Custom frame owners: what did u get right/wrong?

[SkinnyTraffic]

I'm in the process of designing a custom frame (to be built this winter) which will be both my main XC ride as well as the workhorse for an extended (2+yrs?) bikepack adventure through Central/South America and beyond. If all goes as planned I'll be leaving in about a year... so I'll have a full season of regular riding and shorter training bikepack trips to get parts/setup dialed in.

My questions for y'all are
1) If you have a custom frame, what are the design elements that you really nailed?
2) What are some things that have come up that make you wish you had done it differently?
3) If you're running a stock frame, how would you like to change it to be better suited to bikepacking?

I've been a longtime reader here and have done a fair share of road/CX touring (longest trip was 3months overseas) but would love to hear some thoughtful ideas before the frame building begins.

The basics I'm pretty set on, but not opposed to making changes:
29er steel hardtail (built for 120mm FS)
3 bottle cages (triples for Anythings)
slider dropouts (will be running gears)
two sets of top tube cable guides- one set on top for full housing, one set underneath for 'normal' housing
rack/fender mounts (not really planning to use them, but want to have the option)

I'm currently riding a '09 carbon hardtail, which I love but wouldn't trust for the long haul.

Thanks in advance for any input!

[slatibart]

slider dropouts (will be running gears)

Where do you see the benefits of sliders when you are running gears ?

[SkinnyTraffic]

Where do you see the benefits of sliders when you are running gears ?

I see several good reasons to go with sliders when given the option... I like the ability to easily switch to SS either by choice or by necessity (such as mech failure on the trail.) Also, sliders will give me a bit of flexibility with regards to wheelbase and tire clearance (should I decide to install fenders and/or rack at some point.) The geometry nerd in me loves a nice snug clearance between the tire and seat tube and this will allow me to maintain that tight wheelbase regardless of tire selection.

It's an $80 uprgrade; that's not much in the scope of things and I don't see any reasons NOT to have them, aside from a small weight penalty. I'm open to arguments against sliders tho!

[Leeazjr]

I like the sliding dropouts for flexibility too. I have a salsa with the alternator drop outs and I love it! They are very easy to make adjustments with, either wheel base or chain tension, I'm  also a fan of a 44mm head tube to give you fork options. It may not come into play on your trip, but maybe down the road you want to put a rigid fork or a different suspension fork, steer tube diameter won't be a factor for you.
Good luck with the build!

[Adam Alphabet]

I have a custom steel Waltworks 29er. It is the perfect bike for my style(s) of riding. Walt knows what he's doing when it comes to geometry and fit and to me this in combination with an aesthetically simple/classic looking bike these were the most important in my decision to go with him. I wanted diversity in set up as well. So my options were chosen to allow flexibility as my riding style ranges from all BC XC hard tail riding (North Shore, Squamish, Whistler, Pemberton), single track bikepacking and bike touring.

Things we did well:
*Geometry/Fit are perfect for me.
*Flexibilty in set up: 44mm headtube (I have 3 forks); paragon sliding dropouts (absolutely). I have run it geared 3x10, I have a Rohloff that I've used on it extensively, and my current drivetrain is a dingle speed. It can go from a ~22lbs single speed rigid, to a 120mm Shore shredder all mountain, to a tour divide wannabe tourer, with carbon fork, aero bars, rohloff, etc..
*Clearance for 2.4" rubber out back was key, skinny tires suck atmo. My current tires are 2.35 ikon in the rear and 2.3" minion DHR2 up front. (mountain bike mode) with no fit issues at all.
*3 bottle cages two inside one on bottom of down tube, plus a rigid steel fork with bottle mounts on the fork.
*I opted to not have rack and fender mounts as this is a mountain bike first and I would never use them anyway. I can't remember if the salsa cages were out or not but I didn't get the 3 bolt pattern, don't think I'd ever use them but on a fork I don't think it's a bad option for, well, options.

The only thing I may get added now is another set of bottle mounts spaced two down from the ones on the inside of the down tube so I can run a single bottle mounted lower towards the seat tube when I have a partial frame pack on.

Otherwise it's perfect.
1) Colorado Trail Tour 2012: bike was a week old and it's first proper ride was the CT. 3x10 drivetrain, fox talas 120mm.
2) Chile 2013, including the Careterra Austral: Touring mode, rigid fork, rohloff, aerobars, TD wannabe
3) Chilcotins 2014: Dingle speed, fox talas 120mm, reluctantly using 2fish bottle cage adapter to get the single bottle lower (see comment above)

Good luck!

[SkinnyTraffic]

Thanks for the input guys. For whatever reason I'd failed to think about headtube diameter but will definitely go with the 44mm. Planning for my trip is the excuse I'm using to build this frame, but in the long term I hope to ride this as my main bike for many more years to come. Hence keeping as many options available as possible!

Addy: good call on the lower bottle cage. I'm thinking it'd be ideal to do 5 equally spaced bottle bosses running up the downtube, allowing for a variety of cage options (although honestly I can't remember the last time I mounted a bottle cage on a mtb.)

Nice to hear how much you love your Walt Works. Walt and I had some mutual friends when I lived in Boulder about 10 years ago; a few of them rode his frames and I agree that he's been building fantastic bikes for many years now. Mine will be from Primus Mootry, another great Colorado builder who I have a personal history with, but I'd certainly recommend Walt to anyone who's considering custom!

[Adam Alphabet]

Nice Skinny, I'm looking forward to seeing your ride, I checked the Primus site, they do a lot of different stuff, very cool. Looking forward to hear about your adventure too. I've done two 1 month tours in Chile, and rode through Panama and Costa Rica over a month, you'll have a good time once you get down there.

[THE LONG RANGER]

(As an aside) - Check out Kurt's site for inspiration - he seemed to have a ton of fun on a fat bike out there - and you know: coffee is good:

http://www.bikegreaseandcoffee.com

Hope to see you around

[Michael_S]

I think your basic design sounds good....and some other good inputs were made.

One thing I would do If I ever built another was make sure I had clearance for the new 650B+ 3" wide tires. They are about the same diameter as a 29er 2.2" wheel and a viable option for remote touring.  Of course it requires a 2nd wheelset but having those fat tires on is great for loose dirt and rough trails, especially rigid .  That wheelset could be built with a dynamo front hub for lighting/charging phones/GPS.

Also I would have extra water bottle mounts added to main  frame inside so I could bolt on a frame bag instead of using velcro. Much cleaner look and less of hassle to work around cables and other stuff.

The only other thing is to maximize your framebag space. So maybe less top tube slope.

mike

[bouldernick]

I have several custom bikes and another on the way this winter. In the past, the aesthetic has been off because I didn't get a drawing for approval. Make sure you like the dimensions and be sure that the geometry fits you! All the right braze-ons in the world can't make up for a bike that doesn't fit or handles strangely.

I would recommend looking at the geometry of bikes that you've liked, from both fit and handling perspectives. That's a great place to find inspiration.

I would also consider room for 29+. More mud clearance is never a bad thing. You might also consider dropper post routing if that appeals to you. With that long fork you can have a lot of fun.

Personally I wouldn't bother with 2 sets of cable routing. Seems like extra weight with no real benefit. I personally like full housing for a mountain bike.

Have fun!

[Area54]

Add in a top tube bottle mount:



More here:

http://troyszczurkowski.blogspot.com.au/2014/10/salsa-fargo-ti-kiwi-brevet-2014-setup.html

[HOser]

Excellent question and great thread, good luck with your custom build. I also went with Waltworks in 2011 and love the result. Here are a few specific requests I made that were important to me:

• I asked Walt to make the main triangle as big as was reasonable to fit the biggest custom frame bag possible, even at the expense of a little stand over height. Walt nailed it, I can fit a 100 oz bladder and plenty of tools/tubes in the bag, and stand over height is sufficient.
• Third water bottle mount under the down tube.
• Paragon low-mount drop outs. Allows use of a rear rack by including eyelets and gets the disc caliper out of the way. Allows me to use a Salsa Minimalist rack on non-tech rides, e.g. White Rim at Canyonlands, to carry extra water.
• I recommend a 44mm head tube for maximum fork compatibility. I did not get this myself, this standard was still emerging at the time the frame was built. I worry if I need a new fork in a few years my options will be limited.

[d yu g]

Also I would have extra water bottle mounts added to main  frame inside so I could bolt on a frame bag instead of using velcro. Much cleaner look and less of hassle to work around cables and other stuff.

How exactly is this done? Can you point me to a how-to?

I love the low-velcro look on this J Bryant:
http://www.cyclesjbryant.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/IMG_4829.jpg

Thanks,

David
 

[Michael_S]

Joshua's bike is exactly what you would do.  According to Scott at Porcelain Rocket about 4 evenly spaced M5 screw braze-on under the top tube and 2 more above the lower bottle mount on the downtube is enough.  He says that you need the Velcro straps on the seat tube to keep the bag tight. 

mike

[SkinnyTraffic]

I'd sorta forgotten about this thread until the recent replies. An update- my frame is done and turned out beautifully. I'll post up some pics one of these days, but I went with rocker drops on the back (comes w/ fender/rack mounts already built into the drops) to allow for single/belt drive. Split frame in the rear triangle for belt option. I went with internal cable routing on the top tube and continuous housing for the rear derailleur. Bottle mounts: I have 3 each on the top & bottom of the downtube, 2 on the seat tube, and 5 along the top side of the top tube. 180mm rotor front, 160mm rear. 44mm head tube. I decided to stick with velcro vs bolts for frame bag; I envision taking the bag off/on frequently based on travel/singletrack desires and don't want to hassle with bolts every time. It's a beautiful bike all around!

The weather has been fitful ever since I built it up a couple weeks ago (snowing again now... argh) but I finally got a few hours to take it on real trails yesterday- the ride characteristics are simply mind blowing! JoeD at Primus Mootry is a veteran and expert frame builder and he of course nailed it again with this bike. We based geometry around my Gary Fisher Superfly 29er with some mods- I've never ridden a mtb that is simultaneously both super stable and super nimble. The frame and parts build were chosen chosen for long term durability and bikepacking functionality over weight, so it's not a super light ride but you don't even notice it when on the bike.

Now I'm just waiting for this 2+ week storm system to pass by so I can really ride this bike!?!