Framebuilders - Tall Riders Sought or Where to Get a Custom Touring Frame

No offense intended to the shorties out there but this post is intended for those whose height is on the high side (and no 6'3" or any height that is compatible with "off the shelf" bikes won't do).

I am 6'8" tall and have a 103.5 cm inseam and long arms and torso as well. I have one custom made bike which I really like apart from one glaring flaw. Now I am trying to get info on custom touring bikes and was wondering who out there can recommend a good frame builder with experience building frames for big folks and don't say Zinn, tried that, too much trouble for what you get frankly (unless you are a millionaire). Anyways it should be said that so far I am thinking 26" wheels would be best since I plan to go overseas to some remote places eventually. And the bike should be bombproof. Oh and I want it to accept at least 200 mm cranks but preferably 220mm so the bottom bracket's got to be raised a bit (a major point of contention to the uninitiated) Oh yeah and it's got to be steel!

Any suggestions? Your help is much appreciated :)

Thorne Cycles (http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/) specializes in 26 inch wheels, make bomb proof steel frames, and have a good reputation.

http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/Images/bikeenlargeexp.jpg

200 to 220mm cranks for touring is absolutely huge. You sure you want to go that far?

Dekerf (http://www.dekerf.com/index.asp) is local and offers custom frames. Don't know if he's got 853 tubesets big enough to accommodate you, but it would be worth calling him.
You might want to try MT Metal Works (http://members.shaw.ca/mtmetal/mtmframes.html) or Naked Bikes (http://www.fortebikes.com/index.html) as well.

Though I'm vertically challenged instead of gifted like you, You might want to consider a builder who specializes in fillet brazing, which allows for very custom geometry...

I just had a custom rohloff touring frame built by Steve Rex, I've seen a lot of tall bikes, including a tall touring frame from him in his shop. His gallery has a few tall frames in it.

He's in Sacramento, CA and online at www.rexcycles.com

Since you're in Vancouver, have you checked the Seattle builders?

I'm 6'3", and was absolutely dwarfed by a guy I ran into a couple of months ago riding a custom Davidson - he must have been at least your height, if not taller. www.davidsonbicycles.com (http://www.davidsonbicycles.com). I know that Davidson has built 26-inch wheels. In fact, he's probably built one of everything at some point.

Also, you might try R&E cycles, makers of Rodriguez bikes. They have a stock 26-inch touring bike called the Adventurer. Nice bike. www.rodcycle.com.

You might check out the Co Motion "Mazama" , or the Rivendell A. Homer Hilson. The rivendell is a 700c bike, but I believe they are building them in the 70cm frame size.

Have you looked at http://www.rivbike.com/? Rivendell used to offer a stock sport-touring frame for tall cyclists called the Redwood. My brother has one and it's a beautiful bike. They don't make the Redwood anymore. I have a Rivendell Atlantis, which is their stock all-rounder loaded touring frame. The largest size it comes in is 68cm, but I know they've done larger custom sizes of the Rivendell All-Rounder. The Altantis and All-rounder come with 26" wheels in sizes 56cm and smaller, but any larger and they come with 700c. I have 700x37 Continental Top Touring tires on mine, and they are tough as can be. You can put much wider tires on this bike as well. I've ridden the 700x37s on very rough fire roads carrying plenty of gear. I've ridden them on single-track as well, and very bad urban streets. I don't think you'd need to worry about 700c with the right wheels and tires.

Rivendell has another stock frame - the A. Homer Hilsen - that comes in sizes up to 72cm (I think it has a double top tube... or at least I know they will make them that way if a rider is both tall and heavy).

The wait for a custom Rivendell is probably going to be a long one, but you never know. Grant Petersen and his staff are great about responding to inquiries, and I'm sure they could help you determine whether or not a stock frame will work for you.

Good luck!

Sean

I eat my words about Zinn. It has been a major hassle to get the bike fine tuned but I suppose that just comes with the whole custom bike experience. there'll always be bugs that need to be ironed out. That being said I think I might go with Naked Bikes for the touring frame just because they are the closest outfit in Canada with a good (ish) reputation. I am really keen on never having my ride in the hands of FedEx or any of those careless courier companies so the fact that I can ride my bike to and from Naked is a big plus.

Thanks for all the suggestions though guys :D I really appreciate it.

Arvon Stacey of Alberta does some really nice touring bike. Not much of a web presence. This link shows some of his older stuff:

http://www.sandsmachine.com/a_arv_r1.htm

He makes bikes with a long wheel base, as well as tandems and more coupled bikes etc...

Hey AnnaMossity (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/member.php/122719-AnnaMossity) ! Any pics of your Naked bike? Did you do this overseas ride?
(I love to find old treads like that!)

his last post was in '09

Anyhow, tallies reading this..

Bruce Gordon Makes Great touring racks and frames ,
Lennard Zinn has some extra long cranks, if you need them..
LZ is more a race bike builder..

Ive had a set of BG's touring racks for almost 30 years..
Bruce himself is not short..

I met with Bruce Gordon a couple of weeks ago (actually it was 4th of july)
He's an interesting character, I like him! Great stories from the industry!
He's shorter than me and was riding a fantastic pistachio frame (titanium lugs or full ti?) with wood rims (Ghisallo).
A beauty!
And a bunch of other nice bikes all around the shop.
I was picking up tires (the Rock and Road)... and geeeze, thankfully I'm broke, cause I'll have order something right away!
:)




Anyhow, tallies reading this..

Bruce Gordon Makes Great touring racks and frames ,
Lennard Zinn has some extra long cranks, if you need them..
LZ is more a race bike builder..

Ive had a set of BG's touring racks for almost 30 years..
Bruce himself is not short..

Gunnar might customize the Grand Tour with 26" in the bigger sizes if you ask.
Otherwise, there's Mark Nobilette, or Rivendell.
Check eBay, too.

thread would have been better in touring, but since it's a zombie thread with an OP that has gone missing, I'm closing it.