Modern Drop Bar Bicycle Geometry, Explained!

The bike industry has been changing road bikes over the last decade to better suit the different styles of riding that exist.  We have been hearing all sorts of new terms for them but we haven't really had those all explained in one easy place.  That's what this write-up is about. 

Road

This is what started them all... Its a fast bike with minimal tire clearance, lower handlebar position, caliper style brakes and is the lightest of the bunch.  Most of them will come with 23mm tires but can fit 25mm tires.  They are great for road-only, longer rides, intense paced riding, group rides.  The customers that are looking at these are looking for the lightest and fastest bikes out there.

Cyclocross

These are closely bread from road bikes, the first ones where road bike with different brake mounts installed for canti brakes with mud clearance in a time when road bikes where steel and had more tire room (the 60s-70s).  They changed into their own style of bike in the 90s because road bikes no longer had clearance for the tires and the style of racing grew.  Now the differences are ability to fit at least a 32mm tire, disk or canti brakes, higher bb height (for tight off-road cornering).  Many have fender and rack mounts to make them more versatile but they do generally have a pretty aggressive road fit and pretty quick handling, often the same as a road bike.

Touring

These bikes have been around for a long long time.  They resemble a cyclocross bike however they have many geometry differences.  Mainly they are designed for going in a straight line for a long distance so their chainstays are much longer (also gives more heal clearance for panniers), the headtubes are usually a slacker angle, a lower bb height and the handle bar height is higher, often as high as the saddle. They have all the rack and fender mounts (front and rear) and have a bit stiffer frame for the added weight of touring.

Randonneur

This is a bike that has also been around for a while (some call it a light-touring).  The simplest way to describe them is a touring bike with lighter tubing for a better ride quality. The fashion for these have been to add shiny fenders and a front rack/bag.  Its name comes from a style of racing/riding that is a long distance over one or two days that is fully self supported

Endurance

This is a bike that branches out from a road bike.  It's designed to have a higher handlebar height, more tire clearance (28mm-32mm) and a little bit more predictable handling (slacker angles). Most of the road bikes we sell are this style.  They have gone a few steps further with some brands and include disk brakes and even more tire clearance (32mm-38mm).  These are very well balanced bike and work very well for many people, they are getting a little ambiguous in that some are coming with rack/fender mounts for even more utility and can resemble cyclocross bikes. 

Gravel

These where born from the gravel races that all the kids are doing these days.  They look very similar to a cyclocross bike however they have a few small but important differences.  The main ones being longer chainstays and a shorter bb height (back to road bike height with light touring chainstay lengths).  These are important in that they make the bike much more stable for high speed gravel descents.  They also have more tire clearance which can be crucial for gravel, lessening the deflection caused by the rocks that make up gravel roads.

Adventure

This is the most ambiguous term we have for the bike market right now.  It can mean any of the above plus many different mtn bikes and even a few fatbikes.  It was brought into the market by Salsa cycles to describe their style or riding but has expanded to other companies or simply a way of describing how a bike is used. The key features are having more durable wheels, more predictable handling, and lots of room for stuff on the bike, but not necessarily using racks.  Because they are used off road/gravel quite a bit people prefer to have frame bags, handlebar bags and large seatbags.  These bags tend to be lighter and easier to handle in off-road situations, they also bounce around a lot less.

c/o David Meyer | Sales, Service, Fit Tech, Worker-Owner
The Hub Bike Co-op
david at thehubbikecoop dot biz

March 2015: What's new in the shop?!

March marks the beginning of the cycling season here in Minnesota, and thanks to the generally warmer weather, it is already a busy one! I went into the Hub Minnehaha store to help out for a few hours and we ran out of space to store bikes in for repairs and tune ups...

At the Black Ship Cycles shop, along with finishing up two repairs and a repaint, I have a Monster Cross frame in the queue, front and rear racks, as well as two road frames on deck!

 

I am already scheduling out for spring and summer, and have appointments available, so please hit me up within the next month to get your project in asap - blackshipcycles at gmail dot com.

And before you know it, we'll be grilling dogs in our lycra and looking for a shady spot to lean our favorite two wheel rides while we tip back our shades a reach for our coozies...

2015 Winter/Spring Prices

2015 Winter/Spring Custom and Repair Menus!

We updated the pricing to reflect changes. Of course, we aim to keep prices affordable and accept payment plans as an option to get you the frame that is just right for you.

Our mission is not to make only the most exclusive and unobtainable custom frames, but to make superb quality, lightweight, custom Minnesota handmade frames an option available to the more and more Minnesotans that are serious about not only biking and commuting, but also the precision machines they choose to ride on. True Minnesota Craft Bikery.

Here's to 2015! Define your ride!

-Black Ship Cycles

http://www.blackshipcycles.com

http://www.blackshipcycles.com/custom-frame-menu.html

#blackshipcycles #craftbikery #mnhandmade

Big O Manufacturing Fenders for 3" Knards

Big thanks to locals Big O Manufacturing for outfitting David's 29er+ Icebreaker with some sweet fenders:

Talk about full coverage! Next up, Custom front and rear racks!

ICEBREAKER with 26" x 2.25 tires

I finally got this build put together!

I'll post a demo of the dog leash loop asap.

Morgan (our aussie-collie) loves riding through the snow! The bottom bracket is high enough that I can still pedal with him through 3-4" of soft white fluff, and plow right through snow banks.

Right now it is a frankenstein of parts from my shop and the salvage yard at the HUB Bike Coop.

1x9, SRAM X5 Der, GXP BB, Tektro Lyra discs w/V-Brake levers, 26" Bontrager Disc Wheels, 2.25" Bontrager Jones XC Tires.

So fast, so sweet...

Introducing the ICEBREAKER Winter Specific Commuter!

David's 29er+ #2: How to Build a Full Custom Oversized Plus Frameset in Four Days

How to Build a Bike in 4 Days:
This was the second, and final, attempt at nailing down a the perfect frame with David's custom geometry and 3.0 Knards. It was a big (sic) challenge, but given the outcome of the last frame (BB too high and TT too short) and I had my reservations on the final product. Alas, I actually had the privileged to ride it yesterday, and it feels perfect. David commented that it rode so smooth on the road that it felt like a road bike. That was the idea! I'm stoked.

Since the first frame was off (it will actually fit me perfect 26" winter tires, more later...) I had to push to get this into the painter s soon as possible. With the last of the parts coming in on Thursday and the painter scheduled for Monday, that meant 4 days to put the whole thing together, start to finish.

Day 1: Pulled out the drawing sheet and rough cut all the tubes. Laid out the master drawing and
mitered the main triangle, with the help of the new tube notching clamp I picked up on sale. I also mitered out the chain stays and fork blades, mostly by hand, with a little help from the mill. Once everything fit together properly, I tacked it in the jig and welded most of the front triangle and fork.

Day 2: Worked on the rear Triangle, cutting, mitering, tacking, checking, and welding it all together. Given the complex geometry from the oversized tires and spacing, this took lots of measuring three times and mocking up tire clearances and spacing. But, It turned out great!


Day 3: Finished welding the fork joints,
and disc tab. Mitered bridges,
created the custom dog leash loop,
welded them in, then marked and cut all of the braze-ons.

Day 4: Brazed in all of the accessories; front and rear rack, fender, bottle and cable mounts, cleaned up the joints, and checked final alignment. All within tolerance. Tapped in the serial number. DONE!