bobin

6'7" here and need as big a adventure/gravel frame as I can get. Soma Wolverine at 66cm seems to be the ticket? DoubleCross looks good too. Also looking at Gunnar - but don't think I can afford a custom Hyper XX. Any other tall guys riding a big frame?

mstateglfr 

Black Mountain Cycles. They have a canti brake and disc brake option.

I'm 6'5 with a 37"/38" cycling inseam(not really sure, never cared to know) and this is their canti frame built up.



the the pricepoint you seem to want to be at, the SOMA DCD is probably great due to the stack height. I dont think the carbon fork will work though as the steerer is only 300mm long. So i think its be steel fork only(I assume that steerer is longer).

the black mountain disc frame is, to me, nicer in that in pretty sure its slightly thinner tubing(for sure not thicker), it's thru axle, and the brake mounts are more elegant.

but either would be a great blank canvas to hang parts from, assuming it fits.

motrheadsroadie

im 6'4 with a 36" inseam and i have a stinner.

stinners are expensive and probably more for a frame/fork than what you wanna spend.
im pretty sure they are both made overseas in the same factory using the same steel tubesets, but if i had to choose between a black mountain and a soma id choose the black mountain because the soma brand is kind of garbage.

bobin

The Soma brand is not garbage - especially if you are a tall guy with limited funds.

mstateglfr 

I dont know why Motrhead declared the brand to be garbage, but I can think of some less than ideal things with regard to the brand.

- seemingly advertises Prestige as if its the same as the original Tange Prestige. It isnt. Its a totally different company that bought the name and the tubing spec is different. The new stuff isnt bad and is actually quite good, but it also isnt as comparatively high end as the originaly stuff was. Devil is in the details and Soma manages to not disclose the details. Current tubing is thicker than most of the different Prestige offerings back in the 80s and 90s.
- warranty/service is not the greatest based on internet complaints. I dont have a frame and cant comment, but it appears that standing behind the brand is a bit inconsistent.
- the two times I asked for some frame details on different frames, i was met with half answers that didnt give more details than were already available online. I followed up each time to again ask what I wanted to know and then didnt hear back.

Contrast this with Black Mountain. The tubing details are known(thru digging into blog posts, admittedly)- its heat treated .8/.5/.8 tubing main triangle. Mike Varley responds to emails and is really helpful with answering questions and helping how he can. He hand inspects each frame before its built or sent out and chases threads on the frames at that time even though they come to him finished.


Small differences for sure. I too would be interested to know why Soma is viewed as garbage. My negatives are pretty minor, though meaningful to some.

gus6464

The one thing that bugs me about Black Mountain is he doesn't list the frame weight but instead goes on this massive rant post about it when it would be too easy to just post a ballpark weight for each size. Ranting about it just gives me the impression that the thing is an anvil.

Ohh and the headset on the MCD can't do tapered steerers. We are not in 1989.

mstateglfr 

Yes, The straight steerer is limiting. You could use a sweet Ritchey carbon fork, a Soma carbon,a Whiskey carbon, a Spot carbon or a Woundup if you wanted carbon so there are still options, but they are certainly limited compared to tapered options.
I dont love the look of 44mm head tubes on steel- its like a tootsie pop where the head tube if the candy and the frame tubing is the stick. I wonder if he decided against 44mm due to the look.

And not listing frame and fork weights is not ideal, i agree. Along those lines, I dislike every company's process for listing weights unless they list frame and fork weight as well as full build weights for each size. Listing the frame weight for a medium tells me absolutely nothing if I am considering an XL. Whats that larger size add- 50g? 200g? 500g?
I had to google around to find out the frame weight for my frame as someone else had weighed it and posted the result online.

gus6464

I still can't find the weight of any MCD frames.

I myself want tapered because all my gravel builds now are going to revolve around the Fox AX.

mstateglfr 

Sorry- wasnt clear. I found the weight of my frame which is the v3 cantibrake monstercross. I havent seen MCD weights.

gus6464

What's the size and weight of yours? At least that puts me in a ballpark.

motrheadsroadie

gus6464

I don't get the fascination with surly honestly. They are run of mill super heavy steel that is somewhat cheap but not really cheap.

mstateglfr 

a 56cm canti brake frame weighs 1850g.

Black mountain cycles monstercross 65cm canti brake frame is 2230g. The fork is 1050g(long steerer).

mstateglfr 

Speaking of frame weight, Fairlight just emailed this info about the Secan frameset. Just something worth referencing when comparing frame options. The Secan is 853 main tubes and untreated stays(easier to bend).
Frame Size WeightSecan 61T
2300 g
Secan 61R
2243 g
Secan 58T
2232 g
Secan 58R
2162 g
Secan 56T
2161 g
Secan 56R
TBC
Secan 54T
2100 g
Secan 54RTBCSecan 51T

2061 g
Secan 51R
TBC


Cempa (Secan) fork: 423g
Secan accessories (6 bottle cage bolts, 5 cable clips, BB cable guide, 3D cable guide, flat mount piece, Di2 plugs): 77g
Rear axle: 50g
Front axle: 40g

gus6464

Hmm at those weights I'd just rather get the otso Warakin in stainless steel and not have to wait a zillion years for a frame from fairlight