Author Topic: More Aero frame in direction of Merida Reacto?  (Read 33326 times)

Rei

Re: More Aero frame in direction of Merida Reacto?
« Reply #15 on: March 15, 2024, 04:19:09 AM »
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!

Rei

Re: More Aero frame in direction of Merida Reacto?
« Reply #16 on: March 16, 2024, 05:07:50 PM »
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 :-)

Rei

Re: More Aero frame in direction of Merida Reacto?
« Reply #17 on: March 17, 2024, 05:02:40 PM »
Thank you for the message. It does sound inspiring that I might fit!

bichler.bua

Re: More Aero frame in direction of Merida Reacto?
« Reply #18 on: March 18, 2024, 01:30:21 AM »
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

Re: More Aero frame in direction of Merida Reacto?
« Reply #19 on: March 18, 2024, 01:41:40 AM »
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

Re: More Aero frame in direction of Merida Reacto?
« Reply #20 on: March 18, 2024, 02:59:19 AM »
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.

Rei

Re: More Aero frame in direction of Merida Reacto?
« Reply #21 on: March 19, 2024, 04:58:22 PM »
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.

Rei

Re: More Aero frame in direction of Merida Reacto?
« Reply #22 on: March 20, 2024, 09:20:53 AM »
Thank you so much Serge_K!
You've really helped me on this one! And the version you got was UD right?

Rei

Re: More Aero frame in direction of Merida Reacto?
« Reply #23 on: March 20, 2024, 03:20:15 PM »
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! :-)

Rei

Re: More Aero frame in direction of Merida Reacto?
« Reply #24 on: March 22, 2024, 04:29:10 AM »
Thank you so much for the detailed info! I'd definitely enjoy a two piece BB. I've had one for other bike of mine and it's the best.
Do you have any good/bad experience with bearings from china? I got DT style hubs from there and the bearings are 6802 2RS but from a lower tier brand. At least it's some name for it. I'm thinking should I upgrade to enduro bearings right away or use these up and then swap them out...
I'm also torn between R8020 mechanical Ultegra and Di2 Ultegra or the Force from SRAM. I like the idea that bike will work no matter if I charge it or not, but then again especially with Force the fact that there are only two brake lines and that's it makes me very happy about it. I guess you do enjoy your electronic shifting, would you ever go back to mechanical?
I'm in no rush for a change, just came out few weeks ago from knee surgery so I can do this slow and as good as possible. I might even reface the brake post mounts, maybe it would help with brake alignment?