29ers are the darkside but . . .

[jonnyboy666]

bear with me here, i'm trying to justify another bike (and will need some advice) i may be selling one to help pay though

29ers, never really did anything for me but i sort of see a point in having one, you see the thing is . . . i have a cyclocross bike, which is basically a skinny 29er, when i got it i was riding to work alot, i used the cross bike more during the winter mainly because i have a thing about not wanting to get the road bikes constantly dirty (the salt on roads etc), the cross bike being an offroad bike i didn't mind having a weeks worth of crap on it before cleaning where as the road bike it bothered me. so the cross bike filled a gap nicely, still fast enough to commute on but comfortable enough for the then 16miles trip and suitable for battering around the mean streets of southampton and the cycle paths.

that was 4 years ago, now the cross bike doesn't get used that much which is a shame really, i'm either on road or off, not inbetween, that said i know i'd ride it more if it was more of an mtb set up. more for running errands into southampton rather than taking the van or motorbike

what got me thinking about this was LeeDevelopment's urban FTW build a while ago, very cool machine, way much more than the sort of thing i am thinking of but an inspiration none the less.

the thing is i don't want to put a flat or riser bar on the cross bike, the set up is wrong, i've seen it done and it looks wrong, feels wrong, so this brings me back to Lee's urban bike.

a hybrid really is what it is but the ones from the late 90's, when hybrids came out they were right in the middle of road and mtb, sporty bikes, now they are 'comfort' bikes on one hand or more road-ish bikes with flat bars

now i don't want to go down a custom route here, something off the shelf-ish would be ideal, i know i'll prefer an mtb style, but the sort of thing i am thinking is 29er/700c wheels, was thinking alfine hub gear, not fussed about what brakes, disc or V. tyre wise i was thinking clearance for atleast 700x42 but generally running less than that.

so with that in mind does anyone have any recommendations? bike or frame?

here's Lee's bike and also my cross bike as examples of what i have and trying to replace and the sort of thing i'm thinking of, position wise though i'd want a lower front end than Lee has though, his is more even saddle/bar height i'd prefer a bit more drop to the bar.

 

[hamster]

Sounds like a Surly Ogre to me...

 

[jonnyboy666]

i did actually look at Surly, because i'm thinking hub gears though i felt the Surly bikes had very 'busy' rear ends, like they are made for every possibility of gearing which i wasn't keen on.

was wondering about something with a more specific drop out to hub gears

 

[Andy R]

Singular Gryphon?
Alfine hubs don't really have specific dropouts, they have anti-rotation washers that locate in conventional dropouts or track ends - I think three different angle variations are made, which you use depends on the dropouts you have and where you want the shift cable to run ( chain stay or seat stay).

If you knew all this already then ignore the above, apart from the Gryphon bit.

 

[jonnyboy666]

just googled it, looks very upright? is that quite normal on 29ers?

in all honesty this is my first foray into looking at 29ers, i don't know what is considered normal but at the same time i (sort of) know what i want, i just don't know who makes it!

regarding the alfine set up, i did know about the various set ups for it, what i want is the neatest solution if possible, i don't like unused extras that make frames look messy. i thought horizontal drop outs with a drop out adjuster or vertical with eccentric B/B looked the best options.

having looked at a few websites i like the look of the more MTB bikes as opposed to the more niche brands, for example, i looked at the new clockwork from Orange (i hate they called it the clockwork though) mtb29er, like the look of the position but . . . massive tyres, normal gears and suspension fork, all things i don't want. does that make sense?

oh and i'd prefer steel

any one have a spare moon on a stick for me? :facepalm:

 

[firedfromthecircus]

Genesis Fortitude might fit your bill.

They have 3 versions available as full bikes. Adventure which comes with Alfine 11, race which comes with normal gears and ss which comes, er, ss!

Also you can buy the Race and Adventure framesets.

I've just built an Adventure with an Alfine 8 and it is very nice.

 

[jonnyboy666]

yeah, they're quite interesting, the adventure looks nice, not overly fussed about the graphics though but that's getting very near the mark mainly because it's not a particularly high looking front end as it specifically says it's not suspension corrected geometry.

 

[Raging_Bulls]

any one have a spare moon on a stick for me? :facepalm:

Nope, only a jalapeño.

The handlebar on a 29er will always be higher than on a 26 (unless you go with negative-rise stems and upside-down riser bars or other extreme stuff). The BB and saddle height may be roughly the same as it is on our old 26" bikes, but the headtube needs to be positioned 3" higher (add more in case of a suspension-corrected geometry) to make room for the taller front wheel. That's why Lee's bike looks like it's so high up front.

 

[firedfromthecircus]

The non suspension correction does help. I have risers on mine but with flat bars you would probably find a suitable position.

 

[jonnyboy666]

@ RB, yeah i knew the bar would be higher as it's a bigger bike generally but i just didn't want a to high front end.

@ FFTC, i take it you use yours for a bit of actual adventuring?