Full-suspension road bike?
 

I'm wondering if such a thing exists. I remember seeing some (mono-shock) suspension forks here a few weeks ago (Paris-Roubaix thread), but what about frames? What I really want is something cross bike-shaped (ish) that I could put 700cs on with skinny tyres for the summer, and change to chunky (re: strong) wheels with knobbies for winter and off road riding (and a bit of curb hopping), but with drop bars. Would I look like a tool if I just bought a F/S MTB and put drops and skinnies on it?

Also, what kind of brakes can one use with STI or Ergo levers? I know normal Vs are out of the question because they need a longer cable pull than road levers can offer, and hydro disks are a no-go (although I know you can get hyrdo levers for drop bars, but then I'd need bar-end shifters, which I don't want). I've found a Cannondale cross bike with cable disks that uses Ultegra levers*, so presumably it's do-able, but are cable disks any good (as opposed to cantis)? And I've seen Mini-Vs (shorter arms than normal), intended for tandems, that will work with road levers, or should I just aim for cantilevers?

*Cannondale also do a cross bike with 'HeadShock' susp forks.

Note: I have searched all over this forum for similar threads, but the only ones I could find were (I assume) just about comfort, and everyone said 'don't do it, it's not worth the extra weight and inefficient pedalling'. However, I have been toying with the idea of an MTB for a while now, and what I want is a bike I can easily go mud plugging with but still ride on tarmac, so don't anybody suggest I buy a flexier frame or a suspension seatpost :)

You already know about Cannondale and their headshock, KHS makes a softtail cyclocross bike, but no front suspension, your options are limited to a carbon fork. Avid mechanical disc breaks are nearly bombproof and work very well. They have a road version designed to work with STI levers. Check out the Karate Monkey by Surly, souds like it might fit your bill exactly. I know some guys who are running dirt drop handlebars with it and report that it's very quick this way. This bike is made to be a 29"er, that is, a MTB with clearance for 700c rims with 2.1 tires, but you can run other tires on it as well. I have a 29"er and I have a set of 2.0 slicks, 35mm street tires, and 2.1 MTB knobbies, and all fit fine. The KM frame is designed to use a suspension fork and is disc brake ready. The only thing missing is rear sus., which is made up for by the big, cushy tires run at low pressure. This might be the bike to fit your requirements.

Hi,
Cyclocross would be a good choice. You really don't need all that stuff for the road.
If you get a bike with a sweet riding frame and large-ish road tires (27c or larger) you can get a decent ride. I double wrap my bars with shock absorbing bar tape as well.
Check this out.... http://www.gunnarbikes.com/data/mainframe.htm

Buy a flexier frame and a suspension seatpost. (No one else has said it yet.)

THe problem with a mountain frame could come in putting 700c wheels on it, but if you go with disc brakes you might avoid this.

Moulton make a full sus road bike, with small wheels. Its very quick.
They do an off-road/touring model with slightly larger wheels.

I think Rock Shox came out with a front fork that had like an inch of travel a few years ago, specifically for the road market.

Haven't heard of a FS road bike, something like an IBIS Bow Ti in a road frame would be an interesting, albeit expensive, experiment..

Jay

The RS road fork was called the Ruby, originally the Roubaix. Not sure if you can still get it, though. Worth looking for, I suppose.

You could look at a softride, but really it sounds like you need an ATB, not a road bike. Us road bikers would rather spend our energy on going forward, rather than up and down.....

Thinking about it I realise it would make a lot more sense to have two bikes, but at the moment I can't even afford a new inner tube, so I don't know why I'm asking :) Thanks for the comments though.

Moultons and Softrides are out, as I actually want to do some offroading, even if it is nothing worse than a cyclocrosser would endure.

What exactly is the difference between 700cs and 26inch wheels? Obvioulsy difference diameters and rim widths but how much difference, and what about axle (skewer) length? What is 700c in inches? Does anyone make a road-width 26in rim, and a tyre to match?

I've looked at a few road and mountain bikes on the net (actually found an FS cross bike made by Dean, titanium and $1800 though), and I'm thinking a compact road bike-shaped (ish) MTB with drop bars makes the most sense (price-, practicality- and looks-wise). Money-no-object, I'd have an extra set of wheels with narrow slicks for road riding, along with wider knobbies for winter and off-road stuff.

I have a 29 inch mtb with disc brakes. When I had the lbs build this bike up I also had them make me a set of cyclocross wheels with discs. 700c and 29" wheels are the same so any compatibility problem is gone.

700 c wheels are slightly smaller than 27" wheels are. The 700 rim is actually 622mm, wheras the 27" rim is 630mm. 26" ATB rims are 559 mm. There are 26" road rims, usually called 650c size, which have a 597mm rim (not sure if that # is correct, tho...). This size is usually reserved for very small roadbikes, especially in the smallr frame sizes under 50cm.

George says 700cs are the same as 29inch, but Dave says it's 27inches. Who's right? Assuming I was using the same hubs and disks (not rim brakes), and narrow enough tyres, is there any reason why I couldn't use 26 inchers on a 700c frame?

Having said that, after a bit more research I'm thinking more towards a 'cross frame with suspension seatpost (or pivotless suspension) and forks. RockShox do a 700c fork, anyone else make one (except Cannondale's HeadShock)? Is suspension legal in the unlikely event of me wanting to race 'cross?

Jonny all I know is that I have a mtb with 29 inch wheels parked in my garage. I also have a set of FIR Net 97 wheels sitting right next to it. They fit on the bike and when I feel like riding my mtb on the road I put them on. They ride like a charm. Now if they would fit with rim brakes I do not know. With discs they are great. On the mtb wheels I am using standard Shimano XT disc hubs. On the cyclocross wheels I am using DT Swiss Onyx disc hubs. As a matter of fact the tubes I use on the mtb wheels are 700Cx45 while the cyclocross tires get 700Cx25. I can assure you that these are not 27 inch wheels.

Jonny, after posting my previous replay I went out to my garage and measured the wheels on my road bike, mtb and cyclocross wheels and my wifes 26 inch wheels. The measurements on my road, cyclocross and mtb wheels all were 25 inches measured outside of the rim to outside. My wifes 26 inch wheels measures approx 22 1/2 inches. The wheels on all my bikes are either 700c or 29 inch depending on the bike.

Thanks George, that's cleared it up nicely :)

First of all, I most certainly did not say that. Please don't put inaccurate words into my mouth. Go back, re-read my post, then edit the error out of you own.

You won't be able to use 26" wheels on a 700c bike. The brakes won't even come close to working.

George-put your tape measure away, and just read the size marked on the rims and tires. Sheesh!

I ride a 29"er MTB too, and with a couple different tires it can be very adaptable. I just picked up a set af Schwalbe Big Apples, a 29"er city tire, which is really fast on the pavement. The 29" size comes from using a 700c rim, the same size as most road bikes, with a 2.1 or larger tire, for an outside diameter of approximately 29". If you were limited to one bike, I'd say get a 29"er with two wheelsets, one road and one offroad. Width of rims doesn't have much to do with anything as far as the tires I'm talking about go, I'm running Alex rims on my bike and I think they are about 20mm wide. With a 2.1 tire, I get a really fat profile, and I can run around 35 psi on some rough terrain without pinchflatting. This wheelsize will let you run all the cyclocross tires, plus all the road and touring tires as well, not to mention the 10 or 12 true 29"er tires out there now...

While it is true that 700C and 29" rims are the same diameter, this does not necessarily insure compatibility, as spacing on a hub intended for road use is 130 mm, whereas that for mountain use is 135mm. Cyclecross wheelsets will fall into the latter category; road wheelsets would require modification of the hub and wouldn't generally be advisable for use off-road.
As an aside, Paul's components makes a brake to allow you to run 700c wheels on your mountain bike, though you would be best if you had a short travel (read: canti-type) lever. You could also use a product such as this one: http://www.bikeman.com/miva/merchant...PBRKPARTPULLEY

Here's the brakes:
http://www.paulcomp.com/frmvbrk.html

What you have to do is run MTB hubs on both sets of wheels. My set up is XT disc hubs on the MTB wheels and DT Swiss Onyx disc hubs on the cyclocross wheels. Both of these have the same spacing.

Exactly. When I said two sets of wheels, I didn't mean an XTR wheelset and a Dura ace wheelset. I usually order wheels from webcyclery and they will make up whatever you want. Offroad 29"er wheels could be Sun rims with a 3x 36 spoke lacing on XTR hubs, and wheels for roadwork would be some lighter rim laced to an XTR (or whatever) hub with a smaller spoke count... the only thing I'd want to do, not even sure if you can, would be to use a road cassette on the MTB hub for smaller jumps between gears.

Edit: Another reason to consider the Surly Crosscheck. This bike has 132.5mm spacing between dropouts, allowing the use of either a road or MTB rear hub.

Sorry Dave, it won't let my edit the post, but for clarity's sake I should have said 'Dave says 700c is almost 27 inches'. (stupid 1440 minute time limit)

Anyway, as for wheels, I figured (if I wanted two sets) I'd need two sets of (disc) hubs with the same spacing. But Buzzbomb says that 20mm rims are good for road, 'cross and wide (2.1) tyres, so do I really need two wheelsets? BTW, do front wheels all have the same spacing?

I'm pretty sure you can use MTB cassettes on road hubs and vice versa, as long as the derailer can cope with the bigger MTB gears. Speaking of which, would it be better to use a road or MTB derailer, bearing in mind I'd be using road shifters? I'm thinking towards traditional 'cross gearing (36/48x27/13ish), so bigger MTB gears probably won't be neccassary. Do 'cross riders use regular road derailers?

On my cyclocross wheels I have a 11-25 road cassette. On the mtb wheels I have a 12-34 (I think). The dérailleur is a XTR long cage though I don't see why a road long cage would not work.
Also I think you should have two sets of wheels depending on the tires you want to use. On my set-up I can go from 700Cx21 to the largest 29 inch tire made (currently running 29x2.1).