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Any experience with a custom build for tall riders

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#21 ·
CaveGiant said:
I think my cs are 458. You can change the size of the rear end with mutators. I thought is prefer longer than 458 based on past experience, but as the seat tube is so steep your weight is further forwards and I found it seems spot on. If I wanted shorter or longer I could just order the parts and bolt them in myself (be aware the CS mutators are not cheap).

I'm running a dorado and a sqlab 16 degs bar, 820ish width.

What measurements do you want me to check?
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Was just going to ask about chainstay length and the bars, so that’ll do!

What rise are your bars?


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#22 ·
CaveGiant said:
I've found from the Pole there is a bit of a 'bad' zone where a bike is too big to ride like a bmx, but too small to stretch out.
I had the xxl evolink 158 and thought I should size down. It's only when I was advised to size up I realised that.
It's weird, xxl Pole felt too big to ride properly.
Going to the much larger bike let me move around the bike and it suddenly felt nimble.

Kind of counter intuitive, but a fun realisation.
It entertains me that I thought I would like a L g1 the most, and I ended up finding the xxl almost perfect, and may prefer a xxxl.

The head angle is great. I find the slacker the better for all types of riding up to about 60 degrees then it just goes weird.

This bike might look like a DH bike, but compared to my wife's short travel light trail bike it is lighter compared to the rider weight.
To a 93kg guy this is a light nimble bike. It just tends to have a lot of spare travel I don't need.

I was more recommending Nicolai/geometron as opposed to the G1 specifically.

They make everything from xc bikes to super-enduro bikes.

I may have 190mm travel front and rear, but it's primarily used as an xc bike.

I've even been on a few cyclo-cross and marathon races on it. The frame is light for the size and pedals very well.

Of course this is all opinion, I kind of take that as known on the Internet.

If you think the reach on the xxl is too long, see if you can try a much larger bike. You may be surprised, or not, that's part of the fun =)
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I'm already stretched out now. I had to raise the bars just to bring them closer to my torso.
 
#23 ·
jeremy3220 said:
I'm already stretched out now. I had to raise the bars just to bring them closer to my torso.
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Yeah, that's what I thought too.
Can't really explain it well.

By finally getting a bike I had the freedom to move around on without having the worry of the balance going out meant it suddenly felt a lot smaller.

Sample size of one person, so might just be a me thing. Just weird enough to mention though.
 
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#25 ·
The larger size allows a forward riding position I couldn't manage on a smaller bike.
It's not the hang off the back like I was forced to do on a 'small' bike.

So your seat, body, everything is further forwards so the whole fit mechanic is different.

I never realised how much I was hanging off the back of bikes until I didn't need to any more.

If you lived a bit closer you could take it for a ride and see what I mean.

Try looking on the geometron Facebook group, there will be someone near(ish) who may let you go for a spin on their bike.
 
#26 ·
jeremy3220 said:
I'm already having issues with my arms being too straight and my other bike which is a bit short feels better and is plenty stable.
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That’s interesting. I’m only a bit taller than you, but I feel like when I tested some shorter stems and the bars were closer to my torso I got lower back pain because I was hunched over more. Maybe I’ll test out a shorter stem again and see how it feels


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#27 ·
socalrider77 said:
That’s interesting. I’m only a bit taller than you, but I feel like when I tested some shorter stems and the bars were closer to my torso I got lower back pain because I was hunched over more. Maybe I’ll test out a shorter stem again and see how it feels


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I'm running 40mm stems right now. I feel like if I ride any further forward on the bike I'd propping myself with my arms the whole time.

I also think I'm ultra picky. My V1 Megatower isn't much shorter in reach but feels perfect.
 
Discussion starter · #28 ·
JMLAD said:
I'm not that tall but I have a custom Nicolai with a 670mm stack. They're great to work with - we did the custom geo over a video call. The Euro isn't kicking too much ass right now and I thought it was a good value even with the custom fee. Less than a carbon frame from China. If you're pretty confident you know what you want go for it.
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very cool. With the 670 stack height are your running any spacers under the stem and/or using riser bars?

with my highball I currently have 50mm of spacers and 25mm riser bars. The HB has a stack height of 642 on thr XXL.
 
Discussion starter · #29 ·
jeremy3220 said:
What reach and stack numbers are you after? I'm 6'5" and consider myself between sizes on the latest crop of XXL Santa Cruz bikes. I wish my XXL Hightower V3 was a tad shorter.

One thing I've noticed with some of these custom builders targeting "Clyde's" is that their bikes aren't actually that big. The XXXL Zinn FS bike is slightly smaller than my XXL Hightower so you have to make sure to look at the geo numbers on these bikes.
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I don’t have access to my bike to measure but off the top of my head I would guess 690-710 stack and 540mm reach for frame measurements.

I have demo’d the Hightower and really liked it. If I was looking to do more of the riding that suits a HT I would go that way. But I just don’t need that much travel. I would love to have that in the arsenal, but I just don’t have the time to ride it enough on those types of trails where it would be justified at this time….if that makes sense.
 
Discussion starter · #31 ·
jeremy3220 said:
Also, OP is hunting for an XC/trail bike. The G1 with its 62.5° head tube angle is probably not what he's looking for.
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Right on… I am looking for something that I can pedal & climb long rides on on that I could possibly ride in a 50+ mile XC/endurance race…but can also rip downhill a bit (within reason) and be fun, playful and stable while pointed down. Again, downcountry, if you will.

65-66 HTA , 130-140 fork hardtail. An idea I have is to be able to slam the stem, put flat bars on for longer, pushing myself rides…and then when I want to relax a little and have more fun, put a 20mm spacer under the stem and slap some 25-35mm riser bars and have a setup that’s more conducive to ripping and shreddy rides.

not sure if I’m asking too much…but I do feel if I got a frame with appropriate geo I could make that happen. I could be just a kook too…I am aware of that!
 
#32 ·
rian4224 said:
Right on… I am looking for something that I can pedal & climb long rides on on that I could possibly ride in a 50+ mile XC/endurance race…but can also rip downhill a bit (within reason) and be fun, playful and stable while pointed down. Again, downcountry, if you will.

65-66 HTA , 130-140 fork hardtail. An idea I have is to be able to slam the stem, put flat bars on for longer, pushing myself rides…and then when I want to relax a little and have more fun, put a 20mm spacer under the stem and slap some 25-35mm riser bars and have a setup that’s more conducive to ripping and shreddy rides.

not sure if I’m asking too much…but I do feel if I got a frame with appropriate geo I could make that happen. I could be just a kook too…I am aware of that!
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There's also the Tallboy which has really similar geo to the Hightower.

It's going to be really hard to hit your desired numbers especially on a more XC oreinted bike. Everything that's that extreme tends to be more geared towards the gravity crowd.
 
Discussion starter · #33 ·
jeremy3220 said:
There's also the Tallboy which has really similar geo to the Hightower.

It's going to be really hard to hit your desired numbers especially on a more XC oreinted bike. Everything that's that extreme tends to be more geared towards the gravity crowd.
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yep, that’s why I’m looking into a custom build.
 
#34 ·
rian4224 said:
Right on… I am looking for something that I can pedal & climb long rides on on that I could possibly ride in a 50+ mile XC/endurance race…but can also rip downhill a bit (within reason) and be fun, playful and stable while pointed down. Again, downcountry, if you will.

65-66 HTA , 130-140 fork hardtail. An idea I have is to be able to slam the stem, put flat bars on for longer, pushing myself rides…and then when I want to relax a little and have more fun, put a 20mm spacer under the stem and slap some 25-35mm riser bars and have a setup that’s more conducive to ripping and shreddy rides.

not sure if I’m asking too much…but I do feel if I got a frame with appropriate geo I could make that happen. I could be just a kook too…I am aware of that!
Click to expand...
Pole taival could fit the bill. I have a k4 that fits me very nicely and can be run anywhere 130-150 fork. I run mine at 160 and it’s a hoot on anything from xc trails to more gnarly steep stuff. When I bought my megatower I bought it in hopes it fit similarly to this bike

Image



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#35 ·
rian4224 said:
very cool. With the 670 stack height are your running any spacers under the stem and/or using riser bars?

with my highball I currently have 50mm of spacers and 25mm riser bars. The HB has a stack height of 642 on thr XXL.
Click to expand...
I run 50mm rise Enve M9's on both of my bikes. I do use a few less spacers on the Nic than my enduro that has a ~650mm stack. 15-20mm vs ~35mm. Pretty much what you'd expect given their difference in stack height.

Be careful comparing stack heights between hardtails and full suspension. The front end sags on a HT and the stack decreases so it doesn't feel the same for a given stack on the geo chart.

Regarding a custom frame the practical bottleneck regarding stack height/bar height is probably the fork. They typically come with a ~265mm steer tube from the factory. Add a few mm for the headset, 35-40mm for the stem, ~30mm of spacers for some adjustment and you can see it goes pretty fast. I only cut off ~10mm of steer tube on my 170mm head tube. Beyond a 180mm head tube I don't think you're gaining much, just decreasing how many spacers you get for adjustment. And for a short travel bike the stack is going to be somewhat limited. Barring shenanigans with super low BBs you're getting the stack from the (limited) fork length and headtube length.

Check out Neuhaus Metalworks, great hardtails by all accounts. They make a lot of sizes and while their XXXL is a bit smaller than you're looking for they might consider making you a size up since the bikes are all built to order anyway. Nicolai would certainly make you a nice hardtail but I believe they only do Al and I feel like steel or ti might be the move for a HT.
 
#36 ·
JMLAD said:
I run 50mm rise Enve M9's on both of my bikes. I do use a few less spacers on the Nic than my enduro that has a ~650mm stack. 15-20mm vs ~35mm. Pretty much what you'd expect given their difference in stack height.

Be careful comparing stack heights between hardtails and full suspension. The front end sags on a HT and the stack decreases so it doesn't feel the same for a given stack on the geo chart.

Regarding a custom frame the practical bottleneck regarding stack height/bar height is probably the fork. They typically come with a ~265mm steer tube from the factory. Add a few mm for the headset, 35-40mm for the stem, ~30mm of spacers for some adjustment and you can see it goes pretty fast. I only cut off ~10mm of steer tube on my 170mm head tube. Beyond a 180mm head tube I don't think you're gaining much, just decreasing how many spacers you get for adjustment. And for a short travel bike the stack is going to be somewhat limited. Barring shenanigans with super low BBs you're getting the stack from the (limited) fork length and headtube length.

Check out Neuhaus Metalworks, great hardtails by all accounts. They make a lot of sizes and while their XXXL is a bit smaller than you're looking for they might consider making you a size up since the bikes are all built to order anyway. Nicolai would certainly make you a nice hardtail but I believe they only do Al and I feel like steel or ti might be the move for a HT.
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all dead on points!!!

but us big clydes really deserve an enduro build anyways for strength.

most 38mm forks are 160mm and up. so id take a short travel bike off the table.
 
#38 ·
I just realised I miss read the OP twice!

So sorry for the mass derail above, I thought you were looking for a BIG trail bike, not an XC hardtail.

I ditched hardtails a long time ago as the additional stress on the components were causing serial failures on my bike.
FS was a big jump in reliability.

I also dislike ultra-light bikes as they tend to flex under my 93kg.

Every short travel XC bike has been so inefficient to pedal due to the flex.

The best example was when I got a faster time on an XC loop on a 150mm intense with 26" wheels than on a 120mm XC race machine.

So are you wanting an hard tail or FS and why?

Also how much do you weigh?
 
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Discussion starter · #39 ·
socalrider77 said:
Pole taival could fit the bill. I have a k4 that fits me very nicely and can be run anywhere 130-150 fork. I run mine at 160 and it’s a hoot on anything from xc trails to more gnarly steep stuff. When I bought my megatower I bought it in hopes it fit similarly to this bike

View attachment 2046953


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Click to expand...
Nice looking bike. I checked out the website and Pole lists a 180mm fork as spec. Wouldn't running anythign less drop the stack height? And quite significantly if I put a 140 or 150 fork on there. But a really cool hardtail for a good price!
 
Discussion starter · #40 ·
JMLAD said:
I run 50mm rise Enve M9's on both of my bikes. I do use a few less spacers on the Nic than my enduro that has a ~650mm stack. 15-20mm vs ~35mm. Pretty much what you'd expect given their difference in stack height.

Be careful comparing stack heights between hardtails and full suspension. The front end sags on a HT and the stack decreases so it doesn't feel the same for a given stack on the geo chart.

Regarding a custom frame the practical bottleneck regarding stack height/bar height is probably the fork. They typically come with a ~265mm steer tube from the factory. Add a few mm for the headset, 35-40mm for the stem, ~30mm of spacers for some adjustment and you can see it goes pretty fast. I only cut off ~10mm of steer tube on my 170mm head tube. Beyond a 180mm head tube I don't think you're gaining much, just decreasing how many spacers you get for adjustment. And for a short travel bike the stack is going to be somewhat limited. Barring shenanigans with super low BBs you're getting the stack from the (limited) fork length and headtube length.

Check out Neuhaus Metalworks, great hardtails by all accounts. They make a lot of sizes and while their XXXL is a bit smaller than you're looking for they might consider making you a size up since the bikes are all built to order anyway. Nicolai would certainly make you a nice hardtail but I believe they only do Al and I feel like steel or ti might be the move for a HT.
Click to expand...
Yes, the more I dive into the weeds on the geo, the more I think this may be a frustrating battle for a taller rider looking for a good proper fit. Because you can build the frame as big as you want, but if the fork and wheels stay the same you eventually hit a ceiling. As the frame gets taller and longer, at some point the wheels should get bigger too (and the fork goes along with it). I would think a 30.5" or even a 32" wheel tire would be the next step up. Unfortunately, I don't own a wheel, tire or fork manufacturing company!

The good news is that my current hardtail has a 120mm headtube and only 120mm fork. So, if I go with a custom build, I should be able to improve where I am currently at...and pretty drastically.

I agree, if I go with a custom build, I will go Ti.
 
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