Originally Posted by
guy153
I think the best way to reduce reach is to use a slack head angle with lots of rake (to get the trail back to a sensible figure), and a short stem. If you want a high stack I would go with a sloping TT, but not so sloping that you don't have enough standover. If necessary extend the HT a bit above the HT/TT junction. This is better than having loads of steerer or stem stickout IMO.
I agree - this seems to be where it is going to end up. With 26" wheels and 70.5 you actually don't need a whole lot of rake to get things to fit. Really, the biggest battle I am fighting is not just committing to 26s, that seems to make things a lot easier.
I am also considering dialing back on the stem length a bit. I do want flexibility in there, but perhaps 15MM will open things back up a bit in terms of the FC.
The one thing I don't want is sloping TT...can't do it. I would be devastated if someone looked at my bike someday and said: "nice gravel bike!".
Using the extended HT does look a lot better and less kludgy (I agree with your thoughts on steerer and/or stem). My iteration from last night is looks like that:
(never mind the extra steerer). This design has the same toe clearance to fender that I currently ride, with a shorter FC.
Originally Posted by
guy153
As for handling my experience has been that your brain just gets used to whatever you're riding and it feels absolutely right after a little while. Low BB makes it nice and easy to put your foot down and will help you achieve the high stack you want. So you could consider a drop of 80mm. I wonder though if a higher BB helps keep one's feet a bit drier when riding through puddles? My touring frame ended up with it slightly higher than intended (because reasons) but I actually really like it.
I completely agree with the brain-adaption. Ultimately I think that it'll end up great, but of course always have me wondering... I'm in the the pre-build over-thinking phase. Since there is a range of options that no one can agree upon, I'm probably safe as long as I'm within that range.
Regarding BB - I'm probably going to go with a pretty big drop. My Voyageur is 85mm already (27"), and I use 165 cranks recently, after going from 175 for a long time. Never a strike, so that's 10 there. I did an experiment yesterday where I rode one of my favorite routes with 1" foam blocks on the bottom of my pedals and by the end, no contact. I suspect I could go 2", although that might start to get limiting in the future. It was an unnatural effort to get them to scrape when I tried to at the end.. But I don't want to overdo it. That drop starts to give me a bit more HT also to minimize extra stem extension.
Originally Posted by
guy153
I'm not sure I do need the drops, but I find the hoods and flats to be very comfortable and the options to move my hands around is nice. I like the wrist angle, but honestly haven't tried like a NorthRoads. Into the wind maybe I'll ride the drops, but not too much. I do have some Albastash bars which I liked for shorter rides, but longer didn't offer me good options to move around. For zipping around town they are probably great, but require even less reach.
That is cool build there. I looked at that and the "previous build" also very nice...seems like we have similar reach requirements.
Thanks for the response, good stuff to keep thinking about.
Don