Marylander

I'm in search of a frame. The short story is I'd like the frame to have the following qualities:

• long stack/short reach (in the ballpark of 580/370 in a S/M size)
• set up for caliper brakes
• accept tires up to around 700x36c
• prefer steel or aluminum
• 1 1/8" threadless steerer
• threaded bottom bracket
• all around kind of geometry (neither tourer nor crit bike)
• hoping not to exceed $1,000

Any suggestions?

The long story - I've been back on a bike for a few months now after a 23 year layoff (did the Maryland State Road Race in 1996 and then stopped riding, my 2nd daughter was born a bit before that race and I was out riding when my wife went to the hospital... ). To get me back going I bought a bike with a size smaller frame than I would have back in the day so that I could get a shorter top tube. I'm short (<5'7") but with a long inseam (32.5"). My neck xray from about 9 years ago was bad enough that the chiropractor just kind of sighed when he looked at it. I've got a couple genetically fused vertebra and some nasty arthritis, bone spurs and all. I'm not able to have a stem low like I used to do. I've currently got my bars around seat height but expect I'll be able to go down a little as I get back in shape.

I have since discovered the stack/reach thing and have found some bikes that look like they would be better than the one I've got (e.g., Felt Broam or Diamondback Haanjo, which have long stack/short reach). However, the parts I've got on the current bike are good (105 R7000) and I've also bought some other parts (e.g., wheels with a powertap hub) so I was thinking I would like to move them to another frame. I've got caliper brakes on this thing and the powertap wheel is for caliper brakes.

I've been riding on the C&O and on my trainer thus far (not much in the way of options at the moment). I've got some 700x38c gravelking slicks, which measure out to 36mm on my wheels. They work great. I'd like to be able to continue to use fat tires even for eventual road rides once the current situation clears up.

I'd appreciate any suggestions.

mstateglfr 

580mm stack, 370mm reach, and room for 36mm tires on rim brakes?

That has to be a custom build, right?...which then kills the under $1k budget.
Thats a lot of stack for very little reach. And to fit a 36/38mm tire you are pushing cantilever/vibrate territory.

This isn't what you want, but its some of what you want and close on other things.
https://blackmtncycles.com/frames/road-frames/

The 54cm and 56cm frames combine to give the stack and reach you want. One has 581mm of stack and the other has 373mm of reach. The stock fork has a long enough steerer that you could just throw an extra 10mm spacer on the 54cm than you usually would and its now magically effectively the right stack height. Its a steel steerer so there is no worry about an extra 10mm spacer being unsafe.
Or get the 56cm frame and just use a stem that is 10mm shorter than you usually would use. It will officially fit up to a 33mm tire.

- The bike is quality steel(heat treated 8/5/8 butted cromoly).
- Its a threaded bottom bracket.
- 'all around' geometry(at least for the largest size,, which i would ride. Can't say for sure on smaller).
- 1 1/8 steerer
- caliper brakes.


good luck on the search.

Marylander

That black mountain frame looks awesome. I found a thread on here where someone mentioned using 700x38s with theirs so it may tick off all my boxes... I will check it out some more. Thanks!

noodle soup

Not gonna find much off the shelf that meets all those qualifiers.

there are custom builders that will meet all the qualifiers, and be reasonably close to the budget.

big john

The Gunnar Sport in 54 is close to those numbers. I have one size 62 and it's a quality product and takes a long reach brake which would clear a big tire. By the time you add a fork it might be over budget. They also do custom.

I just checked and their prices are up since I last looked at them.
Have you looked at Soma?

kissTheApex

I forgot the name of the website, bike geometry geeks or something to that effect, which used to have a good database of recent bikes and I believe you can search bikes by stack and reach. Perhaps that would yield some results.

Good luck.

illdrag0n

Kinesis might have something, or even ribble

Marylander

After doing some more 'research' on the Black Mountain Cycles Road frame, reading nothing but gushing reviews, appreciating the philosophy of the owner/designer and his thoughts on the bike, and finding that the 54cm is $50 off I decided to order one. I also really like the orange color (I had an 03 kawi z1000 in orange). Now to find a thru axle adapter for my mountain bike so I can still use the trainer while I strip the 'old' bike and build up the new one...

Thanks for all the recs!

big john

It does seem like a great deal. Good luck with it and post a picture when you can.

guadzilla

If you are getting a steel frame, is adding a stack of spacers an option? Yes, it isnt the best thing visually, but WGAF?

mstateglfr 

Hope you enjoy it! I came close to buying a road frame(have an old gravel from from Black Mountain), but I ended up taking a frame building class instead of buying a road frame from Mike.
...the bike I built ended up being partly orange and very similar in spec and geometry to the Black Mountain road frame!

Whit51 

I have a Black Mountain Road and live it. It’s a true all rounder. ,See the tech specs on the BM website for recommended mid reach caliper brakes.

Marylander

Ah very cool! I really appreciate the suggestion. I was also made aware of velo-orange through the black mountain site. I didn't realize I had something like that about 90 minutes from home. I'll probably drive out there and check them out once the current situation turns around. I'm thinking their drillium crank would be a good match (and there happens to be a pic of an orange bike with this crank on it online):

Marylander

Yeah, I've read through a lot of his stuff already. Lots of good info. I'm hoping the tektro r559s I've got now won't be too long but it seems likely that they are. I'm going to wait and see. I may go the velo-orange route...

mstateglfr 

the vo longer reach brakes are well reviewed.
I bought trp957 brakes off ebay for $115 a couple years ago and they have been great(I'm still here!).

delbiker1 

On ebay, https://www.ebay.com/itm/Gunnar-Spor...s/233550433312. It has flat bars on it now, but it looks to be in good shape. IIRC, the bid is at $350 with 6 days left.

Gconan

25 minutes left.

Marylander

Wow, that looks great! You seem to be a lot taller than me.