new bike indecision

[spiderman]

what to do:
i want to ride gravel, snow and occasionally ride some rough trails.
i have options at my lbs:
1) lemond poprad 53 cm frame, complete bike under $700
2) serotta fierte 54 cm frame somewhere under 2k for a complete bike

but the frames would be smaller than my road sizing...
this is what i found from an earlier search:

dbrk
Vlaenderen die Leu Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Bristol, New York
Posts: 1,511

Unless you are going to race, don't size down your cross bike and try not to think of it as a road bike 'cause, well, it's not. A few years back there was this silly notion that 'cross bikes make good all-arounders. This is not so. Want an all-arounder? Think about a Rivendell Atlantis, now _that_ is an excellent trails bike without the foibles of 'cross frame.

Cross bikes don't need the higher bb that some builders put on them. BBs were higher BackThen (I was there...) because toe clips dragged when you dismounted and ran, and that would be bad. This stuff about clearance is nonsense. So a lot of companies are building 'cross bikes without actually having thought through it (surprise, surprise). We all defer to the usual standards of idiocy because they are the usual standards (jerk inspired comment). The higher bb is a terrible idea and size down onlyonly if you race and even then, don't.

If you really want to ride a cross bike on trails, not race, that's all fine but do yerself a favor and get one that fits like your road bike and find one with a "low" bb. Why? With bigger tires the bike will naturally be taller. You'd only size down if you were jumping on and off in an anerobic seizure (known as 'cross racing).

dbrk
who thinks most 'cross bike builders should listen to RichardSachs and do exactly what he does for design, no matter what material they choose...

i could also go with a custom fierte at my lbs for a very reasonable price.
my other thought and what i'd really like to try is a terraplane
but i've never had a chance to ride one.
i'm thinking that until i can decide
maybe i'll just ride my daughter's mountain bike...
...let's see what the poll says:
and the answer is:

[Ray]

Go for the Poprad. It avoids the various pitfalls Douglas refers to in his post (it has a lower bottom bracket than Lemond's road bikes, for example) and has pretty good sport touring geometry with a more relaxed front end that makes it feel reasonably quick and responsive, but dead stable when conditions require stability. And it's cheap so you won't feel bad about imparting the level of abuse these types of bikes will invariably take. I have one and it fits Nokain studded 35mm tires and so far has handled all the salt and grit and general nastyness I can throw at it. Takes fenders nicely too. The other bikes you mention would be excellent, but probably not that much better for what you want to do with them, and you won't want to get them dirty - you won't care with the Poprad.

-Ray

[Ozz]

Take a look at the Hampsten Strada Bianca...comes in Ti and Steel.

[dbrk]

I agree with Ray that the Propad is an excellent deal and a good riding bike in every respect (lots of happy riders). For a wet, winter, gravel, snow bike there is no sane reason to spend a fortune. One other suggestion is to call Rivendell and ask when you can get a $750 Bleriot 650B. This would be a fantastic bike for all you describe and as beautifully made as any for its price. Lots of tires and wheels to choose from. Your LBS could order it from Quality Bike Parts with wheels and appropriate brakes.

Be smart about clearances for fat tires. It's a bad idea not to have options for big slicks, studded tires, or 'cross knobbies.

dbrk

[chrisroph]

poprad. It's a pretty nice frameset with poor parts for a great price. I almost bought one several years ago but was put off by the component spec. Instead, I bought a gunnar crosshairs frame and the gunnar reynolds 531 fork and equipped it with campy.

[dauwhe]

Also note that my 54cm Steel Fierte can barely handle 27mm tires. I've used Ruffy-Tuffies on the bike, but it's very, very tight--especially in the back. Don't know why they make the chainstays so narrow back there!

I like my 650B Saluki for such uses, but I'm a bit eccentric :)

Dave Cramer
Brattleboro, Vermont

[Serpico]

lemond's website has a disc version of the poprad now

[zank]

The Lemond is a great bike. BB drop is 7.4 cm, which is close to ideal. The only considerations I see are the 55 and 57 cm bikes come with stems that I consider to be a bit short and the 43 cm chainstay length is a bit longer than what I like. I prefer 42.5 cm chainstays. The stem is an easy switch out if the longer stem improves the fit. It will certainly improve the handling.

I agree that a cross bike should be the same size as your road bike, whether you are racing or not.

[Ken Robb]

geez, I wonder how many bikes I would haveto test ride before I could detect a 1/2 centimeter difference in chainstay length?

For riding in "gravel" the fatter the tires the better I like it to keep them from sinking in. I'm a lot happier on rough trails with full suspension.

I do ride my road bikes off-road sometimes but Spider doesn't say anything about riding this one on pavement or cross-racing so I tink a real rough stuff bike would be best.

[Lifelover]

considering a MTB for yourself.

IMO a good MTB should be a part of everyone's collection.

[jpw]

I agree with Ray that the Propad is an excellent deal and a good riding bike in every respect (lots of happy riders). For a wet, winter, gravel, snow bike there is no sane reason to spend a fortune. One other suggestion is to call Rivendell and ask when you can get a $750 Bleriot 650B. This would be a fantastic bike for all you describe and as beautifully made as any for its price. Lots of tires and wheels to choose from. Your LBS could order it from Quality Bike Parts with wheels and appropriate brakes.

Be smart about clearances for fat tires. It's a bad idea not to have options for big slicks, studded tires, or 'cross knobbies.

dbrk

Advice please.

What minimum clearance/ tire size would you recommend? 38, 45?

[Ray]

Advice please.

What minimum clearance/ tire size would you recommend? 38, 45?
32-38 mm is as fat as I want for anything short of truely crazy mountain biking, for which I'd want a mountain bike anyway. Either the Poprad or the Bleriot will take 38s. I doubt the Poprad would take anything much larger in the rear, athough it probably could in the front. Don't know about the Bleriot, but I'm not aware of 650b tires wider than 38 anyway. AFAIK, studded tires are only available in 700c size up to 35mm. I don't know of studded tires for 650b, but there may be some I'm not aware of. Depending on what you'll be doing, you may want knobbies sometimes. Good 700x38s available for the Poprad. Not aware of knobbies in 650b at this time - anything in the works Douglas? But just for cruddy winter riding/commuting in general, slightly treaded 32s or 38s should do you fine and they're available for either wheel size.

-Ray