Brandon, I recently finished a small woman's bike that was a sport touring type. While it was lugged (Nervex Dubois) and not a mixte, it still is pretty cool. 1. Regarding wheel size, I think you've made your opinion clear that you like 26" so go with it. 2. BB height- I would go with about 50mm of drop with a 26" wheel. With a wheel radius of 315mm (which is a slightly larger tire) you get a nice low BB of 265mm. 3. I built the above frame with 42.5cm chainstays. I think anything longer with 26" wheels is too long. Or at least it looks proportioned strangely. Of course, if the chainstays are too short Mitzie will be hitting her heals on the panniers. 4. Wheel base- I think the desired top tube length, chainstay length and front center will take care of this. I think wheelbase is a dimension with very little relevance. It's primarily something magazine reviewers are concerned with. 5.The above frame that I built had 72 degree head and seat angles with 40mm of fork rake. With the wheel radius of 315mm, it had a nice trail number of 60mm.
This bike was nice and stable without handling like a truck. What kind of brakes are you intending to use? The bike that I built was designed for standard reach brakes with the pads at the bottom of the slot. This creates plenty of fender clearance.
This sounds like a fun project. My wife has been pestering me to build her a bike. She rides a tig welded Bridgestone. Kind of embarrassing for her framebuilding husband.
Good luck, start building and give updates.
Curt Goodrich Minneapolis, MN
-----Original Message----- From: classicrendezvous-admin@bikelist.org [mailto:classicrendezvous-admin@bikelist.org]On Behalf Of Brandon Ives Sent: Saturday, July 20, 2002 7:27 PM To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: [CR]Classic touring bike design questions
OK, so for the 15th time I'm redesigning Mitzi's bike. For those that don't know I'm building a mixte touring frame including the racks, stem, and fenders for my wife. The measurements I've been going on are from her '70s Trek and then using 26"x1" wheels and mixteifying it. I think not I may just start the design from the ground up. So what I need from folks is as much info as you have on your classic (or not so classic) touring bikes. Info needed: 1. Wheel size? 2. BB height? 3. Chainstay length? 4. Wheelbase length? 5. Head and seattube angles?
And any other info people want to give. thanks, Brandon"monkeyman"Ives Would rather be working on bikes than waxing surfboards in Santa Barbara. _______________________________________________
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