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Im in the process of building up a iro rob roy and its going to be my main bike in years (hopefully not stolen or anything) and i have a good idea of what i want. I want a high quality bike but not real blingy because iro isnt that blingy of a company. heres my set up
Headset-king
Handlebar-nitto randonneur
Stem-tompson or salsa
Bar Tape-fizik
Saddle-selle italia flite or that nice fizik one
Seat Post-again salsa or thompson
Crankset-sugino xd
Bottom Bracket-phil wood
Chain-wipperman
Brakes-avid shorty 6
Levers-cane creek
Fork-iro
Wheelset- paul ss mountain and the paul word in the front with open pro rims and dt spokes(im going to build them)
Tires-bontrager jones, cause i can get them pretty cheap at the shop i work at.
remember no frills/blingyness just high quality stuff.
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what would you change on that list? any suggestions that might be better or any reasons not to get any of those? do you know of something that is built better than those components? Opinions and changes you guys think i should make
Skip the king head set and use a go with a cheaper one. you will really not notice a difference exept for the cost. Same with the bottome bracket I would go with a shimano one.
For handle bars you might want to look at Salsa bell laps.
And last but not least skip the Bontrager tires, I had a lot of flats on a set of t hease a couple of years ago. Have not had a problem sence I went to speed max's.
^^ agreed but actually I like the Bonty Jones tires. Don't like any of their road tires but I like the Jones CX's.
Skip the king head set and use a go with a cheaper one. you will really not notice a difference exept for the cost. Same with the bottome bracket.
+1
It is nice though to be able to sell your used headset on ebay for 90% of what you paid new though. CK headsets have a great resale value.
Tim
Skip the king head set and use a go with a cheaper one. you will really not notice a difference exept for the cost. Same with the bottome bracket I would go with a shimano one.
+1
Shimano makes great BBs and FSA makes great headsets.
It is nice though to be able to sell your used headset on ebay for 90% of what you paid new though. CK headsets have a great resale value.
Yeah, but that 10% is the cost of a single Cane Creek S2 headset.
If it were me, I'd get a nicer frameset, the price of which could easily be offset by going for slightly less boutique-y componentry.
How is any of that no frills? Do you know what no frills means?
No frills = my '87 steel road frame+brakes+cranks, nashbar stem, drops, Forte wheelset, old mountain derailer and cassette. It all cost less than your spec'ed headset. :D:p:eek:
If it were me, I'd get a nicer frameset, the price of which could easily be offset by going for slightly less boutique-y componentry.
Other than the Surly Cross-Check and Bianchi San Jose what else comes to mind for a similarly-priced cyclocross bike with track ends?
Edit: For that matter, is the San Jose even available as a frame set?
Other than the Surly Cross-Check and Bianchi San Jose what else comes to mind for a similarly-priced cyclocross bike with track ends?
Edit: For that matter, is the San Jose even available as a frame set?
Specialized Tricross.
Other than the Surly Cross-Check and Bianchi San Jose what else comes to mind for a similarly-priced cyclocross bike with track ends?
Edit: For that matter, is the San Jose even available as a frame set?Eccentric BB or rear hub, and the world opens up.
Eccentric BB or rear hub, and the world opens up.
Personally, I'm not interested in the White Industries hub but that EBB option would be great. I don't know of anything out there though ... maybe Steel Wool is doing something (their bikes don't fit me unfortunately). That Specialized is a fun-looking bike but their squishy inserts scream "marketing gimmick" to me. The price is in the ballpark though.
Here, let's play "Maybe if I Really, Really Wish Hard Enough" for a second:
Dear Niner Bikes,
Please make a cyclocross version of the One 9 and SIR 9. Failing that, please just get into the cyclocross market and build me a bike. I like your 29er stuff a lot.
Hugs + kisses,
- Mike
if you can tell by the set up i am going for something that is nicer than most just not all cromed out and blingy. The component advice i was looking for was these white industries ss cranks are nice you should check them out. no frills wasnt the phrase to describe it but just quality stuff that isnt flashy. I want something more than something that "will work" like some absolute low end huffy kinda thing even though that is really what no frills is. If anyone knows of some companies that make nice stuff that would go with that set up i would like to here it.
Thanks for all the opinions guys. Hopfully all of this stuff will come to a bike soon.
I want something more than something that "will work" like some absolute low end huffy kinda thing even though that is really what no frills is. If anyone knows of some companies that make nice stuff that would go with that set up i would like to here it.
Well as others have pointed out your list is composed of high end stuff. There's a range of options between high end and huffy, I'm sure you know that.
Headset-king You can spend half as much as king and still get a decent headset. In fact nashbar is selling the cane creek s-6 for $25 and it's far from being a huffy headset.
Handlebar-nitto randonneur
Stem-tompson or salsa
Bar Tape-fizik
Saddle-selle italia flite or that nice fizik one
Seat Post-again salsa or thompson Thompson is sort of the top end stuff so you've got a whole range of things before you get to huffy territory. I've been happy with $25 seatposts in my life.
Crankset-sugino xd
Bottom Bracket-phil wood Again this is gold-standard stuff. A shimano bb will work just fine and it ain't huffy.
Chain-wipperman
Brakes-avid shorty 6
Levers-cane creek You know the cane creek levers are rebadged tektro? Tektro cost half as much though. The best levers may be shimano's.
Fork-iro
Wheelset- paul ss mountain and the paul word in the front with open pro rims and dt spokes(im going to build them) Surly hubs cost half as much and are a far cry from huffy.
Tires-bontrager jones, cause i can get them pretty cheap at the shop i work at.
remember no frills/blingyness just high quality stuff.
Or you could go the opposite way and instead of paul hubs get phil, instead of a sugino crankset get a paul, instead of a thompson seatpost get a titanium moots, etc. You've chosen really nice stuff and it' all fine, but if you could spend about 1/2 as much and still have a great bike.
I'm planning on going as cheap as possible on everything except critical parts. I'll probably end up purchasing the IRO v1 build kit again for the drivetrain along with the FSA Orbit headset, stem, and hubs all at once to get as much as possible in a single purchase (i did the same thing for my previous IRO build).
The things i'll splurge on are going to be the seatpost (Thomson Elite) and the wheels (Deep-V rims, spokes from the LBS, assembled by me, trued/tensioned by the LBS).
I've already got a full set of Avid Shorty 4 brakes and i'm going to purchase the rest of the necessary components from nashbar/performance/jenson (at least the handlebars, saddle, and brake levers). Bartape and tires will come from either the LBS or www.biketiresdirect.com (http://www.biketiresdirect.com) (they have a nice selection of tape in a variety of colors). Speedgoat.com is also pretty good for other small bits if i can't find them elsewhere.
Oh, last but not least a pair of MKS chain tensioners will be ordered from www.thebikebiz.com
That Specialized is a fun-looking bike but their squishy inserts scream "marketing gimmick" to me. No less an authority than Padraig (http://www.belgiumkneewarmers.com/2007/11/unforgettable-part-iii.html) likes the Roubaix, which has Zertz. Even if they are a gimmick, that doesn't mean the frame itself is bad.
Might you be able to get a Gunnar Crosshairs with track-ends? That's in a whole new realm for frame price, though, but would be mighty sweet.
I like TimJ's suggestions for components. When I was building up my cross bike, I built a spreadsheet where each row was a component, so I could mix/match and compare prices very easily. I would even make little bar plots of price by component, and found this really brought home where the budget was going.
You know the cane creek levers are rebadged tektro? Tektro cost half as much though.
They're different. I've examined both in front of me at the same time and while certain parts definitely come out of the exact same mold the bushings and springs are better on the Cane Creek levers. Worth twice the price? That's your call, but it's more than just a different pattern on the hoods.
One of the springs popped out on my Tektro lever, but it didn't seem to affect performance at all. Odd. I just clipped off the part that stuck out and kept riding. Mind you this was after some 3000 mixed road and off road miles and more crashes than I care to admit.
The return springs are pretty weak and I don't think they do much for performace, they're just nice for keeping your levers from going floppy when the cable is unfastened, say.
I had a pair of tektros and somehow the bolt that goes into the... uh, well you know, the fastener, somehow that got stripped a little and not only that, the nut that is in the fastener came loose and started to spin around. So what I had was levers that couldn't be removed because they wouldn't loosen or tighten, the bolt and the nut just spun around. I had to saw my bars in half to get the levers off to see what happened. This mishap led ultimately to seperate my ac joint in a crash on borrowed bike on a warmup lap before my first cx race.
Consequently I don't trust 'em any more. Maybe the cane creeks have better fasteners and bolts, but I doubt it.
This mishap led ultimately to seperate my ac joint in a crash on borrowed bike on a warmup lap before my first cx race.
Ouch, what a ****ty crash.
never skip a king headset unless you dont have the money.. it will outlast all of those three times over.. im still riding a king 1 inch from '92 that sat in the rain for 2 years... still better than any headset ive had..
you get what you pay for..unless youre quitting cycling sometime soon.. just pay now.
Then again, how often do people actually replace headsets out of necessity?
Not that king isn't good (the best). I do think that it's more important on a cross bike than a road bike.
Im in the process of building up a iro rob roy and its going to be my main bike in years (hopefully not stolen or anything) and i have a good idea of what i want. I want a high quality bike but not real blingy because iro isnt that blingy of a company. heres my set up
Headset-king
Handlebar-nitto randonneur
Stem-tompson or salsa
Bar Tape-fizik
Saddle-selle italia flite or that nice fizik one
Seat Post-again salsa or thompson
Crankset-sugino xd
Bottom Bracket-phil wood
Chain-wipperman
Brakes-avid shorty 6
Levers-cane creek
Fork-iro
Wheelset- paul ss mountain and the paul word in the front with open pro rims and dt spokes(im going to build them)
Tires-bontrager jones, cause i can get them pretty cheap at the shop i work at.
remember no frills/blingyness just high quality stuff.
I'd drop the Phil, Nito, and King if I were you and invest in a carbon fork. I'm building my IRO strictly for SSCX racing. It's 100% generic minus an Easton carbon fork. It will be light, and bomb proof. The money I save buying Forte crap from Performance will go a LONG way in race fees and crash replacement parts.
never skip a king headset unless you dont have the money.. it will outlast all of those three times over.. im still riding a king 1 inch from '92 that sat in the rain for 2 years... still better than any headset ive had..
you get what you pay for..unless youre quitting cycling sometime soon.. just pay now.
Quite honestly, so what? Why do people put so much value in headsets? I think there are better areas you can spend the extra $75. King headsets are not worth the money.
How is any of that no frills? Do you know what no frills means?
No frills = my '87 steel road frame+brakes+cranks, nashbar stem, drops, Forte wheelset, old mountain derailer and cassette. It all cost less than your spec'ed headset. :D:p:eek:
that's what i was thinking.
I'd drop the Phil, Nito, and King if I were you and invest in a carbon fork. I'm building my IRO strictly for SSCX racing. It's 100% generic minus an Easton carbon fork. It will be light, and bomb proof. The money I save buying Forte crap from Performance will go a LONG way in race fees and crash replacement parts.
i've never considered carbon bomb proof.
lol @ peoples fear of carbon
have you ever seen a carbon easton fork have issues?
i've never considered carbon bomb proof.
Depends on the carbon. I'd put my Ibis Mojo up against any other full suspension XC mountain bike on the market for durability.
what would you change on that list? any suggestions that might be better or any reasons not to get any of those? do you know of something that is built better than those components? Opinions and changes you guys think i should make
That component set is basically putting Ferrari drivetrain on a Honda chassis. The IRO is a good basic frame, but nothing special. If you want no frills, why not just get a stock IRO, put on your own pedals and saddle, ride it until stuff breaks, then swap in new parts as needed?
yeah i thought the same thing about the iro but upon looking in other places what is a higher end alternative. i guess the on one is pretty nice but what the difference between one hardened butted set on cromoly tubes than another. the bianchi the specalized and the on one are all kind of prettyed up versions of what the iro is. please give reason if you disagree. ive looked at alot of bikes but a rob roy does all that i want and happens to be pretty cheap. i see what you mean i thought/think the same thing about the components being a bit high end for the bike.
i definitely think your parts list is too high end for that bike, and awfully frilly for a "no frills" bike.
do you have a bianchi dealer in your town? if so, this is the beginning of clearance time. last year my friend bought a san jose on clearance for 450 complete. that's obviously quite a bit cheaper than the 600 price tag on the complete rob roy. their complete bike is spec'ed with "iro" re-branded parts... which means junk. also, the iro is said to have "proprietary heat treated tubing"... whatever that means. nowhere is it indicated to be butted. last summer i helped this kid build up his complete mark v. that little 54 was a tank! the weight of it makes me think it had straight gauge tubing. it weighed two pounds more than my 61 c-c lugged steel geared road bike... the san jose is double butted with parts made by reputable manufacturers. even if you bought the san jose at retail, you'll be spending less than you would spec'ing an iro with your initial parts list, even at the group buy frameset price.
developing a relationship with a LBS is very worthwhile, especially if you're new to bikes. warranty issues, fit issues, riding demo bikes, etc. is what makes shopping at a LBS so much better than this here interwebz. if you can get a san jose or a specialized at clearance price, i think you'll be much better off. also, you can probably get them to help with fit, perhaps swapping stems, saddles, etc.
sorry to be bumming on iro so hard, but i really think they're not worth it. i've owned two iro's; a jamie roy and their old aluminum ss 26" mtb. both of which were easily forgettable.
alright so drop the Phil bb and go with the cheaper salsa stuff as apposed to the Thompson. also don't try and call it a no frills bike. the only thing i don't think i can sacrifice is the king headset, almost everyone mentioned that but i have owned a few bikes and that is really the thing i always wanted. Bars wise bell laps and dirt drops arent cheaper than nitto and for frilly kinda reasons i like nitto bars.
thanks for all the help.
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