Originally Posted by
BlarneyHammer
Bingo. I'd like to carry as much in the center of the bike as possible, and I'm not a large man (5'5"). It's hard to find a frame bag that fits a bikepacking frame in my size.
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A bike with 29 inch wheels and a 100mm suspension fork will have the bottom of the steerer tube where it goes into the lower headset bearing at the head tube pretty high off the ground. If you find a frame with an extremely short head tube and a nearly horizontal top tube, that frame size might be too big for you. Thus, a horizontal top tube just might be impossible for the size frame you might be looking for.
And if you get a frame that fits you with 29 inch wheels, you might have big time toe overlap issues. You might also have minimal clearance for your under seat bag if your saddle is as close to a 29 inch wheel as I suspect it might be. Have you tried to estimate how close your saddle will be to your rear tire?
If I was looking for a bike and was your height, I would be looking for 26 inch wheels. But, I already have two 26 inch wheel touring bikes, I am partial to that tire size, my bikes are rated at 59 and 61 cm frame sizes and they have that smaller wheel.