stefank

I can't seem to get started searching for an aluminum road frame that will take
wide tires, say 32mm. This is the framebuilder's forum, and all I want to do is buy
one, but no one else seems to know. Cyclocross frames are available that take
wide tires, but I have one of those already. The purpose is long-distance commuting
in the winter, basically it has to take Schwalbe Winter Marathon tires.

The cyclocross frame I have weighs more than it should (I do a lot of climbing on my
commute), I dont like the top tube cable routing, and the chain stays have no shunt
so it is hard to mount the necessary fenders.

Where or where can I find a wide-tire aluminum road frame?

NoReg

Lots of aluminum road touring frames out there. Perfect for road commuting, though no lighter than CX frames. There is the Nashbar frame, and the Canondale touring frame is on it's way out, so there may be deals there. There are quite a few aluminum touring frames.

clasher

Surely there is an aluminum hybrid you can use for such things. I ran 35s on a specialized sirrus for winter but it was a really tight fit with fenders. I wouldn't repeat it.

NormanF

Try Harbor Country Bicycles and search for the Schwinn Super Sport DBX. It will take up to 35c tires ( I'm running it with Michelin City Pilot in place of the stock Vitoria 28c tires) with fenders and will accept an Axiom rack and headlamp.

I have one and its a great all around aluminum commuter bike with disc brakes. You can take it cyclocrossing or offroad as a bonus if you want.

There have been good reviews of it - its value for the money.

stefank

I have a 6061 alloy cyclocross frame loaded with 6600 series parts and a reasonable
wheelset. I just made a mistake when I built the bike and bought a Motobecane CX frame
of the same size as another Motobecane frame I have that fit me perfectly. One would have
thought the size numbers meant something under the circumstances. I bought it from bikeisland.com, when it arrived it was a little small, and the material was not as advertised,
but what the heck, I figured I'd try it out. I bought the longest stem I could and slid the old
slideroo seat rails back but it's just not right.

I used a Tektro disk brake last winter but really, it's overkill for me. With some abuse and
swearing I mounted some long reach calipers, but the mount there isn't quite right either
since the frame was designed for disks.

It's all a lot of not-quite-rights for this CX rig that I only got because it accepts the studded
tires. But hell! It's just a commuter bike, why do I care about weight?
Well, it's 40km each way to work and I'm a weak and decrepit old man and I have to climb
a lot of hills on the back road I take having been driven from the flatter, straighter main
way by the self-righteous obscenity-yelling SUV-driving Republicans.

So I just want a friggin frame. I don't want a whole bike. I don't want another cyclocross
frame. I don't even want a heavy-ass touring frame. Retro steel road frames are available
that take wide tires but why do I have to put up with moon rocket era technology? I might
buy a carbon frame if it would solve the problem but all the ones I ever saw look like even
a 25mm tire is pushing it. They're intended to be ridden with rims where the tire is just
kind of painted on with a brush.

I still think there lurks out there somewhere a good high quality aluminum frame that will
do it. A road frame: one designed for caliper brakes, one that has a shunt between the
stays to hold the lower end of the shield, unlike this stoopid CX frame where I have had to
secure the thing with zip-tie sculpture, one without the extra mass suited to
geländesprung over stone walls. It seems like most of the nicer Alu frames are made of
7005 alloy, my other MB frame is and I like it. Maybe I can find one out of that. Kinesis
on Taiwan makes a zillion frames, but the information I have so far been able to get from
them is poor.

Somehow I think I am going at it wrong; I am typing the wrong words into Google or
something.

NormanF

The bike I have doesn't have caliper mounts, only disc mounts and mounts to put on CX brakes.

Another alumimum wide mouth is the Salsa Mukluk: the answer to the steel Surley Pugsley.

clasher

Get an aluminum hybrid frame and put drop bars on it. It'll give you what you want, that's what I did to my specialized sirrus. You'd have cantilever studs on it still (get out your grinder, hahaha) but my frame has the holes for caliper brakes as well because that's where I mounted my fenders. I run 28s and fenders and it's still got lots of room so I reckon you could squeeze 32mm tires into this frame and I'm sure there are plenty like it. Otherwise, go custom.

mikeybikes

FYI: The rear bridge on a Sirrus, or at least on my 2009, is not drilled for a rear caliper.

clasher

Easy enough to fix with a drill! Or just run canits and be done with it... the OP may have heard of them, they are a style of brakes made for wide tires and road levers. I know, they are "moon rocket era technology" but they do exactly what you want. Otherwise, go custom or look harder.