Gravel frame with standover 720mm or slightly less

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NickJHP
Posts: 462
Joined: Wed Feb 14, 2018 2:22 am
Location: Canberra, Australia

by NickJHP

I'm looking for a lightweight carbon gravel frame for my wife, who is fairly short. Her two road frames both have ~720mm standover, and she says that anything more than that will be too much. Salsa Warbird in the smallest size would be ok, but I haven't been able to find anyone in this country (Australia) who has that size in stock. What other frames would meet that requirement? I'm after frameset only, not a complete bike, as I already have nearly all the components sitting around in our garage.

by Weenie


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jemima
Posts: 270
Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2011 12:36 am
Location: Perth

by jemima

Not sure whether any of these sizes available here as a frameset:-
- 48cm Diverge carbon
- XS Open WIDE (1x)
- 48cm Aspero
- 50.5 Norco Search XR C
Curve Grovel ti.

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peezy
Posts: 41
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2016 6:43 pm

by peezy

Bumping this because I was about to make the same post, I'm in the same boat as you. Wife currently rides a 44cm SuperSix Evo, but finding something close to that is tough.

Found this China Carbon frame from Top Carbon; seems to be the same as the Blue Norcross in XS. Looks promising but need to figure out the stand over first.

OnTheRivet
Posts: 732
Joined: Sat Jul 24, 2010 9:41 pm

by OnTheRivet

Giant Revolt. XS standover is 724mm

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pdlpsher1
Posts: 4016
Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2012 6:09 pm
Location: CO

by pdlpsher1

An easy way to reduce standover is to switch to 650B wheels. There are now more tire choices in 650B size than ever before. Even the new Conti GP5K S TR tire is available in a 650B size. A extra benefit of 650B is it makes available a lower gearing since the wheel+tire has a smaller circumference than the 700C.

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peezy
Posts: 41
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2016 6:43 pm

by peezy

Certainly thought about this and not stuck on the 700 wheels, but just nice to have the option!

Lell87
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Joined: Mon Jun 07, 2021 6:25 pm

by Lell87

Similar to the Revolt there is the Liv Devote. Also the Niner RLT 9 RDO in 47cm. Not sure of availability near you though.

ricerocket
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Joined: Mon Sep 27, 2010 8:38 am

by ricerocket

Am I missing something here? I didn't know people still shopped bikes by standover height.

If you're clipping in, lean the bike over 45 degrees and clip in the top foot. Then when you're ready to get going, use your body weight to rotate the crank and get some forward momentum, and clip the other foot in. You should be able to mount any bike that has a top tube lower than your saddle height, there's never a need to straddle the bike with both feet on the ground.

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peezy
Posts: 41
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2016 6:43 pm

by peezy

ricerocket wrote:
Sat Nov 20, 2021 3:16 am
Am I missing something here? I didn't know people still shopped bikes by standover height.
While I agree, being 4'11 it's sort of important, maybe not the end all, but afraid of buying something without being able to throw a leg over it. For example, here are the two frames she currently rides.
Image
The SuperSix frame fits really well and has 685mm of standover

Image
While this china carbon frame, has 750mm of standover.

I can find frames with reaches that are pretty damn close, but worried that the top tube will still be too long.

Another negative of shopping these XS frames, is not being able to throw a leg over it until you personally build it. Trying to get first hand experience or measurements from people that have one built up are huge.

Karvalo
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Joined: Fri Aug 10, 2018 6:40 pm

by Karvalo

peezy wrote:
Wed Nov 24, 2021 4:33 pm
I can find frames with reaches that are pretty damn close, but worried that the top tube will still be too long.
Why would the TTs be too long? Are the STAs significantly slacker? Anyway, she's got a fairly long stem for a tiny bike on there, can easily go centimetres shorter.

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peezy
Posts: 41
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2016 6:43 pm

by peezy

I guess I need to understand how reach/stack relate to top tube; I'm comparing her 44cm SuperSix versus the 2022 Blue Norcross (or the china carbon copy, but whos counting),which I think will work well...
Image
I think these links work: https://bikeinsights.com/compare?geomet ... 001c1cd178,
They are saying the standover is closer to 740 or so, while the SuperSix measures way less... Maybe I'm just overanalyzing it, but would hate to pull the trigger and the whole bike is just too big.

How can a bike with a close number in reach have a top tube that could be 20mm longer? Are they just measuring from a different end point?

Maddie
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Joined: Tue Oct 17, 2017 5:44 am

by Maddie


peezy wrote: How can a bike with a close number in reach have a top tube that could be 20mm longer? Are they just measuring from a different end point?
Different STA, different top tube slope. And that's the reason why top tube length by itself is irrelevant today. In terms of size, what matters is stack, reach and STA.

Karvalo
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Joined: Fri Aug 10, 2018 6:40 pm

by Karvalo

peezy wrote:
Sun Nov 28, 2021 4:49 pm
I think these links work: https://bikeinsights.com/compare?geomet ... 001c1cd178,
They are saying the standover is closer to 740 or so, while the SuperSix measures way less... Maybe I'm just overanalyzing it, but would hate to pull the trigger and the whole bike is just too big.

How can a bike with a close number in reach have a top tube that could be 20mm longer? Are they just measuring from a different end point?
That link doesn't give both TT lengths so is of no use whatsoever in answering your question. The actual manufacturer geometry charts state that the 44 Evo has a virtual TT that is 512mm and the Blue Norcross XS is 515mm, so where you've got 20mm from is a mystery :noidea:

Respectfully it doesn't seem like you're overanalyzing it, you're just analyzing it all wrong.

by Weenie


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Nohands83
Posts: 259
Joined: Tue Feb 13, 2018 7:41 am
Location: Leeds, UK

by Nohands83

I've been through the same thing with my GF, she's 5"1. Ended up with a Mason Bokeh - lovely bike but might not be particularly competitive if you're in Oz.

Would definitely recommend the 650B route, they're more in proportion with the rest of the bike and allows you to run decent sizes gravel tyres. Link below is really useful to compare the height of different wheel / tyre sizes:
http://www.bikecalc.com/wheel_size_math

Something that Mason mentioned when discussing with them was that some manufacturers measure standover differently - not always in the middle of the top tube, so might be worth speaking to a few of the manufactures directly.

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