Recommend me a bike (steep seat angle)

Hi All,

Can anyone help me with regards to finding a bike?

I am after a gravel/do anything type bike but there is few things I am looking for.

It must ideally be steel.

I need a steep seat angle. My mountain bikes which I do most of my riding on at the moment have steep seat angles and it feels alien getting back onto a slacker seat angle.

I would like rack mounts.

Decent Tyre clearance. Maybe up to 42mm don't mind more though.

Can run drops or flats.

Not looking at anything stupidly expensive. I priced up a Marino custom F&F for sub £500 and they aren't that bad. I already have a Marino full suspension as well.

I can make exceptions to most of the criteria within reason but I really would like that steeper seat angle but struggling to find anything. I'm thinking 76degrees plus ideally. Doesn't matter what it is if you have seen a gravel/hybrid/CX/Tourer with a steep seat angle let me know.

Cheers all

Odd request.

But you could use any bike and just move the saddle forward / use a setback post forwards, no?

Yeah I run inline posts with the saddles pushed right forward at the moment. A by product of the seat angle is that I don't like the reach on them though as well. Toe overlap, feeling really short out of the saddle etc. I know you can change fork offsets but I would like to try and find a bike that was a decent base figure and go from there, rather than keep adapting stuff. I'm selling my current gravel bike at the moment so its a good time to get something that will hopefully suit my needs.

Are you not just riding a frame that's too big?

A bigger frame would help if anything in certain aspects. Bigger frame should have less toe overlap and better reach but the TTL would also be longer and would exacerbate my issue of feeling too far over the rear.

I don't like running longer stems as well. A steeper seat tube with more reach would allow me to run a short stem but it still feel roomy and not too cramped.

I run midfoot so all my bikes have toe overlap. I just get used to bumping my shoes now and then with the front tyre.

What about CX bikes? They're designed for racing rather than middle-aged pootling so might generally be found with steeper angles (just my assumption, I don't do 'cross, it's a filthy habit)

Ha. Not that I can see. I have had loads of CX bikes over the years as I raced for over 10 years and they all seem to suffer from overlap and the seat angles on the stuff I had were the same. I didn't mind it then but my MTB's have really changed my mind on what I like with regards to reach and seat angle.

Yeah, I'm in no-man's-land with MTB geo. Shit changed since I last bought one in 2000-something. I now have a new one with modern geo (whatever the fuck that means, long and slack I think is the buzzword combo you want) but I've not ridden it.

What you get? Ever since I changed it just felt so at home on them.

omnium cxc?

wasn't someone 'on here' having a frame built with a steep seat tube a while back?

Not a bad shout 75 degree isn't quite as steep as I would like but a very good candidate if I really struggle. I think there was a yellow one on here for sale a while back. F&F if I remember correctly.

Not considered a lighter XC style mtb with gravel tyres, or do you have one of those already?

Stanton Sherpa

hmm this advice is licensed by me and you need to pay royalties before dishing it out, DM to discuss

Nice great bike. Was chatting to them at Malvern and they were sound guys.

I like the idea but the frames weren't particularly cheap and tended to be carbon or alu. They also lost things like the rack mounts as well. Without going custom seat angles were no better. I had a Fortitude not too long ago and didn't like it. Also had a MK1 Stooge that I thought I would love but didn't. Selling my Singular as well as it didn't have the mounts I needed and seat angle again.

Yes, once I'd written that, I struggled to think of any modern steel frames aimed at XC. Also XC bikes don't seem to have embraced the much steeper seat angles of trail and enduro bikes ( maybe 75 degrees max? )

found the thread i was thinking of - https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/343937/

Cheers dude thats great. Hadn't seen that before and it looks just what I am after. I will drop him a message about some geometry.

Yeah you are right.