I'm thinking of buying a new frame for a purpose-built commuter, urban warrior, all-rounder bike.

Here's what I'm thinking it should have:

braze-ons front and rear for fenders
clearance for at least 28c tires with fenders
drilled for brakes front and rear (even if I only use the front)
track fork-ends

braze-ons for a rack would be nice as well, but not required.

Of course, if money were no object, I'd just have Waterford or IF build one for me. But, since I'd like to have enough cash left over to buy a new wheelset as well, I'm pretty much limited to a production frame.

What do you think?

:confused:

Check out the Il Pompino from on-one.

Also Surly do a couple of suitable frames.

The Pompino appears to be just the thing. I had totally forgotten about on-one.

Non of the Surly frames quite hit the mark. Only the Steamroller takes 700c wheels and has track fork-ends, but it doesn't have near enough room for fenders and larger tires. The Cross-check has the room, but not the fork-ends (should know...I already ride one).

thanks.

Surly.

yeah, Surly. With extra sprinkles...

dude. the steamroller will take FAT tires, up to a 38c. and it'll have room for clip on fenders (no fender mounts). wherever you got your info from is wrong.

i just began searching myself, but a surly or soma seem like my own personal choice.

I got the info from me, looking at the frames in the shop, up close.

Sure, the Steamroller will take wider tires, but clip-on fenders only. And, clip-ons won't cut it for what I need. Clip-ons will do for getting caught in the rain on the way home once in a while, but that's about it.

I've got a 45-60 minute commute that I ride year round, regardless of weather. That means heat, cold, rain, sleet, snow, ice and everything else in between.

I'm talking about building a full-on, year round, all-weather commuter here. That means that the fenders have to have coverage. What's more, I'll extend them even further, so that I get more coverage.

Now, if Surly would just do something reasonable, like add fender braze-ons to the Steamroller, I'd go for that in a second.

There are others that get close as well. The Van Dessell Country Road Bob is way cool. Track forkends and mounts for fender and rack in the back. Problem is that it's shipped with a nice carbon fork that doesn't have any way to mount a fender in front. Even using a clip-on would be tough because it's not drilled for a brake (it has cantilever bosses).

In the end, I guess it doesn't surpise me that the Brits are the one's producing a fixie frame that takes larger tires AND has braze-ons for fenders (or mudguards, as they like to call them).