Travel 120mm Carbon Hardtail Frame

[spcycle]

Dear All:

Have a nice day.

Spcycle plans to develop molds for travel 120mm hardtail frame. The frame will be manufactured using EPS latex technology.

The following are the design requirements

1, Head Tube: 1-1/2" (52mm) above and below
2, Bottom Bracket: Threaded BSA 73 (BC1.37*24T)
3, Seatpost Diameter: 31.6mm
4, Rear derailleur hanger: UDH
5, Cable: Compatible with full integrated and semi-internal cables
6, Brake: Post mount disc brake, maximum 180mm rotor.
7, Max Tire Clearance: 29er*2.4''
8, Chainline: 55mm
8, Max Chainring: 40T
9, Dropout: 148x12mm Boost

For geometry. Looking forward to all friends to provide suggestions.

Many thanks.

Spcycle

[RDY]

There are so many hardtails suitable for hardtail use.   The market is already completely saturated.  As you might see from the many posts and threads here, what people are really interested in now, and the growth market, is hardtails suitable for use as drop bar gravel bikes.

So I'd scratch the 120mm and do 100mm.

Legit 44-46T 1x clearance without an offset chainline.  Option of running an FD with up to 50-34.  If this can be achieved with 142x12 spacing, so much the better, as it increases crank and gearing options significantly.

Top tube on the slightly shorter side, to allow for additional reach from drop bars.  Maybe 15-20mm more stack than usual, as often these bikes are used for very long races or rides.

BB offset larger than usual for hardtails, given the use case.  ~70mm.

Steep seat angle to keep effective reach down for longer legged riders. 76deg.  Head angle around 68-68.5 degrees. 

Maybe consider a kinked downtube to allow more space for bottles and frame bags.  Aero shaping.  Down tube storage.

Top tube mount points.

[Square_Cookies]

Another underserved market that could be interesting is the light trail hardtail market (120-130mm travel). A lot of the big bike brands have gone all in on full suspension downcountry bikes, so there are very few of these carbon bikes that actually have a “modern” geometry (e.g. hta~66.5, sta >75).

Off the top of my head, I can only think of two carbon light trail hardtails:

Yeti Arc
Ibis DV9

The caveat to this is that these bikes need to have wider tires (29x2.6) which compromises the max size of the chainring.

[spcycle]

Another underserved market that could be interesting is the light trail hardtail market (120-130mm travel). A lot of the big bike brands have gone all in on full suspension downcountry bikes, so there are very few of these carbon bikes that actually have a “modern” geometry (e.g. hta~66.5, sta >75).

Off the top of my head, I can only think of two carbon light trail hardtails:

Yeti Arc
Ibis DV9

The caveat to this is that these bikes need to have wider tires (29x2.6) which compromises the max size of the chainring.

Head tube angle 66.5°
Seat tube angle 75~76°
This is the same idea as ours.
We are considering which is more important, larger tire clearance or larger chain ring. If the tire clearance is increased to 2.6'', the largest chain ring may only be 34T (chainline 55mm crank)

[BruceJR]

Not too many people run 2.6 on a hardtail anymore.

[poloskatek]

créer un cadre qui résiste à l'usage pour lequel il est vendu et fournir une assistance client sous garantie comme l'exige la loi serait déjà un bon début

[mermlundry]

What is the timeline on this? This is similar to what I am looking for.

[Jotegr]

Personally, I'd go for the 2.6 tire clearance in something that's a 120mm hardtail!

[wolverex]

Head tube angle 66.5°
Seat tube angle 75~76°
This is the same idea as ours.
We are considering which is more important, larger tire clearance or larger chain ring. If the tire clearance is increased to 2.6'', the largest chain ring may only be 34T (chainline 55mm crank)

Created an account to vote for this. 2.5-2.6 tire clearance is much appreciated but secondary
Most important here is still those geometry numbers you mentioned around a 120mm-130mm fork. I would definitely get one

[darkening]

1. 65мм tyres clearance is a must.
2. Modern 66,5 HTA and 76 STA
3. Smaller sizes should be able to fit two bottles.
4. As short as possible headtube lengh.

Idea is to be able to downsize it and use with dropbars and 65mm tyres (vittoria mezcal 2.6, are real 65mm)

[andrerav]

Make a true XL or XXL size with reach of at least 500mm. You're missing out on a huge market right now because your frames are TOO SMALL

[hongbetta]

Seem like many riders want a hardtail or full suspension bike with dropbar. Please come out with rear 80mm travel and front 100mm travel.

[kilka]

I totally agree with RDY about drop bar MTBs. It's growing and many people are waiting for those to come and bring some more tire clearance and some suspension to gravels.
Of course dropbar MTB don't need 120 mm travel suspension, they typically target anything that is smaller than 100 mm.
However I don't agree about the need of 2x front gear or anything bigger than 44t 1x which is already an overkill for an mtb/gravel bike. Every other suggestion made by RDY is true.
Here is how Spcycle's SP-M06 fits vs Spcycle's G068. If you'll press "Shadow Bike" button, it will be seen clearly that only small adjustments are needed to transform SP-M06 to a frame suitable for a dropbar. Geometry
So i kindly ask spcycle to tell us, if they will target dropbar mtb's, cause I'm starting to build one now and want to see a frame to start with.

[Tijoe]

I keep saying and looking for a gravel frame something similar to a Salsa Cutthroat. (148mm rear hub, not 142mm)
 
I run my carbon hardtail SPCycle SP-M05 with a 100mm front susp. or rigid fork, with carbon "H" bars.  I actually like it better than my regular gravel bike.  The SP-M05 is a lightweight frame, but it is a longer wheelbase than I'd like for for my gravel grinders.   

Regarding 120 front travel, I am fine with 100mm front travel for almost all of the trails I take this bike on.  At 120mm travel, I'd prefer using a 120mm FS bike.

Regarding a short travel FS gravel bike, I don't see the need.  With 50+mm tires, at the right pressure, my hardtails handle almost a good as a FS bike.  (Unless I run into rock gardens or root fields.

I agree with RDY too regarding a drop bar ready frame.  There is a growing group of rider that like riding local trails on "H" bars or drop bars.  It is a growing niche.

[bbr]

@spcycle follow yeti arc or dv6 frame but use 66.5 or 66 HA
2.5 tire , no one uses 2.8 tire these day.
. also holes for bike bags  for bikepacking