cyclocross/touring frames

hey all, looking at getting a road bike for mostly day riding, but also for sometime touring use. don't plan on riding it off-road at all. would like to be able to fit fenders, racks, and ~28c tires, and run a triple crankset.

looking at the soma double cross, soma smoothie ES, jamis nova, jamis satellite, and old used road frames (miyata would be nice). think spreading a frame from 126mm rear spacing to 130mm is sketchy? we used to do it all the time at the shop i worked at, but a friend of mine suspects he cracked his frame at the dropouts because of the spreading.

anyway, think cantis are really needed for touring? i've only ever toured on an MTB with v-brakes. anyone ever hauled a heavily-loaded bike with caliper brakes?

any input on frames or designs i should look at?

there's a Fuji cross frame you might be interested in…

Trek Portland/LeMond Poprad Disc (same frame), available with cantis or avid BB7 160mm disc brakes.

the fuji's ugly :) the lemond is nice though, esp. since it's made of 853. i have a feeling both are out of my price range though.

Kim Steed rides a Poprad and loves it. A couple of his team riders use them for racing as well. Kim might be looking at selling his (I'm not sure though).

[email protected]

thanks, but i need a 50-51cm frame.

Have you checked into the Surly Cross Check or the Gunnar Crosshairs? Solid rides, IMHO.
You can run v-brakes on a 'cross bike, but it involves hooking up those pulley systems which can be a total pain at times. They're bliss if you can get them to cooperate.

You can also order in a Kona 'cross frame, assuming availability in their warehouse. 130mm OLD. Although I suspect you're not interested in riding a Kona.

I personally haven't found it a problem using the V-brake adapters.

might be outside your price range, but here's a Ridley Crosswind (Belgian). If anybody knows CX bikes, it's the Belgians…

Have you checked into the Surly Cross Check or the Gunnar Crosshairs? Solid rides, IMHO.
You can run v-brakes on a 'cross bike, but it involves hooking up those pulley systems which can be a total pain at times. They're bliss if you can get them to cooperate.

don't think i could afford a gunnar since they're waterford pedigree. surly's not bad, like the colours, but for about the same price i can get a reynolds-tubed soma.

i don't think i really need to run v-brakes, am happy running cantilevers. the cable routing on the pulley systems is inefficient, and the dia-compe levers that have v-brake cable pull are not very durable.

any one toured with calipers though?

You can also order in a Kona 'cross frame, assuming availability in their warehouse. 130mm OLD. Although I suspect you're not interested in riding a Kona.

I personally haven't found it a problem using the V-brake adapters.

no, i'm down with kona. i'd prefer to ride steel but oh well, i have an older cro-mo cinder cone that i totally love.

so it sounds like people aren't steering me away from a cross frame even though i'm not going to be riding off-road on the road bike…

do you usually size road bikes to have shorter top tubes than MTBs because you're usually stretched out to the brake hoods?

A road bike position is usually more stretched out due to the aero emphasis. However, it doesn't necessarily have to be that way. Go with whatever feels comfortable for you, especially if you are commuting and prefer a more "heads up" position.

I'm assuming that you've punched your body measurements into a fit calculator (see the stickied thread), since you've already picked out a frame size.

For the Kona option, visit a dealer and get them to phone up Kona on the spot. They should be able to find out in a matter of minutes if they have any frames in your size.

Also, you have the option of cross levers to mitigate the extra reach from drop bars. IMO, these are extremely useful in traffic (hand-signaling and braking at the same time).

I'm assuming that you've punched your body measurements into a fit calculator (see the stickied thread), since you've already picked out a frame size.

no, i hadn't. i'll give it a shot. i just went to la bicicletta and shoved a piece of wood they have in my junk to measure my inseam and the guy said 50-52cm is good.

I just picked up a Kona Jake the Snake. don't have it yet, but I bought it for just what you are taking about. if you can wait a couple week for me to recive it and put a few miles on it, I'll galdly give you my 2c. but till then…

another way to go is the Kona Sutra, thier touring frame, but it's steel, so if you riding a lot on foul weather, it may not be the way to go. it does come with disk brakes though, as does the Major Jake.