The rise of old style frames

secretsam

How come after years of dinky little compact frames and 12" seatpins, all bikes now seem to be going all classic and square shaped again, with the old fashioned 2" of seat pin showing?? With steel all trendy again, I'm almost looking normal on my old 531... :shock:

roger_merriman

SecretSam wrote:

How come after years of dinky little compact frames and 12" seatpins, all bikes now seem to be going all classic and square shaped again, with the old fashioned 2" of seat pin showing?? With steel all trendy again, I'm almost looking normal on my old 531... :shock:

no my bike still looks like a gate....

wgwarburton

SecretSam wrote:

How come after years of dinky little compact frames and 12" seatpins, all bikes now seem to be going all classic and square shaped again, with the old fashioned 2" of seat pin showing?? With steel all trendy again, I'm almost looking normal on my old 531... :shock:

It was a fad, like twenty-speed drivetrains and plastic bikes... and those funny new shifters that make an annoying clicking noise when you change gears...

Cheers,
W.

mrc1

My upbringing was always - small mountain bike frame with long seat pin combo and large road frame with smallest seat pin combo.

Whenever I see a bike that reverses this trend it always looks funny!

secretsam

So the whole 'compact' thing was a conspiracy by seat pin manufacturers?

brushed

The whole compact thing came from the likes of Joe Murray at Kona in the late eighties trying to save peoples nads to give large clearance over the top tube on MTB frames.
It was then stolen by the road frame designers at Giant and everyone else followed.

el_presidente

You get more flexibility re positions from a compact frame and longer seatpost. So manufacturers save money by having to tool up for fewer sizes

rolf_f

el_presidente wrote:

You get more flexibility re positions from a compact frame and longer seatpost. So manufacturers save money by having to tool up for fewer sizes

Not really though unless you can find someone whose ideal fit puts their saddle below handlebar height.......

Roastie

Rolf F wrote:

el_presidente wrote:

You get more flexibility re positions from a compact frame and longer seatpost. So manufacturers save money by having to tool up for fewer sizes

Not really though unless you can find someone whose ideal fit puts their saddle below handlebar height.......

I must admit that "compact geometry" has grown on me. I can see the advantages of being able to make the same frame with less material & lower stand-over height.

rolf_f

Roastie wrote:

I must admit that "compact geometry" has grown on me. I can see the advantages of being able to make the same frame with less material & lower stand-over height.

I was wondering about this - if various 'issues' can be sorted, the bike I want to buy sometime this decade has options both of compact or traditional frame geometry. The only disadvantage (if that be a disadvantage) of compact seems to be the difference between how the taller seatpost behaves - presume more flex but maybe not needed for a carbon frame. That and the obvious one that maybe non-compact looks better - not sure I want a road bike that looks like an MTB

Roastie

Rolf F wrote:

Roastie wrote:

I must admit that "compact geometry" has grown on me. I can see the advantages of being able to make the same frame with less material & lower stand-over height.

I was wondering about this - if various 'issues' can be sorted, the bike I want to buy sometime this decade has options both of compact or traditional frame geometry. The only disadvantage (if that be a disadvantage) of compact seems to be the difference between how the taller seatpost behaves - presume more flex but maybe not needed for a carbon frame. That and the obvious one that maybe non-compact looks better - not sure I want a road bike that looks like an MTB

Also more stress at the seatpost clamp which means it needs to be stronger. Swings and roundabouts... This is something I probably should educate myself about a bit more.

rolf_f

Roastie wrote:

Also more stress at the seatpost clamp which means it needs to be stronger. Swings and roundabouts... This is something I probably should educate myself about a bit more.

Depending also on the weight of the rider - as you might recall, I don't weigh much so, strictly speaking, everything is massively over-engineered for me anyway!

Limburger

I don't know why but I hate the look of compact frames. Yeah, its lighter and all that but it just irks me.
Maybe I'm sick to the gunnels of seeing those horrible Planet-X plastic ones. All the cinelis are looking like that too these days.
Probably why I've been eying up and Argon 18 Krypton and a Condor Classico as well as a Sabbath Silk Road Pro.

Just can't decide what material I want my best bike hewn from.
I have decided it aint going to be a jaunty Trek/Felt/Giant/Focus/Planet-X/Ribble job though.

the_hundredth_idiot

I can't be the only one who likes the look of those Cooper bikes ... especially that hub geared roadie.

prawny

I like both styles but I think modern carbon types look better compact thin tubes look better as horizontal top tubes and TT bikes look best with a horizontal top tube too, that's just my opinion.

I was also brought up on tiny framed MTBs from Kona GT et al.

daviesee

Limburger wrote:

I don't know why but I hate the look of compact frames. Yeah, its lighter and all that but it just irks me.Maybe I'm sick to the gunnels of seeing those horrible Planet-X plastic ones. All the cinelis are looking like that too these days.
Probably why I've been eying up and Argon 18 Krypton and a Condor Classico as well as a Sabbath Silk Road Pro.

Just can't decide what material I want my best bike hewn from.
I have decided it aint going to be a jaunty Trek/Felt/Giant/Focus/Planet-X/Ribble job though.

Not so sure about the weight thing.

The seat tube may be shorter but the post will be longer so that roughly balances out.
Any minor discrepancies could be countered by the top tube actually being longer to meet further down the seat tube.
There may be a few grammes saved for weight weenies but I doubt that there are significant savings.

The size range and cost are the more likely suspects in my opinion, but who cares about that?