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I'm 173 and riding a medium Pompino since Oct '16.
It is technically a bit long for me for drop bar use - have to use a 60/70mm stem but in a way I wanted that, so I could also try it out with flat bars (which a shorter top tube would be too short for) or wide dirt drop bars with a short stem.
I have also had (and sold) a small Kaffenback which was really too small, despite the fact that it has my preferred 53cm top tube for a drop bar road bike - the headtube was just too short meaning I had tonnes of saddle-bar drop even with 4cm+ of spacers and a flipped up stem. It also had bad toeverlap with 165mm cranks.
I've also been surprised at how well the paint (or lack of) has held up on my raw model, given that I have raced it in Yorkshire's worst mud and jetwashed it several times.
I've raced the Pompino in the Yorkshire CX league. I do wish it had more tyre clearance - or at least mud-shedding clearance - I probably wouldn't run wider than the 33c tyres I have now, it's done the job for trying CX out and I love the geo. Makes me want a 29er with the same geo - tight front end and not suspension corrected.
I've also ridden it on most of the same trails I MTB on, bar the downhilly bits. Makes it funner!
If I get more into CX it won't be used though, for clearance reasons. I spent about 60% of the last race running. To be fair, so did most other people, even those with carbon disc frames, but I got the feeling they collected mud less quickly than me. Probably the fact that they had pit bikes and bike-wash-b*tches was the biggest difference though!
One day, when I learn more about framebuilding, if I still own it I may try to remove the chain stay bridge and move it further up or replace it with a curved one, as well as adding a bit more of a dent on the stays for clearance.
If I had a custom frame built, I'd be tempted to base it on the Pomp geo, with a bit more room out back and a longer headtube to remove the need for spacers.
I have used 170mm and 165mm cranks - no overlap with 165s (size 9 shimano clipless shoes) and slight overlap with 170mm but nothing to make me panic, even on tight race switchbacks.
To sum up: it's a cool bike - when I bought the frame, you could get a Genesis day one disc for just £400, but for some reason (despite mixed dealings with PX in the past), it tempted me.
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sb88
@bs7
Just wondering if there are any 170ish cm tall people riding mediums? I have a kaffenback in small and it shares the same geo with the pomp. inseam is 80 if that matters at all.. as well all know with this bike toe overlap on the small is a bastard.. and I'm running 170 cranks. I just wanted to check if anyone was running 165 on a medium around my height successfully.. I plan on running it ss during the winter but would like to switch to fixed in the summer and am not a fan of surprise toe overlap running fixed haha