Road/Gravel Frames with Short Reach

[GScot]

After wrecking my right elbow in 2015 and months of surgeries and therapy I started riding again in early 2016 with reduced reach in my right arm. I never could get a workable position on my road bikes a Look 585 Medium being the favorite. It has a reach of about 384 and stack of about 545 and was at the upper end for comfortable reach before my injury. I bought a Black Mountain Cycles Monster Cross last year and played with stems and spacers and such trying to find a workable position for longer rides. A couple of weeks ago I made an appointment with an LBS using a Guru fit cycle and worked on refining my position.

I knew it and riding friends and my wife had pointed out that I would drop my right shoulder and let it creep forward as a ride progressed. The fit cycle helped pinpoint just when and where that happens. And the fitter also observed something I hadn't been aware of that my right hip would get out of alignment once the shoulder moved enough and contribute to more discomfort.

The apparent solution as I've made more changes on the BMC frame and ridden a bit is really short reach for the tops and less handlebar to saddle drop. The reach is a bigger factor than drop, at least relative to my expectations.

With the background out of the way, I'm not finding too many frames available with a reach around 365 and a stack of 550 or so. A Cervelo C3/C5 size 51 looks perfect on those dimensions but they aren't too common in the wild yet. Lynskey Sportive, Litespeed T5g, and Niner RLT family are others I've found online. I'd like to find something cheapish or used to experiment with anyway and the big brands all seem to size just a bit long. Any other companies I should be checking out? Steel would be great but anything goes and I'm content with either rim or disc brakes. Thanks for any feedback.

[sparky33]

Salsa Warbird 53cm comes in at 548/372. Salsa geometry always seems relatively short reach relative to the tall stack heights.
Or Trek Domane SLR 50cm with 546/368.

[Ken Robb]

You might like a bar/stem combo like the moustache/dirt drop from Rivendell. They have a newly tweaked version of that bar but I forget the name. It might be a cheaper test than a whole new frame. OTOH your present bars with a Dirt Drop stem might work too.

[NHAero]

Ditto on Salsa, especially the Vaya. And the REI Coop brand has a gravel bike that has similar short reach.

[veloduffer]

You may also want use an adjustable stem. Look used to make one that could be adjusted for length and height; it was like a double hinge design.


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[GScot]

Thanks. Good info so far, I had missed the Warbird. With respect to bars I found I can get away with setting the right hood just a little higher. It never bothers if I don't look at it. Flared bars like the Cowbell work as well as any and canting the hoods inward helps too. I didn't loose much rotation of my wrist but certain positions encourage fatigue much faster.

[JasonF]

Originally Posted by veloduffer

You may also want use an adjustable stem. Look used to make one that could be adjusted for length and height; it was like a double hinge design.

This is a viable option. After recovering from a cycling accident that fractured T-7 I used a Look Ergostem to get the bars up enough so I had zero drop. It was super-heavy and super-expensive but it got me back on the road. If you think things might improve this could be something to check out.

[parris]

I don't know if this is something that may work but would possibly building up some kind of spacers on the side where you have the limited range of motion help to compensate? Just a thought.

[ceolwulf]

How about a Giant AnyRoad Comax, in XS with a reach of 36.3 and a stack of 54.8?

[thermalattorney]

The GT Grade size XXS shows a stack of 557mm and reach of 370mm

[sandyrs]

548/373: http://www.diamondback.com/shop/haanjo-comp

546/373: http://carverbikes.com/frames/ti-all-road/

[ColonelJLloyd]

Carver titanium All-Road size 54 has 567/372 and standover of 793. The 52 has one mm more reach with a stack of 546.

There is a LOT of room to play with regarding stem length, bar reach and lever reach (if you like to camp on the hoods). So, it really makes sense to know your preferred bar and levers first. And you likely have done this in determining the stack/reach you need in a frame.

I feel you, man. I have three fused vertebrae in my lower back so I simply do not have the flexibility I started out with. I'm having a custom finished up that's about 666/380. Reach is shorter than it would have been if I liked modern short reach bars, but I don't so this is the frame reach for me with a 100mm or longer stem and bars with a reach of around 115mm. And, no toe clip overlap with fenders.

[owly]

- Advocate Lorax: steel (strange low angle seat tube though)
- On-One Bish Bash Bosh [UK] (frameset is available; cheap): carbon
- Fyxation Crusher. The geo is so close to the On-One, its not funny (same factory?).
- Curve Grovel V2 frameset (52): Nivachrome
- Moots Routt 45: Ti
- Carbonda (China) gravel frameset: carbon
- Alpkit Sonder Camino (alu or ti).

Those are ones off the top of my head (I have a list somewhere of 360-365reach/565+Stack frames, as that's my size).

[GScot]

Thanks for all of the info on frames and other advice. I will certainly keep the Look stem in mind should I run into more obstacles. The bar reach/drop I am currently working with is good for a 90-minute ride at least. I expect with training and some experiments with the bars themselves longer rides will be possible.

I have found the Salsa Cowbell flare is good and a little more might be better but a lot more like the Cowchipper is too much. I see Easton has a bar that splits the difference and may try that next.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by GScot

After wrecking my right elbow in 2015 and months of surgeries and therapy I started riding again in early 2016 with reduced reach in my right arm. I never could get a workable position on my road bikes a Look 585 Medium being the favorite. It has a reach of about 384 and stack of about 545 and was at the upper end for comfortable reach before my injury. I bought a Black Mountain Cycles Monster Cross last year and played with stems and spacers and such trying to find a workable position for longer rides. A couple of weeks ago I made an appointment with an LBS using a Guru fit cycle and worked on refining my position.

I knew it and riding friends and my wife had pointed out that I would drop my right shoulder and let it creep forward as a ride progressed. The fit cycle helped pinpoint just when and where that happens. And the fitter also observed something I hadn't been aware of that my right hip would get out of alignment once the shoulder moved enough and contribute to more discomfort.

The apparent solution as I've made more changes on the BMC frame and ridden a bit is really short reach for the tops and less handlebar to saddle drop. The reach is a bigger factor than drop, at least relative to my expectations.

With the background out of the way, I'm not finding too many frames available with a reach around 365 and a stack of 550 or so. A Cervelo C3/C5 size 51 looks perfect on those dimensions but they aren't too common in the wild yet. Lynskey Sportive, Litespeed T5g, and Niner RLT family are others I've found online. I'd like to find something cheapish or used to experiment with anyway and the big brands all seem to size just a bit long. Any other companies I should be checking out? Steel would be great but anything goes and I'm content with either rim or disc brakes. Thanks for any feedback.

http://www.waterfordbikes.com
http://www.gunnarbikes.com