Now we get to see how everything fits together on the Soma Stanyan bicycle for light touring.
Bottom brackets come with different spindle lengths. The appropriate length is a function of the bike frame and of the shape of the crankset. Basically, getting the crank chainrings and/or crank arms as close to the frame as possible will result in the best stance. There may be cases where, in order to achieve the best chainline the crankset needs to stand out a little from the frame.
With a little trial and error we figured a 108mm spindle length would work.
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- Sotto Voce…..Ohhhhh ya!!!
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- The space between the inner chainring and the frame’s chainstay is the limit here. Probably don’t want the inner chainring any closer than this.
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- This was a tight fit!
A steerer tube extends from the top of the fork crown, through the headset and headtube, a few spacers and the stem. We had to decide how high the handlebars were going to be relative to the saddle height, so we dry fit everything together, set the saddle, put on the wheels, placed the bike on the floor and added spacers to get the bars where we wanted them. A frame with a touring geometry might have a slightly upward sloping top tube and/or an extended head tube. This bike doesn’t, because it is a sport road geometry, so we won’t be able to get the bars as high as the saddle without an awkward looking number of spacers. But for a young and flexible rider who will use his bike for general riding too, the lower, more aggressive position should be fine.
The other challenge with this “sport road” frame was getting the fenders to work with the 32mm tires. The rear fender was relatively easy, requiring just some minor crimping where the fender nestles between the chainstays. The front fender was much tighter. The combination of the fork blade widths and brake bolt location didn’t leave much room for error. But we got it to work.
The fenders with 32mm tires barely fit. A little more clearance would be good, but we wanted to maintain at least 32mm tire width.
Here is the bike almost ready for it’s maiden voyage. Still waiting on the rear rack and saddlebags.
