WTB: Used Low Trail 63cm Randonneuring Bicycle

[christian poppell]

Hi all,

I've been riding a 650b conversion for a bit and I would like to make the step to 42mm tires (currently I fit 38 max) and low trail geometry. I'm looking for a purpose built randonneuring frame before I go and permanently modify my frame and have a fork built. Reasoning is I'm interested in getting a custom frame/fork made in the future and I'm wondering if the low trail thing would be good to pursue. I'm also interested in light gauge tubing too.

Requirements:

fit 42cm with fenders

low trail

prefer vertical drop outs

light gauge tubing

Im 6' 145lbs and have a 90cm pbh, saddle height is around 80cm from center of bb to top of saddle.

Things I've been looking at:

Rawland Stag

Rawland rSogn

BDB Pelican

Jeff Lyon L'avecaise

all I can think of right now...

Let me know if you have anything that you would like to sell!

Christian

Berkeley, CA

[Mark Guglielmana]

Hi Christian,

If you remove the requirement for vertical dropouts, it wouldn't be too difficult to find a more vintage bike that meets your requirements. The modern bikes you list are probably pretty pricey just having a new fork made. 

[Reed Kennedy]

Hey Christian,

How goes the search? 

I'm not looking to part with any of my low trail bikes, it if you'd like to borrow one and go for a ride together I've got several in your size. (~60cm top tube, 60-64cm seat tube.)

That way you could at least give it a try. Interested?

Best,

Reed

SF, CA

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[Nick Favicchio]

There are vintage bikes that could work without a new fork...

https://flic.kr/p/uB5q3u

My Motobecane did have the fork tweeked but without that slight increase in offset the trail with 650b x 42mm was 39mm.

74° head tubes were pretty common especially on frames the size you're after. Look for forks with lots of offset and steep head tubes and save the money and look cooler :).

Or buy one of the bikes on your list. They're all pretty dope. If $1500 doesn't break the bank it'll make things simplier.

Sniff around custom builders as well. Some exceedingly talented people charge ~$1500 for frames. You already mentioned Jeff Lyon, that dude really ought to charge more :).

[christian poppell]

Well, this weekend I found a stick that of the correct shape and weight to be flipped into my wheel and strong enough to not break when pressed between the spoke and fork blades. The stick was fine, I am generally OK, the fork has a lovely S bend and the frame might be a little tweaked. I have a call out to a few local frame builders/repairmen (Ed Litton and Mikkelsen) that hopefully will be able to straighten things out quickly. 

There is a 61cm Soma Grand Randonneur on CL locally. Judging by the fork, I believe its a V2. Not sure about the ride quality and kinda don't like the styling. https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/bik/d/soma-grand-randonneur-650b/6303808889.html

The Motobecane does (maybe did) have a 74deg head tube, its a 1980 so it doesn't have as much style as yours Nick. The BDB Pelican tips the scale at 2000$, at that price I feel I might as well go custom. 

Reed Ill PM you, I rode your Velo Routier a while back at the Rivendell coffee outside. 

Thanks all,

Christian

Berkeley, CA

[Kieran J]

Jeepers!

[Nick Favicchio]

Gah!!! Even less offset now!

I didn't like the ride of the Soma GR bc of how stiff the frame was. If you're not opposed to a stiff ride, go for it. Cheap, easy to build, puts everything in the right place.

[Igor Belopolsky]

RE: Jeff Lyon is not building anything new for at least a year. 

[christian poppell]

Bumping this back to the top.

[David Parsons]

Have you considered just dropping in a replacement fork and seeing how your existing machine rides rides?    If you can find one that has an A-C that's 10-15mm longer than your existing one, a bit of careful work with a conduit bender can get you from 45 to 65mm offset w/o much trouble.   (I've done this, then put 10k miles onto the resulting machine, and now use the same conduit bender to put a french curve into the blades of scratchbuilt forks, so it's not as if it's a recipe for certain disaster.)

-david parsons

[John L]

Hey Christian, I have a MAP S&P randonneur that should fit perfectly, and haven’t been riding it enough to justify keeping it. If you’re interested I can get you pics/build details.

[Aakash Desai]

Sent you a private message Christian. I'm in Berkeley. Let me know. 

On Wednesday, September 20, 2017 at 5:28:39 PM UTC-7, christian poppell wrote:

[Adam Paiva]

There is a nicely priced (1600) 63 cm complete Alex singer on classic Rendezvous. 700c though iirc.

[christian poppell]

Hi all,

Someone came through with an rSogn which I will be riding for now. Ticks all boxes except for the lighter weight tubing. I wrecked the Motobecane again :( so I now have a better reason to ride the Rawland a lot while I work on the Moto. Thank you to everyone who reached out and offered leads or things for sale. I really appreciate it!

Thanks!

Christian

Berkeley, CA