25 years ago I ordered a monstercross weirdo bike, I think history is going to repeat

[bicycletricycle]

When I was a kid I spent all my hard earned money on a custom drop bar 29er with couplers.

After riding a zillion more bikes I think I want the same thing again but with some geometry changes and a front rack instead of a rear rack.

The More things change, more they change the same?

So…. If you ordered a steel rigid 29er (steel frame and curved blade fork, rim brakes) with a sort of modern long top tube / 70mm stem set up and you wanted to put a front rack and a boxy rando bag on their for 5 pounds of stuff what geo would you want up front?

I am tempted to go 72/73 degree low trail kinda deal, I have a low trail off road bike that I really like , I actually like it more without a bag but I like it with a bag as well. Only thing I don’t like is difficulty of riding no handed.

I personally will be riding this in the road as much as off-road so some modern chopper 65 degree headtube thing is just right out

Maybe some kind of classic rigid MTB geometry ? What did a ritchey p21 have for head angle, rake , trail I wonder?

[tellyho]

I have a 2011 Jamis Dragon that mostly does this job, albeit with a 100mm fork. 853, QR disc. Not selling, but proposing that you go looking for a commercial 29 hardtail of that era. I use it for exactly the sort of riding you propose: gnarly gravel.

[edgerat]

We have a couple Sklar SuperSomething with 55mm knobbies they are mucho fun on the MTB trails or anywhere else. Go for it!

[bigbill]

Steve Garro (Coconino) might or might not have a stash of MAX tube sets.

[pdonk]

If I remember correctly a p23 would have a 71 d head angle and fork with 55mm of rake, that was pretty standard fare in the early 90s.

[weisan]

BT, do you remember this bike?

Here's what the previous owner (before BT) had to say:
Finally time to part with one of my prized Spectrums and since I'm not hardcore enough to take advantage of the travel utility of this bike anymore, it's the logical one to go. It's kind of a brevet light touring type of geometry, with fender bosses and clearance. It takes long reach brakes with plenty of fender clearance (although I take it there are even longer reach brakes now so maybe these are currently what's known as medium reach?) It's unfinished ti (straight gauge - I don't think Tom offer(ed) butted tubing with S&S couplers) with an etched front logo. It's a wonderful bike. It's got longer than standard chain stays and a pretty low BB and the handling is a touch milder and more stable than Tom's signature race bike handling, but it's no dog. It reacts well to jumping out of the saddle and fairly aggressive cornering, with the caveat of having the right fork mounted.

And it comes complete with two forks! Why two forks? Well, I probably mis-communicated to Tom how much I'd be riding this bike with a loaded handlebar bag (and just how loaded such a bag would be). So he originally built it with a higher rake, lower trail fork to handle more predictably with such a setup. Perfect for your brevet rider or light tourer. But I was riding effectively unloaded (or with just a tiny bar bag) almost exclusively and I hated the way the bike handled unloaded. Tom assures me there are people who like that type of handling even unloaded, but it has some odd turn-in behavior that I wan't into at all. I loaded up the front end a couple of times to feel the difference, and it was wonderful with a front load. But that was not how I rode it, so Tom built me a second fork for riding unloaded, which had less rake, more trail, and the bike just felt perfect for my type of riding from that point forward. The first fork has sat unused since, but may be of great use to a buyer of this frame, and god knows I don't have any further use for it, so you get two forks with this baby, one for a loaded front end, one for an unloaded front end. The drawing below shows the original higher rake / lower trail fork spec... Both forks are steel, BTW, and really nicely done, as you'd expect from Tom and Jeff...

I'm not sure how to classify the size - Tom's drawing (see below) shows 64 cm from the bb to the top of the seat tube if the seat tube were extended to where the top tube would be if it were parallel to the ground and as high as it could go on the head tube. But that's more about allowing for a high bar position than the actual seat tube height. I'm about 5' 11" and have generally ridden 58-59 off the rack bikes, so I'd look at this one that way. With a higher bar position than you'd want on a race bike.
Here's the build sheet:



Clean39T's setup

[bicycletricycle]

Originally Posted by tellyho

I have a 2011 Jamis Dragon that mostly does this job, albeit with a 100mm fork. 853, QR disc. Not selling, but proposing that you go looking for a commercial 29 hardtail of that era. I use it for exactly the sort of riding you propose: gnarly gravel.

I have a lot of weird details that I like (down tube shifter mounts, 140mm qr dropouts, routing for dynamo light, rack braze ons, etc. etc.) that just can’t be found on a stock frame. I also hate suspension corrected rigid forks.

[owly]

Getting toward finalizing a design in BikeCad for kind of this thing, but defo not low trail.
Was going to do qr, but thought thru-axle would be the sensible option going forward.
Would only be putting a small Nitto rack up front, and small rear rack.

Planning to ride on road to get to the rough etc. stuff. 29x2.6 on 430 c.stay.
Fork pushing 430atc. About 53mm? offset.
Hta around 71.2deg. Trail close to 70mm. 70mm'ish stem. Dropbar.

Going to throw on a vintage French downtube shifter for the 2x front only.
Not chunky tubing.

Ideally would have a horizontal top tube, but the curved seat tube I'm using isn't long enough.

[bicycletricycle]

Founds like a nice build. I am going compact and longer chainstays on mine so no need for bent seat tube .

I assume you r going disc ?

Originally Posted by owly

Getting toward finalizing a design in BikeCad for kind of this thing, but defo not low trail.
Was going to do qr, but thought thru-axle would be the sensible option going forward.
Would only be putting a small Nitto rack up front, and small rear rack.

Planning to ride on road to get to the rough etc. stuff. 29x2.6 on 430 c.stay.
Fork pushing 430atc. About 53mm? offset.
Hta around 71.2deg. Trail close to 70mm. 70mm'ish stem. Dropbar.

Going to throw on a vintage French downtube shifter for the 2x front only.
Not chunky tubing.

Ideally would have a horizontal top tube, but the curved seat tube I'm using isn't long enough.

[owly]

Originally Posted by bicycletricycle

Founds like a nice build. I am going compact and longer chainstays on mine so no need for bent seat tube .

I assume you r going disc ?

Yes.

Going to start off with a down-pull front derailleur. Shifter on clamp.