Originally Posted by
sheddle
Schwinn Cimarron. OP needs to get one. Mellow, comfortable geometry, high-rise handlebars, excellent tubing, and wedded to classic groupsets like "Deer head" Deore XT, not to mention how customizable they are. Those bikes have aged better than whiskey.
There's an
entire Schwinn Cimarron thread because of how useful those bikes were. You can *still* get them for a few hundred bucks, if you look carefully!
I've drop barred a Marin Bear valley, and found the TT to be too long. I have a Cannondale M500 I'm going to try, but it's got a longer top tube as well. I have longer legs and a short back.
(I know, sorry about the non-drive side)
This is my current daily ride, a 24” Trek with a 65mm reach stem. "Just a fist full of seatpost" gets my handlebars up nice and comfortable without a mile and a half of steering stem 👍
I do like the idea of Cimarron, and the earlier 23" size might work if the TT is in the 58cm range. It's not the direction I was thinking but I like the idea something I could hop a curb with.