corwin1968

I've been riding hybrids since 1995 and my current bike is a mid-90's hybrid that has a lot of new components. These new components were purchased with the idea of eventually swapping them over to a new frame. My riding for the past 17 years has been less than one hour and 10 miles at most. These are energetic rides rather than leisurely cruises. I have an interest in working up to higher mileage, say several multiples of ten, on a regular basis and maybe even going for a century, just to scratch it off the bucket list. I don't plan any touring and I don't plan anything rougher than hard-packed, smooth dirt.

I will be running a basic Trekking triple crankset with a 9-speed cassette. My custom 700c rear wheel is 135mm so any frame has to accept that wheel. I've always run MTB handlebars but am interested in trying others, like drops or an H-bar. I tried Rivendell's Albatross bars and I just can't stand having my hands so far behind the headtube. I want to stick with cantilever brakes so I'm not interested in framesets that are disc only.

I weigh about 380 right now and although I hope to lighten myself considerably, a bike will need to support that amount of weight.

Some of the frames I've considered are the Surly Cross Check and Long Haul Trucker as well as Soma's Saga and Double Cross. I would welcome any comments on these four frames, in addition to other frames I may not be aware of.

Although Surly (and to a lesser extent Soma) seems to dominate the frame market, I've found a few others but not a lot of customer reviews.

Any suggestions?

vesteroid

I have a cross check and think it would meet your needs.

I can't remeber the rear drop out spacing so not sure a mtb hub will work.

For the cash, I think it's as good as it gets.

gunner65

I Love my Salsa Casseroll. Fits your bill.

paisan

A crosscheck has 132.5 rear spacing so it fits both mtn and road hubs. If the OP is truly considering the Surly's I recommend paying attention to their headtube lengths. They are shorter compared to other manufacturers. Luckily with steel steerers you can just stack it up but it's still something you need to pay attention to.

mikehattan

Have a look at the All City Space Horse. I like the geometry better than the cross check: taller head tube, greater BB drop. I went with the All City Mr. Pink because I wanted caliper brakes. Soma and Surly were on my short list. Good luck!

https://allcitycycles.com/bikes/space_horse

fietsbob

Narrowing the field ... what brands are in your favorite LBS?