Steel, bb30, inexpensive fairly light CX/touring frame

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KevinGnar
Posts: 30
Joined: Tue Mar 20, 2012 3:24 am

by KevinGnar

I'm dumping all my cycling gear except the bikes I use regularly. I recently sold my commuter bike and am looking to sell my road bike. I want to build up one bike that allows me to commute 20 miles a day and still be fun for group road rides if I feel so inclined.

Desires:
Disc or canti bosses; not both as that looks too busy.
BB30. Not a deal breaker if it isn't but...I have a brand new set of Hollowgrams and a ceramic bb just waiting for something
Steel is the material of choice for durability and ride quality.
38c tire clearance with fenders at minimum
Sub 4.5lb frame
Inexpensive. I'm cheap. I'm getting burned out and don't feel like doing a crazy build this time around.

The new Transition Rapture looks good for the price aside from the cable routing and lack of BB30 shell.

I'm all ears.

dogg
Posts: 291
Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2014 7:37 am

by dogg

soma double cross? no bb30 but it meets all of your other criteria to a T; available in both disc and canti, steel, clearance for 38c tires and fenders, 4.3lbs, and its pretty cheap.

ill probably be buying one myself once my finds rebound from my new road build, dying to do some light multi day touring this summer

by Weenie


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KevinGnar
Posts: 30
Joined: Tue Mar 20, 2012 3:24 am

by KevinGnar

I'm in the Pacific North West. Oregon or Washington both work.
I doubt that I can afford to go full custom at this point.
Does anyone happen to know the weight on the Raleigh Roper frame?

I previously had an On-One Pompetamine but the toe overlap on the bike was horrendous. I ended up having to drop back to 165's and spin like a circus clown. If it wasn't for that issue and the heft it probably could have worked out.

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Elrey
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Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2010 11:13 pm
Location: Denmark. Yeeees

by Elrey

http://www.rychtarski.com
Have you tried talking to this guy? He does some great custom work for a great dollar.

HillRPete
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Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2011 8:08 am
Location: Pedal Square

by HillRPete

KevinGnar wrote:fairly light ... Inexpensive

The class of frames you are describing is just emerging. I'd recommend to get a cheap aluminium one off ebay until some product meets your specs (including price), or you have saved up to go custom. With nice fast 30-ish mm tyres on the road, the more unforgiving feel of (some) aluminium frames should be alleviated anyway.

If you are a passionate road rider, just make sure the head tube angle isn't too slack, so you get swift handling.

KevinGnar
Posts: 30
Joined: Tue Mar 20, 2012 3:24 am

by KevinGnar

wassertreter wrote:
KevinGnar wrote:fairly light ... Inexpensive

The class of frames you are describing is just emerging. I'd recommend to get a cheap aluminium one off ebay until some product meets your specs (including price), or you have saved up to go custom. With nice fast 30-ish mm tyres on the road, the more unforgiving feel of (some) aluminium frames should be alleviated anyway.

If you are a passionate road rider, just make sure the head tube angle isn't too slack, so you get swift handling.


I've had fun riding bikes like the Caad 10. I have access to brands like Redline, Lapierre, Soma, Ritchey, Raleigh and so forth.
Honestly I've debated picking up a Redline or Lapierre frame at cost and just having fun but I'm not really passionate about road riding. In fact I hardly like it at all. When given the chance, I always pick riding one of my 10 other bikes before my road bike. This bike is supposed to be relatively cheap(less than riding a my $3k framed road bike) so I can commute on it and not care as much if it gets swiped, but I need to be able to tolerate riding it.

HillRPete
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Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2011 8:08 am
Location: Pedal Square

by HillRPete

I'd probably go with a Ritchey Swiss Cross then, unless the lack of fender and rack mounts is prohibitive, as you mention commuting and touring. Admittedly I don't have much experience with the other brands you mention. And no BB30 wouldn't be a dealbreaker, you say.

KevinGnar
Posts: 30
Joined: Tue Mar 20, 2012 3:24 am

by KevinGnar

I'd prefer to have rack mounts available, especially for fenders. The strap on "race ready" or "speedy" fenders are terrible. I want something mounted solid for winter riding.
I'm still hunting to see whats available.

Fatbiker
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Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2006 1:41 pm

by Fatbiker

Traitor Cycles sell really nice inexpensive frames.

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roadieboy
Posts: 66
Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2012 2:19 am

by roadieboy

Check out the Raleigh Furley/Roper frame, though it's not particularly light (no idea exactly how much), it is steel, disc only, and has BB30.

Edit: Looks like you already got that covered, KevinGnar. I have a Furley built up with a fairly nice drivechain (microshift stuff and a CX70 crankset), it weighs ~25lbs with the super heavy stock wheels and beefy cross tires. I'm sure you could drop 2 or 3 pounds by putting on some decent wheels, the stock wheels are unbelievably heavy.

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
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