guitarplayerone

This is cross posted from the commuter forum because what I am to build looks a lot more like a low to mid level competition Ti CX bike than a ultrahighlevel commuter

Hello all
Skip the background if you wish.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Been lurking for months, first post. BF is awesome.
So I tend to ride 10-20 miles a day on average, with a few occasional rides 30-40 miles each week through New York City and my suburb of Staten Island. I'm 22 at 5'11'' and weigh 190 lbs. I ride road, urban, pothole, gravel trails, large hills, etc. I am also looking to do some trekking/commuting, but NOT heavily loaded. This is instead of buying a car, and my primary source of transportation, so I'm spoiling myself somewhat.

After commuting for three or four years and figuring out what I need I have decided that I need something which is: light, bombproof, fast, semi-relaxed but not fully relaxed geometry, and titanium. Please let's not turn this into a discussion on frame materials, call me stubborn and made up.

I know that Habby makes a relatively cheap TI cross/touring frame, and that there is the Motobecane Fantom Ti. There are other companies but they are out of my price range.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I want to spend ~1500 dollars and build something ~18lbs. Used is fine. I have a former bike shop friend helping.

I wanted to create a list of ti frames besides the habby, litespeed blue ridge/appalachian, and moto fantom cross ti that fit 28cs. Specifically frames like the litespeed ultimate, etc which are much more common on ebay translating into more likelihood of a cheaper build. If I can build a list of road frames to choose from, that makes life easier, the cross ones seem hard to find. Yes I know geometry is key. But I will look around for deals on frames and measure myself up anyway, if I buy a great frame for a good deal and it doesnt work out, I could still resell it.

SRAM rival seems like very good value for the whole groupo. But it is still expensive. I assume shifters and deraileurs need to buy new, but is it safe to buy other components used which don't show visible wear (eg cranks)? (Yes I know I need to make sure that the deraileur i'm using will shift cogs with numbers of teeth I plan to use) Is it financially feasible (as in instead of buying an entire groupset?)

Mavic open pros seem nice for the price, but I hope the rear won't die like I've read on reviews considering my weight. Thoughts/experience?

Finally, is my dream feasible considering typical going prices for components? Any ideas on how much an individual component should cost of my ideal build on the bay, any alternatives I can use for specific components, etc.

I was very dubious about posting this at first, but I really have been researching for a good while. I should also mention that I do have a friend who can help me assemble everything, as he worked at a bike shop for years. Truth be told, he won't be able to help much with indexing much since he worked mostly on vintage road bikes and fixed gears.

Thanks a ton in advance