Old 02-04-11, 09:04 AM
  #7  
Dave Kirk 
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Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Bozeman MT
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I'm struck by a few things and have a few brief thoughts.

* I think that with the tire size you are using you could increase the BB drop by a good bit. Unless you have some special need (using long cranks or toe clips) then I'd be looking at using a drop of 75-80 mm. This will increase standover in a big way.

* given the wheelbase of the bike and your size I'm be leaning toward a more shallow head angle. 74° is pretty darn steep for even a track bike let alone a mixed use cross/commuter. You might also consider adjusting the fork rake so you end up with more trail. A trail of 41 mm is very short and will certainly make the bike a bit busy. I'd be looking at a trail of 55- 60 mm for your use. If you are running a handlebar bag or front rack you might go as low as 50 mm.

* it doesn't take great skill to tweak the top tube lugs a few degrees so I wouldn't shy away from 1.5° - 2.0°. The lug that is hard to tweak is the lower head tube lug. BikeCad will give you the downtube/headtube miter angle and you are going to want to look at it. Most DT lugs will be in the 59° to 60° range and it's a bit tricky to move far outside this range.

* I see from your image that your fork is 400 mm long. There is no reason you can't go a good bit shorter............You can make it as short as 380 mm and still have plenty of room for a cross tire and a fender if you wish. In your case you might end up with a pretty short head tube (makes for more stress on the headset and makes it much hard to squeeze the lugs onto a short head tube) and you can make it longer by making the fork shorter.

* so in the end I would consider lowering the BB, giving the top tube a bit of slope and shortening the fork and your life should be easier.


I hope that helps,

dave
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