our Palace frame, which is renowned for its cornering ability. Combined with a long front centre, and one degree slacker head angle, I am quietly confident that there are few (if any…) cross bikes that can rail it round a slippery off road corner quicker.