Going to do my first Carbon Build - Which 27.5 Frame?

[electribe]

Hi All,

First post, been a lurker for a long while and have spent the last 3 months researching this. I used to work in the bike trade and spent all my earnings on my beloved Ibis Mojo, but it's been 10+ since then and I need a real bike.

Wen to the local bike store and the offerings were really lacking for around $1000, so I decided to look aroudn an stumbled on this forum!

I don't want to go 29er - I tried a few in the store and having come from 26, it's just too slow on the agility and turning front. I couldn't help feel like the wrong size wheels were on the frame.

So 27.5 felt right, but now what frame? I like the look of the Scale replicas, never been to much of a fan of Stumpjumpers but would greatly appreciate some insight as to what frame I should be looking for/consider?

I also see a lot of very small frame with ridiculously long seatposts - is this now a thing?

I'm 5'11", 155lbs and want to ride light XC.

[Carbon_Dude]

I'm not sure there really is anyone who can tell you which frame you should get.  You've already decided on the 27.5 wheel size but I would suggest taking a serious look at 27.5+, the extra grip is incredible.

If you like the Scott Scale 27.5, then I'm sure there is a frame that Peter sells which is close.  My -057 is similar to a Scott Scale 29er.  Also think about getting a custom paint color while you are at it.  BTW, I'd also suggest going with a BSA threaded bottom bracket on the new frame.

Depending on cost, we can also recommend some components if you are unsure about what else to you might want.

[electribe]

Thanks Carbon dude!

I know nothing about 27.5+ - A brief google suggests that it's a stopgap between the fat tire bikes and a normal 27.5. The bit that worries me is that I HATED the feeling of a 29er and it looks like (correct me if I'm wrong) but the 27.5+ would make the wheels virtually the same size in terms of height, and thus the loss in agility and turning circle as mentioned in my first post would be a deal breaker.

I suppose I could always get a 27.5+ frame and run normal 27.5 wheels on it as long as the geometry wasted drastically affected, but honestly, I think I'll be happy with a standard 27.5er. unless you can convince me otherwise I really don't expect to do much offroading so I'm not sure the extra grip would make a difference. In my day *puts grandad hat on and lights pipe* Klein deathgrips at 2.4" wide were the biggest you could run on a 26" MTB and most of us just ran Velociraptor's or Smoke/Dart combos at 1.9" back and 2.2" front and that felt big - I can't imagine running 3" tires but then again, designs change for a reason so i'm open to it. The bit I like is that the wider rims would mean stiffer wheels but not sure if that's actually true by the time you put the clown tires on :p

I've heard about Peter on this forum and others and was hoping to reach out to him. How do I get in touch? Can you PM me or have him PM me? I'd be happy with a UD frame, no paint. I just want light and strong, and I'm definitely going BSA on the BB. I know there's really only 4 or 5 factories putting these out so would like to know who really cares about build and who stands by their warranties etc?

I'm basically building this on a shoestring until I can figure out if I'm really back in the game for real - so any advice on bits to buy would be a great help. I was a total MTB geek when i worked in the trade but that was 15/20 years ago. I could reel off the weights of virtually every high end part on the market, even the difference between production years of the same parts - they used to make me do it in the bike shop as a party trick - have clients come in and try to stump me. Then it all went downhill (literally speaking) and weights didn't matter so much anymore.

 I think I've figured out I want Avid Exir brakes as they seem cheap and really good but beyond that, I have no idea. For forks, I'm thinking something like as-new Fox's from pinkbike but again, don't have a scooby about what's good these days. Nothing really long travel - my forks back in the day were RS Judy XC's which had 2.5" travel. 4" seems the norm now and more than enough for me so have no clue as to what would fit the bill. I do want stiff though - I remember being offered the incredibly rare RS FSX Judy's for my Ibis and although they were light as hell, they were like a wet noodle when it came to steering in tight singletrack.

My main concern was to get a superb frame and go from there so any advice you or others can give me about parts would be great!
Thanks again

[karstenhorn]

Just a heads up on the Avid Exir brakes, I do have them and they are a bitch to bleed. You will need a special bleeding tool that you will have to buy separately. Also, I find it much harder to adjust the callipers from rubbing the brake disk compared to Shimano line of brakes. Finally, they uses real brake fluid witch is much harder to handle compared to mineral oil used by other brands. I will ditch my Avid brakes soon.

Karsten

[Carbon_Dude]

If you are not going off road then there is no need to look at a plus wheel/tire bike.

Just pick a 27.5 frame that you like and email Peter.  Go to his website at www.xmcarbonspeed.com and you can contact him from there.

I wouldn't recommend Elixir brakes either, I've had them, they are not great.  Look at the Shimano Deore or SLX brakes, far better, use mineral oil, and will provide trouble free operation.

Look at some of the budget forks, Fusion forks are pretty good, or see if you can find a close out or clearance priced one on some of the big online bike stores like JensonUSA, Pricepoint, or Chain Reaction.

[Patrick C.]

In my limited experience with regular and plus tires (I just built a set of 27.5+ wheels for my -057 frame 29er), what I notice most is better cornering- it feels like I can lean the bike over more before the tire rolls over or loses traction.  Part of this is probably due to the wider rim, and part of it may also be due to differences in the tires, but there is a definite difference in cornering feel.  The ride is a bit softer as well, due to lower air pressure.  I think it is worth having the option, but since plus frames are the new thing now it may cost more that it's worth to you. 

What did you hate about the 29er- Were the ones you tried all similar geometry?  I have no complaints on the agility/handling of mine (I'm not a racer, so your mileage may vary).  It's definitely bigger than my old 26er, but I don't see a negative on the trail.

[electribe]

Just a heads up on the Avid Exir brakes, I do have them and they are a bitch to bleed. You will need a special bleeding tool that you will have to buy separately. Also, I find it much harder to adjust the callipers from rubbing the brake disk compared to Shimano line of brakes. Finally, they uses real brake fluid witch is much harder to handle compared to mineral oil used by other brands. I will ditch my Avid brakes soon.

Karsten

I wouldn't recommend Elixir brakes either, I've had them, they are not great.  Look at the Shimano Deore or SLX brakes, far better, use mineral oil, and will provide trouble free operation.

Thanks to both of you! The info I read before must have been out of date. Brake fluid is really messy stuff and mineral oil is so much easier to work with. Thanks for the heads up.

If you are not going off road then there is no need to look at a plus wheel/tire bike.

It's not that I'm not ever going to go off road, just that I've seen size info posted and basically 27.5+ is the same overall diameter (height) as 29ers so i want to avoid that.

I still think I'll be ok offroad given that a whole generation of riders somehow managed to brave it with skinny  26" wheels once upon a time 

Just pick a 27.5 frame that you like and email Peter.  Go to his website at www.xmcarbonspeed.com and you can contact him from there.

Look at some of the budget forks, Fusion forks are pretty good, or see if you can find a close out or clearance priced one on some of the big online bike stores like JensonUSA, Pricepoint, or Chain Reaction.

Thanks so much for both of these - I'll get in touch with peter and report back here. As for the forks, I'm hoping my timing might be good as we're right on the cusp of the new 2017 models being announced so maybe there's going to be new "old" stock up for grabs......

In my limited experience with regular and plus tires (I just built a set of 27.5+ wheels for my -057 frame 29er), what I notice most is better cornering- it feels like I can lean the bike over more before the tire rolls over or loses traction.  Part of this is probably due to the wider rim, and part of it may also be due to differences in the tires, but there is a definite difference in cornering feel.  The ride is a bit softer as well, due to lower air pressure.  I think it is worth having the option, but since plus frames are the new thing now it may cost more that it's worth to you. 

What did you hate about the 29er- Were the ones you tried all similar geometry?  I have no complaints on the agility/handling of mine (I'm not a racer, so your mileage may vary).  It's definitely bigger than my old 26er, but I don't see a negative on the trail.

The cornering thing is an interesting point - I'm really no looking to do 50mph down steep DH courses - I'm more a technical singletrack guy and it would be nice to have that extra grip in those sharp turns, but again, my beef is with the extra height of the wheels.

The bit I didn't like about the 29ers I've tried is that the wheels clearly felt disproportionate to the frame; The agility of quick/sharp turns were gone, technical maneuvering felt ever so slightly laborious. It was like like having road bike geometry on an MTB. 

I really think that's a huge part of the 29er craze - I grew up on BMX's and graduated to MTB's so i was coming from small wheels. Road bikes always felt like this stiff incredibly fragile, blink-and-me-wrong-and-I'll-snap  bikes. I think people who came from or use road bikes have no transition issue with going to 29ers, it feels natural to them, but for me coming from 26" it feels wrong.

I know this is probably going to get me flamed, but I honestly think everyone is drinking the coolaid regarding 29ers - I think the bike industry have done a great job of selling a new size of of bike to the masses and I keep seeing the same statement again and again: "It rolls over everything". I just don't see how a 1.5" difference suddenly makes it magically do that. My experience was that it's faster and smoother at speed, but it didn't suddenly empower me to roll over anything better than with a 27.5 or even a 26.

27.5 basically feels the same as a 26 and somehow to me, that is the size that suits MTB geometry, all things considered.