sweetspot

From my initial research it seems that Open U.P. with 2.1 inch tire is the winner along with Rondo Ruut. But there is also a cairn gravel ebike that should take 2.25 inch tire. Any more bikes worth mentioning?

tangerineowl

Bearclaw Thunderhawk takes a 650b x 2.4".

dsaul

All City Gorilla Monsoon https://allcitycycles.com/bikes/gorilla_monsoon

sweetspot

Bombtrack Hook ext looks interesting too. Officially 54 mm but could take 57 mm so 2.25 inch.

gus6464

The cool thing about the gorilla monsoon is that it takes cranks with mtb spacing so you have a plethora of 1x cranks to choose from.

Di2 road brifters with mtb for everything else would be killer.

Also Shimano has now switched over to using the same hoses as MTB for road so you can even use mtb calipers.

Elvo

Framed Marquette Carbon Adventure takes ~3"

medic75

I believe most of the Diamondback Haanjo bikes will accept 650b x 2.1 tires. The Norco Search XR accepts 650b x 2.1. The Salsa Cutthroat accept a huge 700c x 2.4.

sweetspot

If we go there I can add a new Mason insearchof that takes at least 2.8 inch 650b tire...

​​​​​​​Norco Search XR carbon and Ibis Hakka also takes 2.1 inch but I think we are searching for something even bigger now...

mongol777

sweetspot

Fantastic bike! To be honest it is hugely tempting proposition...

mongol777

Tell me about it! Download their lookbook and check Instagram posts, blogs for their design approach, etc. I am hugely tempted to sell ~6-7 of my bikes and replace them with Secan and Strael 2.

sweetspot

I have already did that and right now I am thinking about what size should I get currently I have 54 Jamis renegade exploit so the 54T should be fine but they are recommending 56T. To be honest finding a right size was always my problem and I bought the renegade without trying it. It would be the same with Secan. I don't know if I am ready to buy another bike this way...

mongol777

sweetspot

I am also 5'10. Top tube of my renegade is the same as 54T Secan but the reach is 0.5 cm shorter. Adding extra almost 2 cm in top tube with 56T along with that longer reach could be too much for me. Especially when I am using ergon vcls 2.0 seatpost with 25 mm setback and do not want to use stem shorter than 90 mm. But maybe I am wrong and I will be OK with bigger frame? That is why I dont like to buy bikes without trying them first...

mongol777

I don't know if it helps but I have been riding 54cm bikes for many years and 56 always felt too big, too stretched, etc. At some point I got old ~56cm Bertin and shortly after 56cm cannondale r300. And they fit me like a glove. 54 did not feel right anymore. So I slowly rebuilt most of my 54cm bike for my wife and got myself 56s. I do run fair amount of spacers on some of them (or tall quill stems) as right now I prefer more of the French fit/touring fit with minimal drop. On some I run shorter stem, like 90 instead of 100 (and it will vary too if I ride specific bike mostly on the drops or on the hoods and of course handlebar reach, say soma hwy1 vs nitto noodles). Most of my seatposts are with long setback to accommodate Brooks B17 saddles. See if you can find bike with similar reach and stack to Secan and try it? Or try and raise/move handlebars on yours with some generic cheap or borrowed stem and see if you like it?

mongol777

This is my Miyata 1000, ~56cm frame with Nitto Technomic 100mm stem, regular no setback seatpost. It is my fast relaxed bad weather cruise and I ride it mostly in the drops


Miyata 1000

mongol777

Also - out of many bikes I had and have, I had a chance to try only one. That was the only bike I bought complete and I ended up not liking it at all. I buy bare frame and build it up, fine tuning fit as I go. Sometimes frame is too big/too small but I like it very much so I try to make it work. By now I have general idea on stack/reach which I could make work. I really do not pay a lot of attention to TT/ST length, standover, etc - most of my sizing decisions are based on stack and reach.
This tool is pretty helpful - https://geometrygeeks.bike/

PeterCT

Salsa Journeyman takes 700 x 50 or 650b x 2.1.

sweetspot

Yes I many times considered 56 size and to be honest bike sellers are usually telling that i can go either way but it is said that when you are in between size usually it is better to get a smaller frame. As for reach i find it hard to trust alone because if you look into Secan geometry chart you will see that reach only slightly increases between different size in Tall variant (2 mm between 54T and 56T) yet top tube is becoming significanlty longer putting your saddle further aparat from handlebar. And there is the question of standover height. Usually the 56 frames are close to or even above 80 cm which I dont like. Unfortunately Secan geometry chart does not provide information about standover. I asked them about that and now I am waiting for their replay.

mongol777

I always thought smaller frame is easier to fit too. But what I am finding out in my personal experience - I have easier time adapting larger frames. I had couple of 58 and 60 frames for a while and got them fitting just right. With smaller frames I almost always end up with tower of spacers or raised quill stem, etc. Anyway - fit is personal so of course you should consider your own comfort.
Yes, reach difference is 2mm between 54T and 56T but stack is 21mm higher.

sweetspot

Actually I think that both smaller and larger frame can be equally challenging to get a proper fit. You always start with the right seat position. Then you work with the rest and there is not so many things you can change. With smaller frame you can add a few spacers to get higher position (but you can only add few of them) and use longer stem if needed. On bigger frame you can ditch spacers and reverse the stem to get lower position and to bring handlebar closer you can use shorter stem. But if you start with 100mm stem there is only very little room to change because i think everything shorter than 80 mm messes with bike handling too much (but the same goes with using stem longer than 120 mm on smaller frame) Of course you can also try to save the situation by using different handlebar with shorter reach but you can only gain 10 mm or so by doing that. And with bigger frame there is a potential standover height issue which you can do nothing about.

mongol777

I agree, best is start with good fitting frame in the first place. Shorter stem does not always mess up the handling, IMHO. I have AWOL which I ride with 70mm stem and older Karate Monkey with drop bars which has I think ~40mm stem with dropbars and on both handlining is great. For more roadish frames I do prefer 90 to 110 stems, mostly for aesthetics reasons.

sweetspot

Another bike with big tire clearance: 509 cycles Necessary evil that will work with 650b 2.3 inch tire.