chain stay

The chainstay is the tube between the bb shell and the dropout. The length of the chainstay determines the length of the rear end (measured from centre of bb shell to centre of the dropout slot. Some brands give 2 measurements, the shorter is if the wheel is slammed, which means at the furthest point in the dropout). A shorter chainstay is more responsive, and a longer chainstay is more stable.

grumpySteve wrote:

The chainstay is the tube between the bb shell and the dropout. The length of the chainstay determines the length of the rear ...more

grumpySteve wrote:

The chainstay is the tube between the bb shell and the dropout. The length of the chainstay determines the length of the rear end (measured from centre of bb shell to centre of the dropout slot. Some brands give 2 measurements, the shorter is if the wheel is slammed, which means at the furthest point in the dropout). A shorter chainstay is more responsive, and a longer chainstay is more stable.

...more

okay that makes a little more sense haha but I'm confused about the more responsive and more stable part. what would be more responsive and what would be more stable

I told you, shorter will be more responsive, making it easier to lift the front, and spin. Longer will make it more stable. If you want responsive you want your cs about 13". If you want it stable about 14". But bb height also affects this. High bb is more responsive. So if you want a frame that's easy to throw about you want a short cs and a high bb.
You'll get used to anything after a couple of rides though.

Bar height is another thing that affects the responsiveness of the bike. High bars are more responsive than low bars. But ideally you need to find a balance. If you've got a frame with short cs, high bb, and you have high bars, you'll be looping out all the time, and will land sketchy doing anything at speed