Originally Posted by
Jeff of Vt
I just had to look up ETT. I'm afraid I'm not too technical with bikes at the moment. I assume it's effective top tube distance? I went out and measured it out between the bikes and crazy as it is, they're within 1cm of one another. Did not realize that before. Am I wrong in assuming the difference between 57cm and 58cm is manageable? I'm going to experiment a bit with the stems and finally get it right. This project is also an excuse to finally work out bike fitting tweaks.
A potential problem with 29er frames when building a drop bar bike is the reach. These frames are typically too long for drop bars. This is especially a problem if for example your frame is already slightly too large for your height. Ideally you want a frame on the slightly small size. Road compact drop bars are already 70 or 80mm reach, and the brake hoods extend it a bit further, so you don't want additional reach in a stem. Another potential problem with 29er frames is their high front end, especially if they have suspension forks, so you'd want a carbon 29er rigid fork from somebody like BXT bikes (aliexpress, ebay)