All City Macho King vs. Niner RLT vs. Milwaukee Bike Company Mettle?

[Becky]

I'm shopping for a new cross bike to use as a do-anything road bike/commuter/gravel grinder. I'd like to be able to run big tires and a rack and fenders if needed. I'd prefer steel (853 or Platinum OX) and disc brakes. Custom is not on the table right now because of the wait times. Does anyone have experience with any of the three bikes listed above?

Macho King: Geometry is a near-perfect match for that of my beloved road bike. It won't take a traditional bolt-on rack, but I shouldn't need a rack very often.

Niner RLT: It's alloy, but I can get a good price. The geometry of the 53 is very close to that of my road bike. Will take a rack and fenders.

Mettle: On paper, this bike is perfect- steel, fat tires, rack and fenders . But the short head tube makes me leary of finding the right fit. I end up between sizes (50 and 53).

Help! I have bike money burning a hole in my pocket!

[Becky]

You have a good memory. I do like a taller head tube, since my arm and leg lengths put me in a bigger frame than my height would indicate. And yes, I'm still riding that Fuji Supreme RC. Alas, I do not have stack and reach numbers for it.

I wouldn't need the smallest size in the Macho King. Actually, the 52cm geometry seems to match that of my Fuji most closely, and it has a 130mm head tube. The Niner in a 53cm size has a similar length head tube as well. I test rode a 50cm Niner and couldn't get comfortable in the drops- too cramped. The Mettle is only 99mm for a 50cm frame, which is likely the size I would need in that frame.

I really do want the Mettle for so many reasons, but it's designed to race and the head tube length worries me.

Thanks for helping me talk this through.

[Becky]

And a seat tube angle of 73. For comparison's sake, my Fuji has a STA of 73.5 and TT of 545. Taking into account the STA difference, they should have the same effective TT. I just have to make sure that I have enough saddle rail available to accomodate a slightly slacker STA. What's the STA on your road bike? IME, top tube length has to be considered in the context of STA.

I rode the 53 cm Niner again today. With the 145 mm head tube, I'll probably angle the stem down and slam it to get the right balance of weight between my butt and hands. That has me looking more closely at the Macho King again.

[Becky]

With a 73.5 STA and a zero-offset post, I can achieve KOPS with the seatpost clamp in the middle (or close) of the saddle rails. I do run stems that are +/- 100mm to get the right reach though. I only use a setback post on steep STA frames.

Yes, 1 degree slacker = 1 cm longer in the TT, relative to the bottom bracket.

I'm only 5'4", but I'm getting the sense from our discussion that I have longer femurs than you do and you probably carry more height in your torso than I do. Smaller frames are often too steep for me, often don't allow enough room for my arms unless I run a long stem, and mean a lot of saddle to bar drop.

Have you ever played with the Bike Comparator spreadsheet: http://gearinches.com/blog/misc/bike...ry-comparator? I think you'd love it!

[Becky]

Bike salespeople and fitters have a fit with me because of my proportions, and it took me a long time to realize that I was uncomfortable on my bikes because they were too small. I don't think my bikes are overly large, compared to others who are of similar height, but definitely a size bigger than many of my short friends. Along the same lines, many are shocked to hear that I'm only 5'4". My proportions make me look taller, I think.

Looking at that Civilian now- yum!

[Becky]

I feel compelled to re-visit this thread, as I'm eagerly waiting for the bike shop to re-open so that I can order my Macho King frameset! After much consideration and research, I realized that there are ways around the rack mounts issue, and I really do want a steel cross bike.

[Becky]

I'm thinking about the Arkel seatpost rack. Any thoughts about or experience with it?

[Becky]

The Revelate bags are my other option. Glad to hear that you like them!