SOMA Double Cross Disc 2017?
 

So I've been scouting for a frameset purchase, and the SOMA Double Cross Disc 2017 has risen to the top of the heap. What other framesets (do not suggest a complete bike) offer the following characteristics/features?

• Fork with braze-ons and eyelets
• Chain-stay disk-brake mount
• Clearance for at least 700x45c meat
• 135mm rear OLD
• Stand-over no taller than 30"
• Wheelbase no longer than 101cm
• QR, no thru-axles
• No more than $650 for frame & fork
• Simple vertical drop-outs. Don't want (to pay for) Swiss-army knife, do-it-all drop-outs or frame opening for belt drive.

What else is out there than can knock out the SOMA from the top spot??

$595 including fork:

Monster Cross Frame Tech - Black Mountain Cycles

$695 if you want Disc:

MCD Frames - Black Mountain Cycles

One of your "requirements", QR and not Thru-Axle is a bit odd.
Disc brakes require a solid, stiff, and repeatable placement of the wheel. QR is often not enough to align the disc exactly the same, every time, so it does not drag.

Also, Mike Varney is an awesome guy. Call him or drop him an email and he gets back to you fast.

Yeah, the Fog Cutter also popped up on the radar. Sweet frame. Too bad it doesn't take meatier meat. I can always rationalize getting a Fog Cutter and then another bike that takes plus or even fat tires, right?

All All-city bikes that take 40mm plus tires are thru-axle so that's a no-go for I've got the wheels for said frame already, and they are QR.

Yeah, i hear ya. The issue is that I've got QR wheels built already...

Any others?

Not to derail this thread, but has this been your experience? Because I've been on several different disc/QR equipped bikes in the last ten years or so and have had this issue less than five times I bet. I've seen other people mention this before but it's never been an issue for me. Maybe a frame by frame problem?

Rodriguez Custom , Made To Measure, in Seattle..

Yeah, but not even close on the OP's price constraint.

par for the course. People like to portray themselves as savvy shoppers, sensible consumers, value connoiseurs, but they then go on to trumpet the likes of Bike Friday, Rohloff, Rodríguez, etc.

QR is fine for disc brakes. The issue is either poorly faced/installed calipers or lack of understanding that repeatable rotor placement requires repeatable locknut/dropout relationship. This needs to be done for thru axles as well as there is no independent design elements to TA that cause centering/repeat-ability. The axle/dropout alignment required to slide in the axle of TA is more limited which is often perceived as designed for centering, but it's not.

I think the quality of dropouts on the fork/frame can also influence the QR-disc alignment issues. My first disc brake bike was an alloy GT Grade, and I had constant alignment issues, although the front was much worse than the rear. I even marked the locknuts to make sure I was putting the wheels back in the drop out the same way each time. The next bike I owned was a Macho Man Disc, and currently a Space Horse Disc, and neither of those bikes had any alignment issues, even with the same wheelset I was running on the GT Grade.

To try to stay on topic, part of my decision to buy the Space Horse Disc and purchase another QR disc frame was due to the positive experiences I had with the Macho Man. I am absolutely loving this bike after almost a year of ownership, and still get excited every time I take it out for a ride. It ticks almost all of the OP's boxes as well.

Surly Midnight Special

Nope, TAs knock it out of cobsideration.

That is from two sources: Informal information gathered from owners of disc equipped bikes in my cycling club and issues I have seen/heard.

Second, from Mike Varley, owner of Black Mountain Bikes and a former bike designer for Masi and Haro. It is his experience as well from trying to retrofit or fix bikes equipped with Disc and QRs that they were generally speaking "touchy" about placement and if the fork was not designed stiff enough they would flex under heavy braking conditions. The Thru Axle design fixes those issues as far as he was concerned and is the "right" way to do it.

It is one man's opinion, to be fair, but I bought a bike based on his considerable experience.

Thanks for the response. It's definitely more experience than I have on the subject. As I said it's not been a problem for me, but I really only have my own lack of trouble to base that on.

If you want to get Double Cross Disc, get it. Very good frame. Never regretted getting mine. I had similar reasons: no unneeded functionality (sliding dropouts, split seatstays etc.) and thinner gauge tubing (Tange Prestige).

The midnight special can use QR wheels, it has open ends on the fork and dropouts.