Originally Posted by
gsa103
I notice that the frames you are considering are all designed for flat bars. Flat bar bikes have longer effective top tubes since flat bars don't have any reach. If you're buying road frames then trying to converting to flat bars, the top tube will invariably be too short, and you'll need too big a frame to get the desired reach.
Since you're concerned about standover and flat bars, you really want to be looking at 29'er MTB frames. Those will have significantly better standover, use 700c wheels, and have top tubes setup for flat bars.
29ers usually have pretty bad standover, IME. 100mm+ travel fork to fit a 29" wheel makes for some really fat stack even if they go with a super short headtube.
Mid-to-late 90s XC MTBs tend to excel in the long ETT, short standover realm.
Barracuda had some of the longest reaches with the lowest standovers I've ever seen. 13-14" mid 90s Gary Fishers and Treks were pretty low and long, too.
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