CX/Wet Commuter frame suggestions

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apdg
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Jan 17, 2014 7:51 am

by apdg

Hi there. I've been lurking here for quite a while, stealing all your great opinions and suggestions. I'm starting to Weenie-ify a couple of my bikes and would be grateful for some input on something in particular.

I just upgraded my 'nice day' bike with Red 22, giving me an Ultegra SL group in search of a frame. I'm looking to build something light and fun to ride to work in the rain on (~10mi one way). There's a moderate chance I'll be getting talked into some light touring here and there, so eyelets may be a requirement as well. It'd be handy to keep my Ultegra brakes, but if I have to swap them out for canti brakes to fit a CX frame, that's not the end of the world (an engineer friend and I are working on some super low profile carbon fenders, so I'm not too worried about clearances). Un-fancy but fun ("fun" roughly translates to "light" in my book), is sort of what I'm going for; avoiding the spendy.

One strong contender is the Pedal Force CX2. Around 1280g (56cm) and $700. Then this beautiful thing made me consider the FM058, though it lacks eyelets. Once I realized I could do it all much cheaper and not much heavier with aluminum, I considered the Motobecane Fantom CX. That might not be fun on a tour, but I honestly haven't been on an aluminum frame in ages (I very much enjoy carbon), so I can't recall how bad an idea that would be. After finding another half a dozen semi-viable options, around here and on other bits of the internet, that didn't quite speak to me, I thought I'd seek the input of others.

Basically, a lightweight, sub-$700 frame, most likely of the CX variety. Can anyone speak for the frames I mentioned, or suggest something that fits this role better? Perhaps there is some no-name ti frame out there that I'd be remiss not to consider, or some other magical carbon device?

Many thanks.

xnavalav8r
Posts: 2594
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 12:09 pm

by xnavalav8r

Take a look at Planet X... Uncle John (Al) or Kaffenback (CrMo).

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apdg
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Jan 17, 2014 7:51 am

by apdg

Thanks! Interestingly, right before I saw your post, I was locked up next to an Uncle John and was checking it out. The "similar topics" showed me some threads I didn't see through searching and have some more options.

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