|
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#11
|
|||
|
|||
Nashar Cross frames any good?
In article
, Hank wrote: On Oct 3, 10:14*am, Ryan Cousineau wrote: In article , wrote: Nashabr has some great deals on cross frames and carbon forks Anyone build up a bike form this? Yes. I have a CX bike built from their frame and fork. I race it every weekend at this time of year, and am largely satisfied with it. Here's what they did right and wrong: Right: -price -not too heavy. It's aluminum, and the weight seems within reasonable parameters -cables all routed in the proper way (you think this is a joke, but for a while Fetish Cycles was heavily discounting its first-gen CX frames on eBay because the brake cable was routed along the underside of the top tube). -bitchin' matte-black finish with only one "X" head tube decal. -fork has a metal steer tube and carbon legs and metal dropouts, including the disc mount. That means it doesn't commit the fussier sins of all-carbon construction. Wrong: -135 mm rear dropout spacing, which is odd for a CX bike, since you usually want to borrow wheels from your road bike, not your MTB. There are arguments that 135 is a good choice because the wheels build up slightly stronger, but I didn't want this "feature." In practice, I just put my 130 mm wheels into the back, use the QR skewer to squeeze it together, and nothing has broken. -chainstay bridge is a weird thing on a CX bike. There's still lots of tire clearance, but mud will get caught there. -this is a compact-ish geometry frame. The top tube on my 50 (or 52 or whatever it is) is definitely sloped, though I have had no problems shouldering the bike in practice. OTOH, I also tend to carry my bike off-the-shoulder a lot in races, and I also don't ride a very large frame size. The compact geometry may make bike-carrying very annoying in larger sizes. -The fork is not terribly heavy, but in retrospect it would probably be possible to make it lighter and cheaper if it was all aluminum. There's some pretty good deals on forks out there, so you may be able to do better elsewhere. Hmm: -disc mounts, mounts for 2 bottle cages, and fender/rack mounts (including threaded mounts on the sides of the seat stays) which are great for versatility. -under-the-BB derailer cable routing; in practice this doesn't cause me problems, but a lot of CX bikes use a down-the-seat-tube routing for the fder, with a pulley mounted on the back of the seattube just below the fder to U-turn the cable back up. -The frame includes nothing but itself, the derailer hanger, and a few bolts for the bottle cages and rack mounts. You'll need a seatpost collar and a rear brake cable stop (if you use canti brakes). Nashbar sells one that attaches to the seatpost collar. It works. As an aside, I envision a glorious future in which some component company or another offers a CX-specific derailer: designed for top-entry of the cable, but pulling road-correct amounts of cable. Shimano makes top-entry (top-swing?) fders, but MTB-only. As another aside, I can't believe the UCI banned disc brakes. That's lame. Conclusion: I'm happy. If you want to build up a new CX frame from parts you have on hand, this is probably still the cheapest decent entry point. The other super-cheap CX frames out there are the Redline Conquest, the Planet X whatever, and the NYC Bikes Crosspeed II (some versions of the Crossspeed I have under-top-tube rear brake routing; if that doesn't matter for your purposes, they have 'em for $39 in their clearance section). As a racing bike, the "X" has been most satisfactory, especially for the price. As always, building a bike from parts is very close to a mug's game: if you actually value your time at a non-negative per-hour rate, you may not be able to justify the process. The small bits and pieces on these projects (cables, pedals, bar tape, whatever else you forgot to buy) always seem to add up remarkably fast. 135mm spacing is good given the presence of disc mounts. There is a dearth of disc-compatible 130mm hubs. FWIW, I stole wheels from my touring bike. Then aagain, you're racing with yours and I'm commuting with mine. I hadn't thought of the hub issue. As you say, it depends what you want to do with it. Maybe go with 132.5, like Surly does? As you an tell by my "bend it and hope" technique, I am a big fan of 132.5 frames. As for shouldering it, get a WTB PureV saddle. Its hooked nose will rest nicely on your shoulder. Heh. I don't know if my saddle is high enough for that. At any rate, I run a spiffy Avocet Racing 1 saddle, and I can shoulder my shorty frame. -- Ryan Cousineau http://www.wiredcola.com/ "In other newsgroups, they killfile trolls." "In rec.bicycles.racing, we coach them." |
Ads |
#12
|
|||
|
|||
Nashar Cross frames any good?
In article ,
futrino wrote: Ryan Cousineau wrote: Wrong: -135 mm rear dropout spacing, which is odd for a CX bike, since you usually want to borrow wheels from your road bike, not your MTB. There are arguments that 135 is a good choice because the wheels build up slightly stronger, but I didn't want this "feature." In practice, I just put my 130 mm wheels into the back, use the QR skewer to squeeze it together, and nothing has broken. -chainstay bridge is a weird thing on a CX bike. There's still lots of tire clearance, but mud will get caught there. -this is a compact-ish geometry frame. The top tube on my 50 (or 52 or Nashbar description now says 130mm rear hub spacing Interesting that they've changed the spec. Chainstay bridge is still there, though. I want 135, ha. I am now trying to decide between the X frame and a motobecane,(for on and off road commuting) the motobecane already has the seat clamp, fork and headset installed for $200 shipped. The X is $129, then I have to add fork, seat clamp, headset plus shipping. I do like that the X says less toe overlap. Off for more measurements. dan Well, horses for courses. How tall are you? In shorter sizes where toe overlap is a big issue (ie when you're putting fenders on), 26" wheels have a lot to recommend them. On a simple mathematical basis, $200 shipped is cheaper than $129 +shipping +fork, unless you have access to a pretty cheap fork (the X frame takes 1-1/8, so even a cheap fork isn't going to be that cheap). -- Ryan Cousineau http://www.wiredcola.com/ "In other newsgroups, they killfile trolls." "In rec.bicycles.racing, we coach them." |
#13
|
|||
|
|||
Nashar Cross frames any good?
|
#14
|
|||
|
|||
Nashar Cross frames any good?
Ryan Cousineau wrote:
In article , futrino wrote: Ryan Cousineau wrote: Wrong: -135 mm rear dropout spacing, which is odd for a CX bike, since you usually want to borrow wheels from your road bike, not your MTB. There are arguments that 135 is a good choice because the wheels build up slightly stronger, but I didn't want this "feature." In practice, I just put my 130 mm wheels into the back, use the QR skewer to squeeze it together, and nothing has broken. -chainstay bridge is a weird thing on a CX bike. There's still lots of tire clearance, but mud will get caught there. -this is a compact-ish geometry frame. The top tube on my 50 (or 52 or Nashbar description now says 130mm rear hub spacing Interesting that they've changed the spec. Chainstay bridge is still there, though. I want 135, ha. I am now trying to decide between the X frame and a motobecane,(for on and off road commuting) the motobecane already has the seat clamp, fork and headset installed for $200 shipped. The X is $129, then I have to add fork, seat clamp, headset plus shipping. I do like that the X says less toe overlap. Off for more measurements. dan Well, horses for courses. How tall are you? In shorter sizes where toe overlap is a big issue (ie when you're putting fenders on), 26" wheels have a lot to recommend them. On a simple mathematical basis, $200 shipped is cheaper than $129 +shipping +fork, unless you have access to a pretty cheap fork (the X frame takes 1-1/8, so even a cheap fork isn't going to be that cheap). I ordered the grey motobecane CX with steel fork, well they sent a red frame fantom cross (upgrade?)with a carbon fork. I guess we'll see and I will post pictures when I crash my 5th fork. two were steel and two were aluminum. dan |
|
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Leader TT frames- good or bad | cycledogg | Racing | 7 | May 8th 08 01:41 PM |
FS: Fort Frames Cross Foco Frameset- 58cm - As New | spcons | Marketplace | 0 | May 17th 07 12:56 PM |
cross frames & integrated headsets? | [email protected] | Techniques | 27 | December 21st 05 03:29 PM |
FS: Planet X Cross Frames | xavier | Marketplace | 0 | November 30th 05 08:49 PM |
FS: Planet X Cross Frames | xavier | Marketplace | 0 | November 28th 05 08:51 PM |