Road Cycling - classy new frameset needed

what are the top quality lightweight road framesets atm ? I can only think of colnago, bianchi, pinarello, and de rosa

How about Merlin, Litespeed, or Trek?

Serotta comes to mind.

Off the rack Fondriest comes to mind.

Don't really know what would fit your preferences and riding style.

Rivendell would be more down my alley.

You might want to look at Erickson Cycles too. I have never seen lugs so beautiful on a modern bike than ones built by Glenn Erickson.

http://www.sandsmachine.com/bp_erick.htm

casati. those bikes are awesome.

Also Cannondale CAAD7, Mercx, Look, Time, Klein, Orbea, Cervelo, Moots, Torelli.

I think you need to define your usage a little more than lightweight road frame.

Seven and Calfee maybe?

FONDRIEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Uh... errr... sorry... I was channeling. :D

I'm kinda crazy about the Cannondale bikes right now. Just saw a yellow R600 the other day (I know, not top o' the line). How about the R5000?

how about Tommasini?

www.tommasiniusa.com

i have seen several built up...my next road bike will probably be the steel/carbon frame one

the Merlin Ti bikes painted glossy black are also very elegent, light...and expensive!!!

Originally posted by Gene K
Also Cannondale CAAD7, Mercx, Look, Time, Klein, Orbea, Cervelo, Moots, Torelli.

I think you need to define your usage a little more than lightweight road frame.

There is some good ideas comingup here I must admit I really like the graphite grey Look with white lettering, So understated.

Canondale Mercx, Time etc may be expensive but hardly classy I am talking about something with heritage and prestige like Colnago This bike will have to have the class of Ferrari and Porsche and Maserati not a mass produced frame with no history.(albeit expensive)

Usage well it really has no bearing here If its well built you could use it it for a summer training run or the occasional road race or just a posy Sunday club run

Originally posted by bandaidman
how about Tommasini?

www.tommasiniusa.com

i have seen several built up...my next road bike will probably be the steel/carbon frame one

the Merlin Ti bikes painted glossy black are also very elegent, light...and expensive!!!


Ahh! Tommassini now you are talking!..
Hand made in steel with gorgeous lugwork just look at the Sintessi mmmmmm. this is one definitely on my top 10 list thanks bandaid:)

Originally posted by earleybird
This bike will have to have the class of Ferrari and Porsche and Maserati not a mass produced frame with no history


Well,

EXCUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUSE US!

(BTW, I like Colnagos)

Pegoretti for sure, Gios, Guerciotti, Ciocc if you can find one, and Coppi. On the whole I find most frames to be good these days though I still prefer DeRosa, Pegoretti, Look and of course Litespeed!

Depends if you are looking for techno-cool or trad.
There are hundreds of small-scale custom steel framebuilders with great reputations who compare very well to the larger scale commercial/industrail frame-builders. You get to choose the geometry, paintwork and braze-ons.
Henryjames.com will direct you to the best US ones.
Do check out Bohemian Cycles, who do the very finest lug-work, they are works of art as well as great frames.
In the UK, we have Bob Jackson, Mercian, Mr Steel, Condor.....
Torelli do some of the better Italian builders like Mondonico.

For a lightweight Al, Principia from Denmark is the choice of pro riders who buy their own frames and Stork from Germany are most excellent.

For TI, you are best with a US company like Seven, or than wonderfull looking Carbon/ti from Merlin.

For Carbon, dont forget Look and Time as well as Calfee and Kestrel.

Originally posted by MichaelW
Depends if you are looking for techno-cool or trad.
There are hundreds of small-scale custom steel framebuilders with great reputations who compare very well to the larger scale commercial/industrail frame-builders. You get to choose the geometry, paintwork and braze-ons.
Henryjames.com will direct you to the best US ones.
Do check out Bohemian Cycles, who do the very finest lug-work, they are works of art as well as great frames.
In the UK, we have Bob Jackson, Mercian, Mr Steel, Condor.....
Torelli do some of the better Italian builders like Mondonico.

For a lightweight Al, Principia from Denmark is the choice of pro riders who buy their own frames and Stork from Germany are most excellent.

For TI, you are best with a US company like Seven, or than wonderfull looking Carbon/ti from Merlin.

For Carbon, dont forget Look and Time as well as Calfee and Kestrel.


no no no Michael W !:) :) :rolleyes:


none of these have the class factor of Colnago or De Rosa etc They are all nice bikes for sure but not what I am looking for at all. Its the difference between a Saville Row suit and one from a quality local tailor you see?

I definately want traditional hand built in steel with nice lugs ( not necessarily fancy) with nice detailing and gorgeous paint job it has to be like a one off made to measure by a master builder.

Kestrel ? you cannot be serious (Mcinroe voice)

:D :D

Sycip Frames...

Originally posted by dexmax
Sycip Frames...


Sycip ???????????? who the heck are they??
jeez dex at least read the thread to get an idea of what we are on about here. :rolleyes: :) :)

I'm w/ dex and some others.seven,merlin,sycip,independent fabrications,waterford.All realy nice handbuilt custom frames.Of course i'm a mtb biker just getting into road biking,so.............

Rivendell does custom frames now. I like their frames, but not their retro component choices. Photographs don't do them justice; I saw their 'cheapo' on the road a couple weeks ago. It was just gorgeous.Seven strikes me as being especially successful at custom work; Seven owners are a happy bunch.

you want class?
you want modern? Lugged steel?
Richard Sachs only thing is about 1 1/2 year wait.
Richard Moon, Kirk Pacenti, Dave Kirk (see what are
you riding for examples), Weigle.
Fred Parr.

these are all custom, steel frames.
Vanilla- newish builder good reputation.
Pegoretti as previously mentioned.

Albert Eisentraut the father of modern US framebuilders
is still building in Oakland Ca. (Fillet brazed and lugged).
Serotta (but Ben is moving away from classic lugged steel).
Orbea, Olmo, Torelli for more traditional off the rack
steel frames.
Zinn (as in Leonard Zinn) builds a nice frame.

That should do for a start along with all the others
that have been mentioned.

Marty

....Calfee Dragonfly, Merlin, Moots...

got carbon?

www.calfeedesign.com

Fondriest, Orbea, Decathlon, Bianchi, Principia, and a lot more exotic Bikes

I thought the original poster wanted lugged steel frames. Since some people are mentioning carbon, I guess I'll have to throw in my vote for Aegis (http://www.aegisbicycles.com/). ;)

Originally posted by khuon
I thought the original poster wanted lugged steel frames. Since some people are mentioning carbon, I guess I'll have to throw in my vote for Aegis (http://www.aegisbicycles.com/). ;)
Khoun, sorry dude, ,
oscar

Originally posted by orguasch
Khoun, sorry dude, ,
oscar

No need to apologise to me... I'm just as guilty. :D

Originally posted by earleybird
what are the top quality lightweight road framesets atm ? I can only think of colnago, bianchi, pinarello, and de rosa

That was his original statement . Which is why I asked that he clarify the statement. It wasn't clear to me exactly what he wanted.

this is great guys. Keep em coming, I'm checking them all out. If you have a link of your fav it would help too thanks:)

Here's a few not previously mentioned:

Rodriguez Cycles (http://www.rodcycle.com/), Landshark (http://www.landsharkbicycles.com/), Cherry Bicycles (http://cherry.dcwi.com/cherry/welcome.html), Davidson (http://www.davidsonbicycles.com/html/home.shtml), Steelman Cycles (http://www.steelmancycles.com/index.html)

Originally posted by earleybird
Sycip ???????????? who the heck are they??
jeez dex at least read the thread to get an idea of what we are on about here. :rolleyes: :) :)
What can I say? We have different tastes..


Originally posted by redfox
I'm w/ dex and some others.seven,merlin,sycip,independent fabrications,waterford.All realy nice handbuilt custom frames.Of course i'm a mtb biker just getting into road biking,so............. Nice, elegant, and fast but does not come cheap.. Summary: beautifully perfect!

Originally posted by orguasch
Khoun, sorry dude, ,
oscar

I think this was the original post, and there is no mention of lugged steel, is there?:
"what are the top quality lightweight road framesets atm ? I can only think of colnago, bianchi, pinarello, and de rosa"

If lugged steel was the question then my answer/suggestion would have been:
Richard Sachs and Vanilla just to name a couple.

Don't own one, just love the way they look.

vanilla makes some sweeeet bikes (no pun intended). in the same vein, strawberry (http://www.strawberrybicycle.com/gallery/Store) makes some pretty nice frames as well.

Just to clarify the question is:

Paraphrase,"Who makes a classy, top quality, lightweight steel frame?"

Is this correct?

Under 3, 3.5 or 4 lb?

Any touring in the plans?

Average ride length?

Max ride length?

Do you prefer a lower-longer or shorter more up-right position?

Off the rack or custom?

Any preference for material supplier? i.e. Reynolds, Columbus, Dedacciai?

Are lugs required or is TIG okay?

Stainless steel, fancy, or normal lugs?

How traditional are you? 1" Threaded or 1-1.125" Threadless, Carbon or Steel Forks, Chrome Crown?

Does the frame need to be able to break down for air travel in a normal suitcase i.e. S&S Stainless Couplers?

I don't have much experience but I would think these were questions that would need to be answered before choosing a builder.

As MichaelW said: 'Depends if you are looking for techno-cool or trad.' If you want a performance machine that also looks way cool, you can't go wrong with the new Lemond 'Tete de Course'. The combo of TI and OCLV gives a frame that responds beyond belief and that you can ride literally all day. I have a '2000' TREK OCLV US Postal team issue that I love, but I was given the opportunity to ride the Tete de Couse for a couple hundred kilometers and I was simply 'blown away'. Before you buy you should definitely have a look at this one. Ride on!

What about Marinoni? They don't get much better.

From where you live, you could ride to Bristol and have Argos build you something exactly to your specification...and you'd still save money. :)

By the way, earlybird..........

you were kidding with the Saville Row analogy, right? I mean, you're not seriously suggesting that some guy in Ernesto's factory is in a higher league to Albert Eisentraut, Chas Roberts, Richard Sachs, Dave Yates, Steve Woodrup....?

If you want an Italian frame, go buy one- just don't fool yourself and insult the other master builders of the world in the process of choosing.....

Originally posted by Flaneur
By the way, earlybird..........

you were kidding with the Saville Row analogy, right? I mean, you're not seriously suggesting that some guy in Ernesto's factory is in a higher league to Albert Eisentraut, Chas Roberts, Richard Sachs, Dave Yates, Steve Woodrup....?

If you want an Italian frame, go buy one- just don't fool yourself and insult the other master builders of the world in the process of choosing.....
I'm with you on this..:D

Originally posted by Gene K
Just to clarify the question is:

Paraphrase,"Who makes a classy, top quality, lightweight steel frame?"

Is this correct?

Under 3, 3.5 or 4 lb?

Any touring in the plans?

Average ride length?

Max ride length?

Do you prefer a lower-longer or shorter more up-right position?

Off the rack or custom?

Any preference for material supplier? i.e. Reynolds, Columbus, Dedacciai?

Are lugs required or is TIG okay?

Stainless steel, fancy, or normal lugs?

How traditional are you? 1" Threaded or 1-1.125" Threadless, Carbon or Steel Forks, Chrome Crown?

Does the frame need to be able to break down for air travel in a normal suitcase i.e. S&S Stainless Couplers?

I don't have much experience but I would think these were questions that would need to be answered before choosing a builder.

Thanks for your response but you are completely missing the point I'm afraid (as are some of the other responders) none of these questions are in the slightest bit important. The fact you ask about Tig tube joints tells me you are a Phillistine ;) and 4lbs weight ??????????? crikey I wouldn't even consider a MTB at that weight.! My current frameset weighs 2lbs because it is made of the highest quality Reynolds tubing. Remember I said `lightweight'
The type of forks are completley irrelevant to the choice of frame builder selected. If your frame is being hand built you generally choose your design criteria with your builder.

Its not the specification I am interested here .!... its the pleasure one gets from having and using something distinct perhaps unusual or rare , certainly uncommon, which is beautiful to the eye of the beholder and has a certain special something which sets it aside from the `run of the mill' that every body else has. Possibly race history or heritage , pedigree .

Thats why although I think Fords are brilliant and we have one I choose a Porsche as my main transport It could have been a jaguar or an Aston martin because these cars all have special something in common.

Consider the Trek 52/5900 frames. I've ridden both over 50k miles and never had a problem. Very comfortable, about as light as they come at 2.4lbs frame & fork.

It has a better ride and it's lighter than my Lightspeed (I also have a classic). I really like mine, with dura-ace and helium wheels it comes in at just over 17 lbs.

Al

correct me if i'm wrong... I'm really interested on you're taste in choosing bikes..

you want something [B]rare, with heritage, expensive and classy[B]?

Aren't those italian frames mass produced(i mean they are available in LBS's, right?)? -- please correct me if i'm wrong....

Guys .....do you think it's about time we stopped feeding this troll?

This guy isn't a rider, he's an owner, a displayer, a conspicuous consumer. He isn't interested in our opinions, unless perhaps we all chime in to agree with his choice. It will be Italian and expensive: of course it will be right for the purpose, because the purpose is to impress...someone?

The disrespectful and scathing tone earlybird has adopted to all our polite and reasoned suggestions is classic troll behaviour, suckering us in with little bits of information, responding with increasing levels of disdain, finally calling Gene a 'philistine' and revealing his true purpose,
and I quote,
"the pleasure one gets from having".........

If we are to believe anything he's written, early has a few quid and some fixed ideas. Might I suggest you buy yourself a clue, buddy, along with a dose of humility?