Steel / alu gravel frame...with canti's

clazza

I have all the parts to build up a "gravel frame" including wheels which are non-disc hence the need for a canti frame

There doesnt seem to be many choices out there, all I can see are cross frames and even those are quite rare (and not really what I want in terms of geometry) There are some US ones like Surly and All City but they seem rather heavy

I do like the Genesis CdF 725 but that would mean new disc wheels and brakes...any steel / alu canti gravel frames out there?

ddraver

I reckon the Ritchey Swiss Cross is your best bet.

You are nt going to get the lightest weight with Steel (go Ti) but 2 of my clubmates ride SwissX on the road and they are beautiful bikes. The geo is reasonably gravel orientated

clazza

That was on the list adn I agree they look stunning but it does seem quite tradtional geometry with a high-ish BB of 63 and short-ish chainstays of 425. Gravel is usually 70+ / 430+? Not sure if I'm getting a bit too hung up over those figures though. However, it does a decent length HT which is good

One other thing is that there's no rear cable stop which would preclude the use of mini-V's

src1

Edit : Just spotted that you'd already spotted the Surly and All City bikes.

ddraver

clazza wrote:

That was on the list adn I agree they look stunning but it does seem quite tradtional geometry with a high-ish BB of 63 and short-ish chainstays of 425. Gravel is usually 70+ / 430+? Not sure if I'm getting a bit too hung up over those figures though. However, it does a decent length HT which is good

One other thing is that there's no rear cable stop which would preclude the use of mini-V's

True - I'm hearing that BB height is not the be all and end all of stability though (although I'm no expert). Chainstay length is as much about tyre clearance as anything else. Do you REALLY need to run 40c tyres for example, depends what you re buying it to do

Have a look at Salsa too and the niner RDO - US brands will be expensive though (but both those companies make dream worthy bikes - the Salsa Warbird makes me go wibbly)

trek_dan

For the price of something like a Ritchey Swiss Cross could you not have something built up exactly to spec by a frame builder? Feather Cycles, Donhou etc.

Other option would be going Chinese Titanium, order straight from the factory with the geometry you want. There's a few places do it, one of them is the factory that builds the off the peg frames for the like Dolan. Big savings to be had.

Cheap option Dolan Multi X? - more of a touring bike than a hardcore CX racer.

alan_sherman

Seems a lot of effort to avoid going disc. Look second hand for an on-one Kaffenback v1 frame? Or touring frames such as: http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php ... 7s143p2984

bmxboy10

Condor Fratello Disc

clazza

Thanks for the thoughts. I can get a Ritchey SC for around GBP 750 which rules out custom steel from what I've seen and have no luck getting replies from Chinese Ti companies - maybe because of Chines New Year? It would be interesting to see their prices

Not much info on the Dolan but I may give them a ring. The Spa has very relaxed geometry so that rules it out.

I've always been happy with mini-Vs and have many sets of wheels so it seems a shame not to make use of them. Never tried discs but thats probably another thread

I do like the Fratello and may see if Condor can do it with canti's

bendertherobot

Condor Bivio takes cantis. And discs.

clazza

Yep looked at Bivio but it has a very high BB (57), again not sure if I'm getting hung up on that!

bendertherobot

clazza wrote:

Yep looked at Bivio but it has a very high BB (57), again not sure if I'm getting hung up on that!

I ride mine daily. Turned it into a flat bar for commuting, used it for CX. Can't recall ever feeling anything in any particular way about the height of the BB.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Have you considered a blue London Road frameset for £150 this weekend, combined with one of those clearance Alex disc wheelsets at Superstar Components for ~£150?

If money and garage space was not so tight, I'd love to try building a flat bar version using the above.

clazza

Condor Bivio does look interesting as it takes both cantis and disc but I just checked and no more 55's left

Looked at the P-X before and cant get over the blue graphics but may consider the other colours if I go disc - its certainly lighter than the CdF but steel still appeals. Also found this which could be interesting

http://www.somafab.com/archives/product/double-cross

bmxboy10

Im sure the Condors will be I stock soon

ovi

Scott CX comp/team BB drop is 68mm and if you dont mind a reynolds 531 frame with 1" steerer there is always a few on ebay. e.g. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VINTAGE-RETRO ... SwWTRW0FqJ
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Raleigh-Gran- ... SwNyFWca8N
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dawes-Galaxy- ... SwJkJWhScX
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dawes-Super-G ... Swe7BW0ytw

http://dawescycles.com/product/galaxy/

clazza

No more 55 Bivio's - seems it is being discontinued. However on speaking to them it seems I'm a 52 as I'm 5'9" / 175 (55 is a long ST) but the TT is only 525 (vs 545) and the HT 120 (vs 140) I think the HT will be fine with spacers (their suggestion) and a shorter TT will make me more upright which is normal practice for a Gravel bike?

I'll probably ignore the BB drop because they are such nice looking frames...

clazza

Thanks for everybody's thoughts. After talking to Condor, I'm going for their cross frame - the fact that it can be upgraded to a disc in the future is a real bonus and they do look great!