Cyclocross - Help me get the frame right :)

Greetings all!

So I am in the happy position of being able to spec a frame. Unless I find some kind of crazy deal on ebay, I'm going to get a frame built by Orlando Simoncini via his UK agents, Cycles Clements.

I want the frame to be useful for things other than racing cross in the midatlantic, so I want to specify fender and rack mounts. I would also like to have a seatstay and chainstay bridge.

I'm hoping for a racey geometry, but would this conflict with more mundane tasks? I can't really justify the frame unless I use it for more than the 6 or so VA CX races I can do per year.

Also, lugged steel, probably Columbus Thron or SLX unless I pay a bit more for Dedaciaii Com 12.5. Will have to go for a 1" steerer in order to get the lugs, so I was thinking of sticking with a threaded headset: a key condition is being able to keep the bars high.

I will build it up myself with Stronglight cranks and Campagnolo Veloce everything else. Brakes will be Suntour XC Pro canti's.

Thanks for any input!

disc mounts could be handy if you're gonna tour loaded (and you should) but discs and racks rarely get along well so maybe just up front.

for geometry i'm racing on a pretty slack-angled bike and the angles are definitely not what's holding me back. plus my back and hands really appreciate the smoother ride in races and on the trails.

also long horizontal dropouts (or sliding vertical dropouts) will allow you to change your geometry from race-tight to touring-smooth depending on where the wheel sits.

short chainstays will give you better traction and tighter turning, longer ones will make large loads on a rack easier to deal with.

top tube cable routing would be a must for me on a custom machine.

cheers! i'm jealous.

Seems like there is a wide range of threadless stem sizes and angles out there that could give you high bars, even without using stacks of spacers.

I personally wouldn't go threaded, but if you do, Nitto makes righteously nice ones (see rivbike.com).

Those lovely stems and the height adjustability are what make me think quill. I would probably have to run some spacers and a riser stem with ahead. Do more relaxed angles make for a more compliant ride? Right now I am competing on a 35lb hybrid, so anything should be an improvement.

I do see loaded touring in the future. But it might be on my hybrid, since I have toured that before. I think British tourers also conceive "loaded" differently to Americans ;) (Loaded to me means good for a three day jaunt, not a transcontinental three month jaunt)