BazookaFro

Recently I have been looking to swap my road bike parts over to a frame that can fit bigger tires, the caveat being that it was built with rim brakes, and as much as I would like to convert to disc, I love these wheels(also my wallet hurts thinking about it). The tsunami of modern gravel/ cx bikes seem to be washing out frames with this mounting option. The only major company left making them seems to be trek(at a hefty msrp), and finding a used frame that is 59cm plus is proving to be difficult. Any one have advice on finding frames with this mounting option that is not going to run me over $1000?(bonus points if they run big in the head tube department)

mstateglfr 

Black Mountain Cycles: Black Mountain Cycles Frames

$595 for frame and fork. Canti brakes, tall headtube, and well spec'd frame. New frames have 3 bottle mounts, fender mounts, front and rear rack mounts, and an awesome biplane fork crown.

Build it up yourself or Mike at blkmtncycl will build it. Great communication and fast service.
There are a good number of reviews online.

BazookaFro

I will have to take this in to consideration. The bike that is pulling gravel duty for me right now is a soma wolverine, and they both seem to have comparable geometry. Granted that not a bad thing, but running 28-32mm tires with an 80mm stem may end up with a twitchy setup in the end.(I have REALLY long legs in proportion to my torso)

mstateglfr 

The 58cm frame has a stack of 61 and a headtube of 170mm.

Thats compared to the 58cm Wolverine frame with a stack of 60cm and a headtube of 165mm.


Not significantly different. Little more stack height on the black mountain frame and half a centimeter taller headtube.

How long a headtube are you looking for on a 59ish cm frame?

BazookaFro

In a perfect world I would want around 220(even with a 61cm soma, I need 30mm of spacers plus a 17mm headset), but other than a custom frame I don't think that is going to happen. I'm trying to match the road frame I currently have(look kx light, 59cm) it only has a 575mm top tube with 205mm head tube. part of the reason I have so much trouble with frame sizing in general, to get a top tube length that would leave me with at least a 100mm stem I would need to size down, but end up with a frame with a lot of spacers and or a lot of rise on the stem. trek and specialized tended to run shorter top tubes on the bigger frames, but again money and availability become an issue.

tangerineowl

Ridley X-Fire ("Crossfire")

Seems like the pre-2012 frames had a threaded BB.
Carbon frame.

e.g. size 58: ett 575 / headtube 205
> stack 613 / reach 394

vs the '58' 'New Geo' BlackMtnCycles frame > ett 575 / stack 609 / reach 388

You'd probably want to have a close look at the geo chart comparisons e.g. seat tube angle

Edit: There is what looks like a very nice complete-bike 2011 X-Nite (top of the range) '58' on the bay at the moment: $995?


I'd have a dig around for a -2011 X-Fire frame, used.

Mr IGH

Soma Saga DC, disc and canti/v brake compatible. The 61cm frame has a 600mm ett and a 205mm headtube. Don't worry about spacers on a steel fork, 60mm is nothing. $590

Hiro11

Cross-Check | Bikes | Surly Bikes

mstateglfr 

The headtube length on a 58cm frame is 141mm and the stack is 57.5cm. The OP wants a long headtube.

justin1138

All City Space Horse or All City Macho Man

bikebreak

Spec. Tricross


head tubes are pretty tall. great geo. fits tires about 42mm rear and 46mm front

Paul J

I've struggled with the same issue you are facing though I'm probably with much longer legs. I picked-up my 58 Soma Double Cross that I build-up thinking I would like the the significantly more top tube clearance but must say I'm not enjoying the bike. No problem with handling or anything like that. I'd make someone a really good deal on this if they were interested in the frame or complete bike.

tangerineowl

Seems like the old canti- Tricross (-2011) is the winner in the tall-stack/short-reach dept, with a 622 stack, on the '58', ett 570/5.

There's an 08 model '58', "newly built/never ridden" complete bike with nice components, on the bay, going for $1k.

cs1

VO just got some of their repo LD style stems in. They would look great on a CC.

BazookaFro

I appreciate the responses so far, really the main reason i'm trying to find the frame around these parameters is because although I enjoy my soma so far, its big, beefy, and slow. and I'm trying to take some of the things I learned/enjoy from the soma to my road bike. I'm admittedly being picky and ignoring the steel options because I want something lighter(as of right now I'm using the soma for everything, so i'm not in a huge rush). The ridley seems like a good option, its just a matter of waiting for the right 58+ to spring up. There is also a specialized crux disc floating around that is pretty much exactly what i'm looking for, its just a matter of buying a whole new wheelset... It may be worth it, I guess its kind of a matter of future proofing. Its surprising how may companies have gone disc at this point.

skycomag

try this: Nashbar Cyclocross Frame


plus 20% off

OneIsAllYouNeed

Note that road forks are about 368mm long while cross forks are typically 395 or 400mm long. Also it looks like your Look KX Light has an integrated headset with about 1mm stack. External headsets have about 30mm stack height. So if you're just comparing head tube lengths, and want the same for, the cross head tube should be 30-60mm shorter.

There are lots of great cantilever frames on eBay and bike shop close out collections.

09box

I'd go the Nashbar cross frame avenue.

thenomad

Look used? Light touring frame from the 2000s have cantis, room for tires and the light tourers are not long like full touring. I know used is tough to find specific sizes but you never know every one is getting rid of their old cross rigs.

Building this up for a friend, Bianchi San Remo:

ksryder

Seconded. Tricross canti frames go for pretty cheap on ebay/CL etc.