Sloping Toptube
 

Just a quick simple question:

Why is sloping toptube frowned upon in SS/Fixed scene?

only frowned upon if sloping from front to back like road geometry because it looks lame. sloping from seat tube to bars (pursuit style) seems to be liked since it's more aggressive.

because people think they look like road bikes and traditional track bikes have straight top tubes. but to start with most people's fixed gears aren't even proper track bikes.
by the way, fixed gear doesn't always = track bikes.

personally i like sloping top tubes like the one on the specialized langster, though i'm biased because i heart road bikes and specialized.

aesthetic reasons mostly.

I have a Felt Curbside and the wife has a Felt Dispatch. We both love our bikes. They are very comfortable to ride and we love the way they look. I like riding fixed, but I don't ride on the track. It's a great bike to ride around the city with.

go ask hipsterrunoff.com

Because they look like ass.

Why the hell would anyone want tight aggressive track geo for cruising (commuting) the streets? It's all about being cool. Get a front aerospoke too if you want chicks to like you.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Sure, but we're talking about sloping top tubes not the other geometry. I ride a pretty relaxed bike myself.

The OP's question would be just as inane (sorry, OP) and just as valid if it had been, "Why is straight toptube frowned upon in SS/Fixed scene?"

There is no way to know how many people "frown" upon sloping top tubes, anymore than there is a way to know how many people don't like straight top tubes on their bikes.

Straight top tubes are old school - sloping top tubes are hyper-modern. They each have adherants who like and/or own either or both.

And hey, we just had this equally silly question on another thread - http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=528222

I have short legs and a long torso, and I also like the kind of handling a short wheelbase and a steep head tube gives me.

In order to ride a frame anywhere close to appropriate for my size, and still have a safe amount of standover, a sloping top tube really works for me.

I've never ridden on the track and probably never will.

I ride on the street, and I like a nimble bike.

Sloping top tube.

Because when you're on a social ride, a horizontal top tube makes a great seat/lean/rest during stops, and you can't do that with a sloping tube.

That and aesthetics. The traditional flat top tube just looks better to most people, and neither track bikes or traditional road bikes have top tubes that slope up toward the front. (Of course, neither track bikes or traditional road bikes have aerospokes either, and some people still think those look cool and not utterly ridiculous, so it's tricky.)

Ride what makes you happy.

+1 And if you roll into the Food Value parking lot in Geraldine, Alabama with a camoflagued Arrospoke, you'll have to fight the chicks off you. Especially during bow season.

Seriously, ride what works for you. Ride what you like.

You don't really care about impressing someone like this are you?

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/28/55...272191ffe8.jpg


Notice the lack of horizontal top tube. Do you think she cares?

http://www.trendhunter.com/images/ph...646_7_468.jpeg


Or maybe you are worried about what these guys think of your ride

http://hipsterhunter.com/XXI_files/t...20hipsters.jpg

My question on this thread had nothing to do with geo. I was reading threads here and there with people talking about their langster hate and was just curious why. Of course as you know it turned into a geo debate. And yeah, what's it matter what's liked and disliked as long as your happy, right. I know this.

It could be that not so long ago, sloping top tubes were only found on girls bikes. Even today, on the road bikes that have sloping top tubes, you will find that the womans models slope more than the mens.

I don't mind the sloping top-tube on my trek soho. I have hobbit legs, so it's more of a fitting issue.

The "majority" of road bikes have sloping top tubes these days. The "majority" of "cool dude fixies" are in fact older road bikes and not true track bikes. Sitting on a sloping tubes is just as easy and comfortable as a straight top tube ... sometimes more so. I have both. Interestingly, most people who promote the "track geo" wouldn't be able to answer why this is a track geo and what advantages it gives, as it gives almost none for the use most bikes get outside of racing.

Aesthetics... they're fugly.

that was said in jest.

Just wait till the road forum gets ahold of this. Sloping = beautiful according to them.

i don't frown on it, but when people do it's because it isn't classic.

From my understanding the road bikes have sloping tube so that they don't have to have many frame sizes for people of different sizes. The companies can just make S, M and L frame that can accommodate most customers. I guess the the main point of fixed gear culture is the "recycled classic bikes" as opposed to "mass-produced modern bikes".

My fixed gear bike has a sloping TT, but I'm not going to dwell on it.

im sure they care.

No, not really.

I like both level top tubes and sloped, aesthetically, as long as they slope up towards the head tube and as long as the top tube and the seat stays meet the seat tube at the same height. All else being equal I'd choose level, though.

Practically, I prefer level top tubes. Easier to measure a frame and carry up/down stairs or throw the bike over your shoulder.

Sounds like another choice for traditional geo over compact because of practical reasons that don't make sense.

Easier to measure? Slap a saddle and post on a frame, get it the height/fore/aft for you, then find the appropriate stem to get the desired reach/drop. That process is the same for a traditional or compact geo frame. Do you need extremely precise sizing? Like you only ride bikes with 52.625c-c top tubes so the 50c-c just won't cut it? Besides, every company had a slightly different method for measuring frames, so I just take their frame sizing as a rough estimate to start from anyways.

And easier to shoulder? I hope you realize they make cross frames, bikes designed to be shouldered, with compact geo. A seat tube on a compact frame would be 1-3 cm shorter than a comparable traditional geo frame; making the traditional frame marginally easier to shoulder and probably not a deal breaker.

There's no problem liking the aesthetics of traditional over compact frames, just get your facts straight and don't try to hide it under the veil of practicality. Your practical argument for traditional vs compact is as illogical as some of the arguments I hear for steel frames over aluminum.

They've all drunk heavily of the marketing Kool-Aid that holds there are significant structural benefits to a sloping top tube.

[shrug] Point taken. I wasn't actually trying to rationalize anything, the margin by which I would prefer traditional geometry (for aesthetics or any other reason) is terribly small. I don't even own a bike with a sloping top tube and haven't since my mountain bike was stolen, so I was doing little better than daydreaming. Cheerfully withdrawn.