More Aero frame in direction of Merida Reacto?

[Serge_K]

My long teng 268 looks quite similar. I've only done 1100km on it, but I love it so far. Building it was a breeze. Alisa was super friendly to deal with, and answered the million questions I had. 7.6kg in medium with aero and comfort everything.
And ofc, it doesn't hurt that it's cheap
I bought the bars separately because I wanted 36cm bars.

[Rei]

My long teng 268 looks quite similar. I've only done 1100km on it, but I love it so far. Building it was a breeze. Alisa was super friendly to deal with, and answered the million questions I had. 7.6kg in medium with aero and comfort everything.
And ofc, it doesn't hurt that it's cheap
I bought the bars separately because I wanted 36cm bars.

Wow love the stickers as well :-D Tractor :-D
The glossy finish looks really good, was it a custom paint job or that the quality from the factory?
Thanks!

[Serge_K]

Wow love the stickers as well :-D Tractor :-D
The glossy finish looks really good, was it a custom paint job or that the quality from the factory?
Thanks!

Yeah I'm trolling Factor
It's the gloss finish from the factory. The stickers are fancy car vinyl cut with a plotter (Ortega, Oraca, Orca or something like that). I sent the file to a guy near me, stickering the whole bike cost me 10 euro (I did the design and layout, so I'm not counting my time).
Depending on the light you can see the carbon below, i'm very pleased with it. Both finishes (the other frame was matte) were great, i built them myself and nowhere did i notice obvious flaws (I'm not OCD on that though, my bikes tend to be covered in dry sweat and wax flakes). Idk whether they do custom paint, i didn't ask.

[Rei]

Yeah I'm trolling Factor
It's the gloss finish from the factory. The stickers are fancy car vinyl cut with a plotter (Ortega, Oraca, Orca or something like that). I sent the file to a guy near me, stickering the whole bike cost me 10 euro (I did the design and layout, so I'm not counting my time).
Depending on the light you can see the carbon below, i'm very pleased with it. Both finishes (the other frame was matte) were great, i built them myself and nowhere did i notice obvious flaws (I'm not OCD on that though, my bikes tend to be covered in dry sweat and wax flakes). Idk whether they do custom paint, i didn't ask.

If I may ask you a help...

I'm struggling to find good bike frame size. The issue is I'm really tall (199) but it's all coming from the legs. I have Canyon Grail at XXL, I believe it's seat tube is 61cm. It's great for Seat Height, but it way to long in reach for me. I tried some other friends Grails and the L felt the most comfortable for the front triangle.

So front triangle from these Chinese brands if I get something like 58cm or even 56cm would be great, but comes in the issue with these sexy looking but non-standard shape seat-posts. I almost pulled the trigger on the SP Cycles one because I just loved everything about it until I got in touch with them... and their XL with 56cm seat-post comes with 300mm seatpost that can be extended max to 20cm. So compared to my saddle high of 80cm I'm running 56+20 = 76cm a 4cm too short. They can't sell me any that are longer :-(

These seaposts aren't standard right, so I have no option to buy this particular frame.

Could you please measure your seat posts length and max extension?

What would you do in my place? Do you think it's possible to some how McGiyver the seatpost to be extendable those extra 4cm?

Thanks :-)

[Serge_K]

Your saddle height is 80cm? Mine is 80-81 and there's plenty of seatpost left. I measure the distance between the center of the BB to the saddle. Virtually any bike in medium can accommodate that distance, because I've never had an issue (vb168, vb gf002, the grevil copycat I'm testing...).
I suspect I misunderstood though because I have long legs but I'm "only" 184, so I don't see how you could be 199.
Oh the bright side, long legs means smaller frames, so even if you're a giant, you'll find a frame that fits. Pick a relaxed one though

"So compared to my saddle high of 80cm I'm running 56+20 = 76cm a 4cm too short. They can't sell me any that are longer".
That reads like you're linking top tube length with saddle height, which makes no sense to me.

Please explain

[Rei]

Thank you for the message. It does sound inspiring that I might fit!

[bichler.bua]

Thank you for the message. It does sound inspiring that I might fit!

My apologies for this post, but there is no way you are 199cm tall and ride a 80cm middle bottom bracket to saddle top fit.
I am 195cm with 96cm inseam and run 87cm middle bottom bracket to saddle top - for sure you will end up with a similar number, if not slightly more.

The Canyon Grail is a great bike, but indeed the reach is quite long as it is designed to be ridden with a short stem.
I still believe you will struggle to find a Chinese frame, not because of the seat top & seat post length - but because of the missing stack and massive drop between saddle top and handle bar.
Selecting a frame would require to get the stack / saddle top to handle bar drop, as well.

[BalticSea]

My apologies for this post, but there is no way you are 199cm tall and ride a 80cm middle bottom bracket to saddle top fit.
I am 195cm with 96cm inseam and run 87cm middle bottom bracket to saddle top - for sure you will end up with a similar number, if not slightly more.

Well, they didn't say that they measure saddle height from the center of BB — might be measuring from the top of the pedal during the upstroke.

IMO, the correct way of measuring saddle height is from the top of the pedal during downstroke, measuring from center of BB doesn't account for different crank arm lengths, which absolutely affect your saddle height

[Rei]

Sorry guys for the mess. I wrote longer response and some how it only posted my first sentence... :-|

I cocked up the measuring. I just remeasured from center of BB to top of the saddle and it's 84cm. And I'm running 175mm cranks and on the Grail SPDs. Maybe I'm not all legs and I just have short arms? :-O

@Serge_K When I said 56 I didn't refer to frame size I did refer to length of seat-tube and on their XL size frame it's 563mm.

[Serge_K]

Sorry guys for the mess. I wrote longer response and some how it only posted my first sentence... :-|

I cocked up the measuring. I just remeasured from center of BB to top of the saddle and it's 84cm. And I'm running 175mm cranks and on the Grail SPDs. Maybe I'm not all legs and I just have short arms? :-O

@Serge_K When I said 56 I didn't refer to frame size I did refer to length of seat-tube and on their XL size frame it's 563mm.

Hahaha fair enough, I've never measured that tube. I'd have to check my own bikes, but in medium, 84cm from center of BB to top of the saddle probably works, I don't think any of my seatposts are nearing their limits. You'd surely at least get a size larger, so you're not a Frankenstein at all. Simply email the sellers, when I bought the VB frames I asked them to confirm I could run 81, and they said yes. They will not lie to you if you ask such a specific question, and that way you're not gambling on the outcome.
You can measure your ape index, I have long legs and a positive ape index, so I'm most comfortable on a smaller frame, but I can fit on a frame someone my size would typically run. It took me something like 5 bikes to realize that...

[Rei]

Thank you for the details. Where did you buy your Tractor from? The more I look at it trhe more I like it! It has a nice balance between aero and elegant look.

[Serge_K]

Thank you for the details. Where did you buy your Tractor from? The more I look at it trhe more I like it! It has a nice balance between aero and elegant look.

It's a LT 268 bought from LT (longtengalisa@163.com) directly. The bars are Airwolf from Aliexpress (I wanted 36cm bars). I bought 2 medium, 1 gloss & 1 matte. Both great. Easy to build (electronic is so much easier to build than mechanical). Holes were round and the inside looked clean. I'm not a carbon expert but i'm c.83kg and i'm riding it up and down without worrying if it will break, so i trust the thing with my life, de facto.
The frame looks a lot like a factor, and factor knows a thing or 2 about froth.
Apparently, fwiw, Long teng makes Argon 18 frames.

[Rei]

Thank you so much Serge_K!
You've really helped me on this one! And the version you got was UD right?

[Serge_K]

UD, correct!
If you want to hurt your brain & save 30g, you can try to get thru axles somewhere else (you'd have to ask the exact specs to know what to buy).
The thru axles i got from LT were 92g, and the ones on a gravel bike i got since from a different seller were 60g, so you can find 60g thru axles if you look (they're nothing special, just lighter).
Given that Alisa will charge you for them, you may want to arbitrage that. 2-3% weight of the frameset, that may or may not be trivial to you

Glad to be of assistance!

[Rei]

Ohhh thank you for the tip. It's always nice to know where to dig some grams out if needed. I'm tho myself pretty tall and pretty heavy, so I don't know if that justifies it. But then again, it's about enjoying it, so I might go for it :-)
What came with your frameset all together?
Any building tips or suggestions? What headset and bb did you get?
Thanks! :-)