What frame?

2poc

Hi I’m building a new gravel, gravel lite, endurance, winter (whatever that means) bike and struggling to find a frame. I’d like to run 32mm tyres with full guards for winter road duties but be able to switch to 650b wheels, bigger tyres for summer gravel, woods, bridleway etc.

Disc brakes obvs, threaded BB, carbon or aluminium to keep the cost down - ideally something lightweight.

I’ll pair with 105 or GRX depending on what I can source and a pair of carbon wheels.

Any help / ideas would be much appreciated

paulbnix

Before the current situation I would have suggested Planet X but they don't seem to have many frames available.
There is the On-One Free Ranger but its now £1200.

2poc

Thanks and sorry should have said something in stock

mrb123

I have an Orro Terra C which I run with 30mm 4 season road tyres and full mudguards. Nice, light carbon frame. Masses of clearance for fat tyres. No idea on availability though!

joe_totale-2

What's your budget? If it's not too high then a Kinesis Tripster could do the job:

https://www.probikekit.co.uk/cycling-frames/kinesis-tripster-at-frameset-columbus-fork/12223358.html?affil=thggpsad&switchcurrency=GBP&shippingcountry=GB&variation=12223370&&thg_ppc_campaign=71700000077028938&gclid=CjwKCAiAhbeCBhBcEiwAkv2cY88cvmuo-sIEJiTy_UP40an822fWUezXT1s4b6CLYEtTwIkM6zBcKRoCbXMQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

2poc

Thanks I do like them (I’m trying to sell a kinesis in the ads) but need a 54/55/medium frame :-(

domdom1980

I have a Vitus substance carbon framed bike that I'm looking to sell, fits medium/54 if you are interested? Currently has SRAM 1x and disc brakes and can take 650b (has currently) or 700c

schlepcycling

Mason Bokeh https://masoncycles.cc/shop/categories/bokeh-bikes

alwaystimetotorque

Condor Bivio Gravel - i'm currently building one up - lovely steel frame which should fit your requirements.

Depending on budget you could also look at Enigma Endeavour, Laverack Grit, Bombtrack Hook, and the others mentioned above.

Or, if you could wait a while you could look at Standert Erdgeschoss or Pfadfinder - looking like mid-end of year before in stock.

singleton

I have an On-one free ranger and would say that it fits the bill.

Mine is SRAM 1x with a 42 front and 11-32 11 speed cassette which is fine for my winter riding, it has full guards and I've been running 32mm gravel kings through winter. In summer I run it with 27.5" wheels and 2.2" Maxxis ikons tyres for off-road duties.

When I was doing my research, I found something that stated that the Free ranger and the Vitus substance both use a rebranded carbonda 696 frame, not sure if you can source those directly..

joe_totale-2

singleton said:

I have an On-one free ranger and would say that it fits the bill.

Mine is SRAM 1x with a 42 front and 11-32 11 speed cassette which is fine for my winter riding, it has full guards and I've been running 32mm gravel kings through winter. In summer I run it with 27.5" wheels and 2.2" Maxxis ikons tyres for off-road duties.

When I was doing my research, I found something that stated that the Free ranger and the Vitus substance both use a rebranded carbonda 696 frame, not sure if you can source those directly..

I think the Dolan GXC is also the Carbonda 696, is cheaper than the Free Ranger and also has a more 'muted' paint job:

https://www.dolan-bikes.com/gxc-frameset/

You can source them directly but once you take into account import duty and the fact that you won't get any UK based support, it's a better idea to get it from a UK based seller.

singleton

Thanks

Also, as the OP stated Aluminium was okay, it looks like the Dolan GXA is available and at the rather decent price of £599.
https://www.dolan-bikes.com/gxa-frameset/

2poc

Thanks everyone some great ideas from the collective, thoughts on the Bowman Weald:

https://bowman-cycles.com/products/bowman-weald-frameset

joe_totale-2

2poc said:

Thanks everyone some great ideas from the collective, thoughts on the Bowman Weald:

https://bowman-cycles.com/products/bowman-weald-frameset

A lovely looking endurance bike but it can't take tyres larger than 32mm so wouldn't be much good for gravel, even with 650b wheels.

janwal

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/planetxbikesuk/m.html?ssPageName=STRK:MEFSXS:MESOI&_trksid=p2053788.m1543.l2654
Planet X have an eBay site for half price framesets ,with some sort of mark etc on them. I bought a Free Ranger last December. Just had a tiny paint chip by screw hole on top tube. Stock changes all the time so have to keep looking. Built mine up as 1x Sram but as a flat bar bike. Love it as a winter bike. Weighs 9.3kg without even trying to keep weight down.