Originally Posted by
buffalo_cody
I looked at them too... from what I remember, and a bike forums search will bring up, they require ridiculously long reach brakes. Longer than what most 27" to 700c conversions would even use. So if you're trying to fit your current brakes to this, it may not work.
I have a "Motobecane" Jury built up as a ss commuter/city bike. Right now, it's got 700x32c tires, fenders, Brooks saddle, MKS flat pedals, Velo-Orange porteur bars with inverse levers, and a big 'ole Wald basket.
For the price, it's an okay frame. It has the same basic geomentry as the Surly Steamroller (angles and lengths) and is made with essentially the same steel (Reynolds 520 is simply Reynolds branded butted 4130).
There were several issues with this frame:
1.) brake reach: they welded the brake bridge in the rear so high no readily available calipers will reach. They include a dropbolt made specifically for this frame that will allow you to use brakes, and then only one that I know of will work: Tektro R556. That being said, these brakes are great and altho visually kludgy, the drop-bolt/brake system is perfectly fine functionally.
2.) chainring clearance: the designers of this frame widened the chainstays so they could out-fat the Steamroller, but they didn't bother to dimple the chainstay enough to allow sufficient chainring clearance and a normal 42mm chainline. I dimpled the stay myself, but this is a pretty bad offense from a frame design standpoint
3.) fit and finish: the right rear track end was bent slightly shut, most likely damaged during shipping. The frame could have been packed better for sure. I had this shipped from Texas (I think they ship from Houston or Dallas) to Houston, so it didn't have far to travel. There was also a lot of welding slag inside the fork blades. You can hear it rattle around when you tip the fork over. A lot came out through the vent hole after some shaking around.
Ok, now the positives: this frame rides just fine, is plenty cheap enough to lock up wherever, and looks pretty good (there is a slight pearl finish to the orange I got). Also, it has double eyelets on the frame and fork and rack mounts on the seat stays. This is the ONE thing that kicks the Steamroller's butt in. If you're a tinkerer and don't mind doing slight frame mods and are mechanically adept, this frame is pretty rad considering you're getting a Steamroller copy for about have the cost of the Steamroller, with a decent headset (FSA Orbit) for free.
Here are some pics of mine from its original build, fixed with Velo-Orange Milan bars, clipless pedals, etc. It's much different now.
