Cyclocross - Bike for a tall guy getting into cross

Hi, first post and all. I am wondering if anyone here is about my dimensions and rides cross, and what you would recommend for a newbie. I'm 6'6" with a 38" inseam, 180 lbs with size 49 (EUR) shoes. I'm planing on going clipless. I've been looking at the 62cm 2010 Kona Jake as a possible option as I'm also on a budget (~$1000 as a ballpark). Mainly, I was wondering about the handling as I know a lot of bikes get worse as the sizes go up. I'd love to be able to get on one, but finding a local place with a 62 cm cross frame did not go well. I'm currently on a 62cm, 1980 Miyata Gran Touring as a commuting bike, but the short frame (540 something mm TT) and large amounts of toe overlap when clipless are making it less fun to ride anywhere that isn't a straight line. I would appreciate any comments as I'm new to this and would love to benefit from your experience. Thanks in advance!

I would look at the Gunner Crosshair. These go up to a size 68 with a 615mm virtual top-tube (VTT). See: http://gunnarbikes.com/site/bikes/cross-hairs/

If you want disc brakes, the Fastlane in a 66 with a 640mm VTT is for you: http://gunnarbikes.com/site/bikes/fast-lane/

The Soma Double Cross comes in a size 62 with a 612mm VTT: http://www.somafab.com/dcdc.html

I'm a 6' 0" cyclist and ride a size 60 double Cross, this bike has a VTT of 603mm. It fits great.

6'3 here with 38.5" cycling inseam. (87.5cm center of BB to crotch of saddle). I ride a 64cm fantom cross from BD. It has a 19mm head tube, and 610mm top tube. I had to make some adjustments with stem and bars, but i still have nearly a 10cm drop seat to bars.

If i had the coin, I'd pick up a Ridley. They seem to have taller head tubes. If you are comfortable with lots of bar drop, there are quite a few options out there, however, if you are going for the more upright position of cross, i don't know what to tell you besides custom.

Check out this discussion
forget the BB debates... there is some good info in there

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=229221

One thing to think about is that most cross forks top out with a 300mm steerer tube--that's going to limit how high you can get your bars up, without using a big riser stem. This is independent of the head tube length.

FWIW, I'm 6'3", 36" PBH, and I ride a 62cm Crosscheck. At your height and budget, I really can't think of anything. Soma makes really big road frames (66cm or so), Rivendell and Gunnar make big bikes, but those will break your budget.

I'm 6'3" with a 36 inseam, and I've been having similar issues. I borrowed a friend's 58cm Redline Conquest for a couple of races last year and it was fine, but I don't think I'd be comfortable doing a long ride on it.

The 2011 Kona Jake, which retails for about a grand, appears to be sized up to 63cm. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like the JtS gets that big.

I'm 6'7" (about 260) with a 36" inseam - I bought a 64CM fantom CX, mostly because the Surly only went to 62 - for 499 you can't go too far wrong it doesn't seem to me (except you can't test ride it of course) - I had to buy a coupel different stems to get comfy, but the geometry on this is longer than any other bike I could find (and half the price) - I commuted 25 miles round trip on it last year (about a thousand miles) and its a great ride. You don't have the weight issue, but if you want to run big tires you can (I put 40's - Marathon Winter tires on it (I live in MN) and they fit so you have a lot of flexibility with tires... Measure a bike you're thinking about buying - compare it to Fantom CX, and I bet you get a few more CM's from the Fantom...