currently looking at new frameset options and came across the planet x stealth carbon tt, priced significantly cheaper than the track frameset and before i make the final decision i had a few concerns some of you might be able to help me with. the first, i am aware the dropouts are not as long as on the track frame, but would that present a problem running it fixed? i figure that i could add a half link into the chain to get a snug fit. the main thing i see being a problem is the geometry, i would prefer to use my road drop bars, would this be doable with a proper fitting and maybe some sort of change to the seatpost? i do a lot of city and group riding and don't believe i would be too comfortable on aerobars.

any help or advice greatly appreciated.

so let's break it down: you do a lot of city and longish rides and wan't a road drop. You chose a track geometry but to save money you chose a time trial frameset.

my obvious sugestion is to get a road geometry fixed gear and put road drops and forget about carbon bling, you don't need it.

Just be aware that it'll probably end up in the jackass thread when it's done. Those usually do.

Reasons this is not the best idea:

1. The rear dropout spacing is probably 130mm, which limits you to only a few different fixed hubs, compared to 120mm track spacing. Not a huge deal though, as Paul, Surly, All-City and White Industries all make excellent 130mm fixed gear hubs.

2. Frame geometry: TT bikes typically have very steep seat tube angles to put you over the pedals more when your rotated forward over the aero bars. You could put a seatpost on with a ton of setback, but that's a goofy workaround. There are other differences in geometry that make TT bikes not awesome for much besides TT's.

3. Frame stiffness: I'm not sure about the planet X frame, but most TT frames are made to be as stiff as possible. This isn't going to be awesome for city riding.

A lot of these points could be said about track-specific frames on the road, however, so do whatever you want.

Geo between TT and track are very much different, as is sprint geo and enduro.

They're different frames for a reason.

This is a non-issue because


76/72.5 geometry is going to suck for fixed riding.

i already ride a pretty stiff track frame, but yeah the geometry was my main concern. thanks for your honest opinions, perhaps ill just have to go for their track model.

Yeah, I've spaced 120mm hubs before and it works fine, but I prefer 130mm specific hubs like All-City hubs, since they bring the hub flanges out to allow you to have a straight chainline with the chainring on the outside of a regular road double crankset. Looks cleaner on my SSCX bike than having it on the inside of the spider. Can't fit a track crank on that frame.

You can do the same thing with a 120 hub, it just requires a larger spacer to make up for the chainline difference.

Do you mean a larger spacer on one side than the other, then dishing the wheel to center the rim? Can't use the other side on the flipflob hub then. But we digress. Let's get back to talking about how TT geometry is bad and the OP should feel bad.

I wanted that frame frame to, but I decided against it.

some people like the geo, but short cranks might end up being a problem, you can space the cranks out and get used to a wide stance. the other issues if you ride fixed, it is likely to put extra force on the bb, which is a rare chance to crack to frame,
rocking anything less than steel.

This is a stupid idea. Like someone said earlier: it will probably end up in the JA thread.

Exactly, like someone said earlier.

I have already made up my mind and I'm getting the track version, after I figure out which sizing to go with. Thank you.

The track version isn't a bad bike IMO. Have fun, and let us see the bike when it's done!

City and group riding are the EXACT things that you don't want to do in aerobars.

It's dangerous in group rides because your hands are not near your brake levers.

It's dangerous in city riding because your hands are not near your brake levers and your head is so low that you have NO peripheral vision in traffic.

There is no good reason to do this. Just get a proper track frame. Also, the carbon they use isn't great. It's not high modulus. So, it's sort of flexier than high end carbon. I had a planet x stealth pro carbon when I started racing. I could flex it so hard that the rear wheel would rub the chain stay when I was applying force.

Just because it's cheap and carbon doesn't mean it's a good deal. That combined with what I mentioned above makes this a bad idea all together.

I am aware. I appreciate your spin on this carleton. If I experience such a thing I'll probably end up listing it for sale but I'm willing to take my chances.

My final question, since I don't think I should make a new thread when this is somewhat related; I have a FSA carbon track crankset with a FSA Platinum Pro ISIS, 108mm bb set. I'm curious if this will fit in the BSA british threaded bb shell of the planet x carbon track frame, I haven't been able to find much information about it anywhere.

If the shell is English-threaded, you'll have no trouble using a BB that is also English-threaded.

I have read plenty of positive reviews about this, I'm sure not everyone can flex a frame like Carleton but from what I've read (some of his previous posts as well) this is a quality frame, I'll be sure to give a full review if anyone is interested once it's built up.

Thanks for your input Scrodzilla, just what I was looking for.

TT into road bike later on the road (minus the tt bars) ?