Ohh sounds good (I cant see the piccies till i get home.
Considering all the riding you have done and how much you know i am surprised you have taken the geometry from a 'mainstream manufacturers' bike rather than custom fit (I know it is technically custom). This makes me think because another 'experienced rider' also did a similar thing with a Marin Rocky Ridge and had it made in titanium. Are we saying that the bike manufacturers do actually know what they are doing?
Perhaps it just fits? All I've ever had is off the peg bikes. If I ever went custom then I'd want one based on my current hardtail because it fits like a glove.
I agree Misty. Better to fine tune something that works. I know i wouldnt have any idea how to spec a frame for myself other than using experience of what worked for me in the past.
Looking at the spec and knowing Monty's record for breaking frames I suspect he's investing in something that probably won't break and is repairable by anyone with a brazing torch if it does.
The only custom build Ive got is a tourer on which I wanted a very long top tube (58cm for a 53cm seat tube) and slack seat angle. All my other bikes I've been able to adapt by playing with stems and seat posts.
Nearly everyone will be able to find an off-the-peg frame that fits just fine. There'll be a few statistical outliers who won't. Both the examples Hobo mentioned are cases where the rider's found a production frame that they like the shape of but they want it made out of something else
"Looking at the spec and knowing Monty's record for breaking frames I suspect he's investing in something that probably won't break and is repairable by anyone with a brazing torch if it does."
Looking at the size of the tubes (seat tube in particular) you're not wrong! I'd have thought that larger diameter steel tubing on the front triangle would affect the comfort factor though.
Hello, Chinese seem to be blocking Yahoo so I can't email the gf.
The Trek rides fine - done 425km the last four days, hill climbs up to 35km long (!) along what was once the Burma Road/Stillwell Rd, cobbled surface in places for miles at a time, and still feeling fresh as a daisy. Why mess with what works?
Anyway - 'based on' i.e. with a slightly steepened seat tube and a headtube 20mm longer to eliminate all the spacers under the stem. The top tube will thus slope down at a higher angle to preserve standover height (and look cool...).
One lesser reason the geometry is essentially the same is because I want to see how much difference there is in the way this bike rides compared to the Trek. If the shape's the same, and the components are all the same (they will be), then any difference HAS to be down to the material...
The main triangle needs to be fairly beefy so it doesn't start noodling around when I've got panniers loaded front & rear. Everything's a compromise.
Got the painters in! I can't see all the pics because Flickr is one of the sites the Chinese are currently blocking, to stop pictures getting out, but what I can see looks good...
