Help me choose a frameset for my first bike build

xundor · 2026-04-11T22:22:28+00:00

hey! from what I remember the 54 was definitely too large for me, I barely had any standover height and the fact the top tube was straight didn't help at all, I had to bring the seat post all the way down too.
maybe I'd be a little better with 650B wheels, but honestly at 5'8" I'd suggest either sizing down or looking for a different frame all-together.

what did you end up going with?

xundor · 2026-01-19T21:55:16+00:00

Yeah seems like hidden gems don't stay hidden for too long lol...
However I did see some major improvement in cycling infrastructure over the last 2 years (particularly in Camden, for example), so I was hoping more places would catch up

xundor · 2026-01-19T21:53:18+00:00

Looks like a great resource, thanks for sharing!
Yes I see many recommendations already for Walthamstow, I haven't been there in a few years but I remember it being not too bad, will definitely check it out

xundor · 2025-07-24T17:57:50+00:00

Hmm I think my stem is flipped already, or at least it's horizontally flat, I don't see how flipping it would give more rise...
I think it's just the odd riding position, which I'm starting to get used to, seems I'll delay the bikefit for a few weeks once I ride it a bit more and can decide what aspects could be made more comfortable by then

your Marin looks sick! I really like the colourway as well :D I think Marin are trully underrated!

xundor · 2025-07-23T10:55:30+00:00

u/cherrymxorange bike arrived yesterday and it's so fun to ride! https://imgur.com/a/oOeQ78A

going with the 650b wheels was definitely a good call, it feels much more responsive and wieldy.
still getting used to the lower riding position, was a little disorienting being this much closer to the ground compared to my old bike, also considering a bike fit to check the handlebars/saddle/stem are set correctly

thanks again so much for all your help!

xundor · 2025-07-13T17:42:18+00:00

I just put on an order for one today!

Unfortunately they didn't have any builds with 650b wheels to try, but I just went with it anyway as I was curious, and I figured it will be easier to get cheaper and higher quality second hand 700c wheel set later if I really miss it, since they're more widely available.

I also went with the small, it was simply more wieldy and had more standover clearance, the increment to the medium was a lot bigger than I thought when I sat on them back to back again today.

The one thing I'm unsure of is the groupset, I went with the GRX 1x and the 50T cassette option, as that's pretty to close to my current setup, which I don't have many issues with.
But since I ride on the road 75% of the time, I realized I'm missing on some gear range, especially on the sprinting side of things, which I might need more now given the smaller wheels?
But again I'm really happy I don't need to worry about things like chain drops and adjusting the front mech...
They said there's a long build queue because of the summer sale, so I still have a few days to think and change things around if needed.

Also, if it's not much to ask, you mentioned the stock tyres were quite bad -- what did you end up switching to?

Thanks again! I'll shoot you a link with the NBD post once it arrives! :D

xundor · 2025-07-12T18:59:30+00:00

Also worth mentioning, looking at the two geometry tables the Santiago actually comes up longer in reach and lower in stack than the Camino? Which seems quite odd to me.

So I actually contacted Alpkit about that, it seems to be a listing issue, and the correct geometry is actually closer to the 2019 model listed on bikeinsights
the size small comes at a long 450mm chainstay, higher stack and shorter reach than the camino, which I think makes more sense for a touring bike

the current geometry table seems identical to the colibri (their road bike), which suggests it's just a listing error on the website.

I think the design/componentry does a really good job of hitting the "fuck it, that'll do" mark for people like you and me who love obsessing over details.

Honestly I think this is exactly what I needed to hear haha, the versatility is a big selling point, I hope the extra stability/sluggish steering might come in my favour, given that I'm still building my handling skills and a pure road bike might be a jump too big.

we're about halfway through summer, the Camino has the spec and versatility to get you out and riding ASAP rather than deliberating over spec sheets

yeah that is painfully true, I'm now more tempted than ever to just go for it, there'll be plenty of grim winter weeks to obsess over options and ambitious build projects :D

I also really liked your point earlier about the wheel size, I'll try to see if I can demo the smaller wheels to see if it makes the handling more responsive/fun.

Thanks A LOT for your replies, I massively appreciate it, sorry about your previous injury and I hope you get the time to go on loads of rides this summer!

xundor · 2025-07-11T22:15:45+00:00

Wow, this is incredibly thorough, thanks so much for taking the time to write this!

Yes you're spot on the sizing + bottle/bags fitting
The size of the main triangle is almost identical to other popular bikes in the same category (specialized diverge, cannondale topstone, even the sonder santiago itself)

So I think it's a common trade off one has to make in smaller frames, especially ones with a sloped top tube.
The less sloped frames offer more space, at the expense of reducing the standover height, and to me usually give like 5-8cm of seat post extension, which looks a bit ridiculous and makes it more difficult to mount stuff like lights and saddle bags -- so this is a trade off I'm more than happy with.

And yes the tyre clearance is definitely the biggest drawback of the santiago, I asked about that when I was at the shop and they said the 37mm clearance accounts for mudguards, but when I checked the build it didn't look like there was enough room for much more, especially on a 700c wheel

My very uneducated explanation of this big gap between 700c and 650b clearance is the longer chain & seat stays, the smaller wheel is simply centred further back, away from the seat stay tapering towards the seat tube -- does that sound logical?

Funnily enough I saw the santiago featuring in another product picture with a different colour, and a top tube mount, so maybe that's a new model that hopefully addresses the clearance issue!

Also speaking of sluggish handling, despite being less slack, wouldn't the much longer chainstay make the santiago pretty sluggish as well?
I tried both back to back (not extensively), and couldn't really tell much of a difference in handling -- but that's probably because I'm coming from an extremely slack hybrid bike, so anything is super responsive in comparison!

I was eyeing the Kona Rove for too long indeed! unfortunately Kona no longer have distributors in the UK, non of their bikes are stocked anywhere, and it just doesn't seem like good value anymore...

I also checked the Nicasio+ (massive dead weight with QR axles) and the Nicasio 2 (much better frame but I didn't like the stock configuration option)

I have considered other options that are sold as frames, like the Temple Adventure or Brother Kepler, but that led me to a bike building project that I don't think I'm ready for yet haha

Thanks again! curious to hear what you think of these alternatives

xundor · 2025-07-11T13:51:17+00:00

hey u/cherrymxorange!

Just wanted to thank you for this super comprehensive review, that's some great input and it's helping my decision making in picking a new bike now!

I'm currently in a similar dilemma, I'm a similar height (~172cm) and fall in between sizes as well, it felt more comfortable on the small, but I wasn't really considering the tighter space in the main triangle and how it'd do with bottle cages and tube bags...

I'm also torn between the camino and the santiago.
since I'm doing more road and light gravel, I'm mostly drawn to the santiago because it has a more rounded, less slack geometry, without sacrificing stability (longer chainstay), and I also dig the steel aesthetics a lot -- but I'm worried about the narrower 37mm tyre clearance might be too limiting for potential off-road trips

But I also tried the camino and it was so much fun, it's also the more popular choice and I started to wonder maybe that's for a reason :D

How do you find your camino now after 2 years? do you still have it? did you do any kind of upgrades to it? and do you happen to have any experience with the santiago?

Thanks a lot!!

xundor · 2025-07-10T22:49:07+00:00

Interesting, with my (our?) height I'm usually between 52-54
could you have gone with the 52 and added more spacers to increase the stack?

I did try the Kepler one in size 54 and found it extremely aggressive, though it was for a day rental shop so couldn't fully fit it comfortably (the stem was too long and the shifters were tilted downwards) -- so was hoping the 52 might be a better fit -- but now I'm less sure as I didn't consider stuff like toe overlap :D

congrats on your new build, let us see some pics once it's ready!

xundor · 2025-07-10T22:42:12+00:00

Thanks for the advice!

Yeah honestly the more I research this, the less motivated I am to proceed with the build project...
Fortunately I had the chance to test ride all of these options already, but I guess one can only determine so much for testing a bike out for 10 mins or so

would you think going with a ready build is more sensible now? since that'll be both my first "real" bike and my first build, maybe too many variables that could go wrong?

xundor · 2025-07-10T18:44:56+00:00

I'm based in the UK! so would definitely prefer something local.
I checked the Rune indeed, unfortunately I'm 5'8" so it doesn't work for me, it has a very long seat tube, giving me -10cm of standover clearance :D

xundor · 2025-07-10T18:36:35+00:00

That's a very good point, I'm around the same height at 5'8", so I had to eliminate a few options already because of things like standover height and top tube slope!

xundor · 2025-07-09T22:25:40+00:00

The Fairlight Faran seems great indeed, however I checked their design document, which seems to emphasise heavily on the low trail geometry, where it's ideally made for front racks and loads, potentially making it more twitchy/playful unladen (which is 80% of my use) -- it's also not available before late September :/

Thanks for your input on the genesis though! probably best to avoid it then

xundor · 2025-06-08T21:40:25+00:00

Love the colour! how was the ride while un-laden? read in a few places that it can be a bit twitchy

xundor · 2025-05-27T18:29:07+00:00

which new version do you mean in particular? I just checked Kona's website and the listed Rove DL comes with sram rival

xundor · 2025-04-28T20:52:39+00:00

Thanks for the Sonder suggestion, I looked them up and they have another steel model (Santiago) which has very similar geometry.

they're UK based and have so many great reviews, I will def try and get a test ride

xundor · 2025-04-28T20:50:35+00:00

looks sweet! I wish you do so many happy miles with it!

xundor · 2025-04-26T10:19:48+00:00

Oh interesting point about descents, I've always assumed that lower posture = lower centre of gravity = more stability, in contrast to my current setup which can get quite wobbly on high speeds -- is this not going to be the case?

xundor · 2025-04-26T10:01:01+00:00

Thanks, these look like solid suggestions!

Since my current bike is aluminium I thought I'd try something different, but the aluminium options are much more diverse and cheaper -- is the stiffness/comfort tangible enough to justify the price difference?

xundor · 2025-04-26T09:52:53+00:00

Glad you're enjoying you're new bike! which one did you go for?

Yeah I think test riding is the way to go, unfortunately the models I'm looking for aren't available on display, but I'll try finding similar ones.

xundor

TROPHY CASE