MacB
Lover of things that come in 3's
- Location
- Farnborough, Hampshire
I have a preference for canti/v brake bosses, rack & guard mounts, generous clearances and 700c wheels. It doesn't mean I won't run skinny tyres but I'd like to have a choice to go above a certain size. For example the Mavic A719 touring rims are rated for tyres from 28-47mm, yet very few frames, excluding MTB 29ers and Cyclocross, can take tyres above 32mm including guards. 29ers are still quite new and relatively rare/expensive and Cyclocross often lack necessary bosses or comfortable geometry. The Rigida Sputnik rims are rated for 28-60mm tyres, as are other touring rims Rigida do in 700c. I understand limitations of reach for road caliper brakes and why that limits tyre and guard options. But it seems strange that you can move to canti/v brakes and yet find yourself so strictly limited on upper tyre sizes by the frame itself.
Is there a performance issue around this, would greater clearance mean slower bikes?
I know there are bikes out there, I have the Surly Crosscheck which is more an allrounder than a cyclocross frame. There's also the LHT from the same crowd. But these are strong, heavy, bikes(also far from cheap) and I was thinking more along the lines of something lighter and maybe carbon or titanium. I've been strongly drawn to the Van Nicholas Amazon but the 32mm upper limit applies. I also like the look of the Kinesis Crosslight Csix frameset, but it lacks bosses and review information seems non existent.
Then you have hybrids, in all their guises, for example I quite like the look of the Sirrus Pro 2009 model, carbon frame and all the bosses. Yet trying to find out max tyre clearance is difficult, lots of sites just say things like 'ample clearance', WTF is that? your ample, my ample? Then on the Sirrus Pro 2010 the bosses are gone, nothing for guards or racks at all. Lots of other/lower level hybrids seem to fit the bill but still give little or no info regarding clearances. Also the lighter weight ones all seem to have wheelsets that look far too delicate. Considering the myriad of hybrid bikes around I can't find anywhere that sells that style of frameset. It's always a complete bike, with some compromise, or nothing.
Am I crazy, do I want something that the demand just isn't there for?
Is there a performance issue around this, would greater clearance mean slower bikes?
I know there are bikes out there, I have the Surly Crosscheck which is more an allrounder than a cyclocross frame. There's also the LHT from the same crowd. But these are strong, heavy, bikes(also far from cheap) and I was thinking more along the lines of something lighter and maybe carbon or titanium. I've been strongly drawn to the Van Nicholas Amazon but the 32mm upper limit applies. I also like the look of the Kinesis Crosslight Csix frameset, but it lacks bosses and review information seems non existent.
Then you have hybrids, in all their guises, for example I quite like the look of the Sirrus Pro 2009 model, carbon frame and all the bosses. Yet trying to find out max tyre clearance is difficult, lots of sites just say things like 'ample clearance', WTF is that? your ample, my ample? Then on the Sirrus Pro 2010 the bosses are gone, nothing for guards or racks at all. Lots of other/lower level hybrids seem to fit the bill but still give little or no info regarding clearances. Also the lighter weight ones all seem to have wheelsets that look far too delicate. Considering the myriad of hybrid bikes around I can't find anywhere that sells that style of frameset. It's always a complete bike, with some compromise, or nothing.
Am I crazy, do I want something that the demand just isn't there for?
