The 17" rear lowers the back end and the Ohlins shock raises it...probably slightly more, after the linkage ratio (lengthening a shock by 1 cm raises the rear more than 1 cm). The bike feels great. Fabricating custom triangle linkage plates would allow you to get the height exactly where you wanted. However, it's not quite that simple. You have to account for the leverage ratio too. If you screw that up, spring rates and damping could be way off. Springs would be easy enough to correct, but damping is another matter.