Hey team,

I haven't bought a new bike in almost a decade. It's time! Back when generic China carbon frames were a relatively new phenomenon I built up a couple frames and wheelsets from Light Bicycle, but they dont seem to offer what I am after. I am looking to build a drop bar mountain bike frame for dirt road/gravel road bikepacking - tour divide kinda terrain. Needs to fit 2.2" tires at a minimum so most carbon frames are out, and Im no good at interpreting bike geometry to figure out what frames would work well with drop bars so Im here asking for help. I also figure there are some new brands out there that I am less familiar with than just Light Bicycle.

I'm good with a slightly more upright riding posture- Ill be in the saddle for 8-36hrs at a time without much rest so nothing crazy aggressive in terms of reach. Looking to put something like Salsa cowchipper bars on it. Maybe a frame with similar geometry to a Salsa Cutthroat but from some searching here on the forums seems like maybe that doesn't exist?

Any recs?

Also looking to build a new wheelset- whose the best carbon MTB rim manufacturer these days? The last set of wheels I built up were awesome Derby wide carbon rims but those have gotten pricey