Bah! I give up! Winter bike build woes... what next? (Rant)

Recess

So, I bought a nice, cheap Giant TCX frame from the Braveheart forums.

First problem - the guy said it was 1 1/8th - no. 1 inch. Fine, old forks I was gonna use were goosed anyway, so I bought some new ones from Kinetic 1. Very nice.

Got 'em fitted - woohoo. Then fitted the new Schwalbe Marathon Supreme tyres (as I want something with decent rolling grip) and tried to stick 'em in the frame. Front - great.

Rear?!? ARRH! Too big for the back as it's so tight back there (a groove in the frame is there to allow a normal tyre to fit in - it didn't occur to me that this might affect clearance on the new tyres.

So - I've now got a choice.

1) Just stick the gatorskins back on, and (assuming they fit!) sell the Schwalbes on here for a loss.

2) Put the frame to one side, and buy a cross frame instead.

3) Pour another Jack, and just stick to the Mountain bike for winter commutes.

I could sell the frame and forks for £200 I guess, but if anyone has any advice, or just general abuse you'd like to throw this way...

Grrrr

J

amaferanga

I thought the TCX was a cross frame?

the_prophet

it is? :?

i'd just fit a different tyre if it were me.

Recess

Sorry.. TCR not TCX.

So, I put the drink down, stepped off the ledge and have decided just to build it with the Gatorskins for the time being, and at the sam time, keep an eye out for a good cross frame, and then just build another bike.

You can't have too many bikes now... can you?

J

the_prophet

great excuse for another bike your right. 8)

i've got gatorskins on my work bike, they've not caused me any issues in the wet up until now but i can't comment on cold / frosty conditions.

Monty Dog

FWIW Most road race frames won't accept anything bigger than 25mm - some don't even accept anything bigger than 23mm.

Recess

Yeah, I think that was the problem with the Supremes. They were 35's. Got some basic Marathon Plus instead - 28's - and there's the tiny tiny'est of rubs on the back, but that's all so hopefully all sorted. I'll see tomorrow if it's worse when I'm actually riding it though.

Against all lack of ability, I'm at least a trier.

J

HebdenBiker

Conti tyres require a midge's d1ck less clearance than Schwalbe ones of the equivalent size. You might want to try 28in Gatorskins.

Personally I wouldn't be prepared to tolerate any tyre rub - it would drive me nuts.

Recess

Hey,

Yup, even the 28's were a gnats tadger too big. Ended up getting some Durano 25's - which are nice, though lacking tread, but I'm told that doesn't make much difference anyway.

But - in a testament of why you go to a local bike shop, I'd used blue cables and detailing all over the bike (on a black frame) and without even asking, they stuck on the blue/black Duranos. Now that's service.

(Solid Rock Cycles in Glasgow in case you're interested).

John.

ugo.santalucia

It seems to me the fault is yours...

If you buy a carbon road frame and pretend to use it with big tyres, you can't complain if they don't fit... I'm sure there's plenty of information around the topic...

As for what to do, again, I'm not in your head... only you know how important it is for you to ride on big tyres... some people do the all winter with 23, others go 25 or 28, some give up cycling all together

Recess

I'm in no way trying to put the blame on someone else!! The whole point of this topic is self defamation, to let off some steam, and in some way maybe let others know about the pitfalls of just launching into building a bike when you don't know how to build a bike!

I just wanted a challenge - bought a cheapish Aluminium winter frame and started to build - I've learned a lot while putting it together, like checking about tyre clearance...

I hoped by sharing my experience, others may save themselves the effort. Not everyone is blessed with all the knowledge from the outset.

So please, calm your jets.

John

Garz

Easy on ugo, I think he has clarified it pretty well now.

Recess

Please excuse the mess surrounding it, but this is it in its 'Finished' state now: