Originally Posted by
Kapusta
What you are talking about already exists.
Flat bar bike with 2.4” tires = Hardtail or Rigid Mountain Bike.
Maybe I didn't make myself clear enough. First, rigid mountain bikes like the rigid fork Marin Pine Mountain, Giant ATX Lite and Raleigh Talus have all been eliminated. And when they were available, I didn't like the fact that the first two had disc brakes and the Raleigh had tensile steel forks (instead of cro-mo and I would have preferred an aluminum frame as well). I'd like either aluminum frame with cro-mo or alu forks. Second, with a rigid fork that has the same mountain frame, it will be a suspension-corrected fork. I don't like the idea of having a long distance between the fenders and front tire.
As far as other solutions are concerned, here's a few ideas I came across in the last few days.
1. The Kona Hula has 2.6" and has V-brakes. But this one is made for kids with a 12" frame. I found it interesting that V-brakes can clear 2.6" tires. However, I haven't really found semi-slick 2.6" tires. (I've found some in 2.4" which is why I might go that way anyway.) Obviously, it's not really a solution since I can't completely modify a kids bike to make it an adult bike.
2. I found Customize Bike Store on aliexpress although I thought the other day I had seen something like $50 for shipping. Now it says $435 US for shipping which I find rather insane. If I get real desperate, I wonder if I'll go this route. Even if it's steel frame & fork instead of aluminum.
3. Frank The Welder says on his web site he has 30 years experience and 100,000 lbs of equipment. He can make a custom aluminum frame for $2k with paint. I just messaged him to find out if I order with other people on the web, can I get that down to $500. I could have asked to make one similar to the Breezer Midtown and put on canti bosses for V-brakes. The Breezer Midtown might be modifyable although I read finding people who can work with aluminum might be a challenge.
4. The Sonder Frontier frameset. Well, even though it's out of stock and it has a suspension-corrected fork, the company say for 300 British Pounds it can modify the frame (don't know if canti bosses apply though).
5. The Surly Bridgeclub frameset. Modifying this frameset would be more expensive than buying a Breezer Midtown although it's made of steel which means it still might be possible.
Eventually I might have to learn how to build my own frame. Although one of the things I'd like to learn is to make a sort of flexible type of frame I can adjust everywhere to figure out which angles I prefer everywhere on the frame.