rear suspension systems further such a sharply inclined seat tube 26 would restrict the amount of space available forward of seat tube 26 to accommodate rear shock absorber 42 conversely if the orientation is overly upright e g if the longitudinal axis of seat tube 26 extends at an actual angle more than about 75 u00b0 degrees relative to a horizontal plane then the rider will not be an optimum biomechanical position for uphill pedaling as explained above the principles of the present invention may apply to many alternative bicycle configurations including bicycles having different frame 18 and or rear suspension 40 configurations some examples of alternative arrangements are shown schematically in fig6 10 fig6 7 illustrates schematically the embodiment of fig3 5 where linkage 44 is driven by rocker arm link 50 fig6 showing this configuration in a compressed configuration and fig7 showing the same configuration in an uncompressed configuration fig8 illustrates an alternative arrangement where linkage 44 is driven by chain stay link 46 in particular instead of coupling linkage 44 to rocker arm 50 pivot 102 is located rearwardly of rocker arm 50 and is coupled by means of linkages 110 and 112 to pivots 56 and 62 located on opposite ends of chain stay link fig9 illustrates a further alternative arrangement where linkage 44 is driven by a single pivot suspension system employing a.