Frame advice - hardtail with a 40T (or more) chainring

[andrerav]

Hi!

First of all, thanks for letting me join this forum. I've already trawled through a few of the threads here, and wow what a massive treasure chest of information.

I am looking for a XL sized hardtail frame (not gravel, just a regular hardtail) with the ability to fit a rather large chainring (40T or ideally 44T). So far I've eyed the following:

• Spcycle SP-M028 https://www.aliexpress.com/i/1005003519445706.html
• Airwolf YF-M026 https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005254091618.html
• Spcycle SP-M030 https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005180265369.html
• Flyxii FR-701 https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32885761409.html
• Ceccotti MF05 https://vi.aliexpress.com/item/1005002201546421.html

My findings/opinions about these frame so far:

Spcycle SP-M028
Unknown chainring capacity (question sent to seller), nice design, good geometry

Airwolf YF-M026
Max chainring 44T according to seller (after asking), bulky design, good geometry

Spcycle SP-M030
Max chainring 36T according to listing, ok design, good geometry. Might be able to fit a 40T with more offset on the chainring?

Flyxii FR-701
Unknown chainring capacity (question sent to seller), quirky design, good geometry. I guess 40T shouldn't be a problem, but with a large cassette there might be some limitations. Not a fan of the design though.

Ceccotti MF-05
46T chainring capacity according to seller, nice sleek design, somewhat cramped geometry compared to the other frames.

Seraph/TanTan FM199
According to various posts here this frame should take a 42t or possibly 44t chainring. Nice design, nice geometry. I think this might be the one.


Are there any other alternatives that you know of that I should consider looking at? It doesn't really matter if it's boost or not as long as it's a big frame (21"/XL) and can fit a 40T (or larger) chainring.

[catdog]

Bro, how huge are your legs that you're pushing around 40t mountain bike? Genuinely impressed and also confused on the use case. You might consider either a 2x which puts larger ring out a bit or that weird 'Classified' 2 speed hub with crazy expensive cassettes.

[Aradell]

I was looking at the same thing, and eventually put an order in for the Airwolf YFM026. The frame will hopefully arrive by the end of January.

I'm building a beach racing bike/gravel bike based on a MTB frame. So my needs were:

• 2.35" tire clearance
• Clearance for 40+ ring
• Geometry with a "short" reach so I could run drop bars with a normal-sized stem.

It looks like a company from the Netherlands, which specializes in beach racing bikes, resells the Airwolf YFM026 as their race bikes. They have loads of pictures of this frame on their Instagram. All these bikes have 40+ chainrings.
https://www.instagram.com/stormbikesnl/

I think they chose this frame specifically because of the dropped chainstays, which allows for this bigger chainring while still having a semi-normal chainline.
I'm not 100% certain it's the exact same frame, but the geometry looks spot on, aswell as the general look of the frame.

[svensurfs]

Hi Aradell and Andrerav,

I ordered the same airwolf frame 6 weeks ago but mine is still underway. Wanted a storm bike but did not had the budget
Building a beach racer/allrounder with 42T, have a pair of carbon asymetric elite wheels and the rest of the parts are in.
For the crank I bought the rotor PF4624 BB MTB. Full XT group 12 speed with non-boost crank. So hopefully the chainline will be good.
This is my first built

[andrerav]

Bro, how huge are your legs that you're pushing around 40t mountain bike? Genuinely impressed and also confused on the use case. You might consider either a 2x which puts larger ring out a bit or that weird 'Classified' 2 speed hub with crazy expensive cassettes.

It's what I'm currently running on my allround hardtail, and I'm mostly happy with it but could use even higher gearing for the long asphalt stretches A 2x up front could be an alternative, but I like the simplicity of the 1x.

[andrerav]

I was looking at the same thing, and eventually put an order in for the Airwolf YFM026. The frame will hopefully arrive by the end of January.

I'm building a beach racing bike/gravel bike based on a MTB frame. So my needs were:

• 2.35" tire clearance
• Clearance for 40+ ring
• Geometry with a "short" reach so I could run drop bars with a normal-sized stem.

It looks like a company from the Netherlands, which specializes in beach racing bikes, resells the Airwolf YFM026 as their race bikes. They have loads of pictures of this frame on their Instagram. All these bikes have 40+ chainrings.
https://www.instagram.com/stormbikesnl/

I think they chose this frame specifically because of the dropped chainstays, which allows for this bigger chainring while still having a semi-normal chainline.
I'm not 100% certain it's the exact same frame, but the geometry looks spot on, aswell as the general look of the frame.

Interesting info, thank you very much. This frame looks like a solid choice for sure, but ideally I would like something that looks slightly slimmer since I won't be running tires wider than perhaps 2.25" at most (and probably 1.5" most of the time).

[andrerav]

Hi Aradell and Andrerav,

I ordered the same airwolf frame 6 weeks ago but mine is still underway. Wanted a storm bike but did not had the budget
Building a beach racer/allrounder with 42T, have a pair of carbon asymetric elite wheels and the rest of the parts are in.
For the crank I bought the rotor PF4624 BB MTB. Full XT group 12 speed with non-boost crank. So hopefully the chainline will be good.
This is my first built

Awesome, congrats!

[andrerav]

I added Ceccotti MF-05 frame to the list of candidates. It can take a 46T chainring. It has mounts for a front derailleur should I want one in the future. It is only available in max 19", but still an ok reach/stack/wheelbase for my usecase though. Fairly cheap frame at $208.

[Aradell]

Hi Aradell and Andrerav,

I ordered the same airwolf frame 6 weeks ago but mine is still underway. Wanted a storm bike but did not had the budget
Building a beach racer/allrounder with 42T, have a pair of carbon asymetric elite wheels and the rest of the parts are in.
For the crank I bought the rotor PF4624 BB MTB. Full XT group 12 speed with non-boost crank. So hopefully the chainline will be good.
This is my first built

So I’m not the only one that found out these frames were super similar
Keep us posted when your frame arrives! I might also do a build thread of my bike when most of the components are in. It’s also my first build!

Since you are mainly running smaller width tires, another option would be a gravel bike with tire clearance for 50C tires, and running flat bars on it. These gravel frames usually have sleeker lines, and can surely accommodate a big chainring up front. As an example, the LCG073-D is offered with both a gravel bar and flat bar option (see thread). I’m sure there are other frames like this.
https://chinertown.com/index.php/topic,4413.0.html