Road Bike Racing - Frame for ~1300

Well the search isn't working.... So I guess Ill post this.

I am looking to build a new bike. This will be my race bike. I mainly do crits and want to try a few road races this year. I am willing to spend around $1300 on frame/fork. I was looking at either putting the red or force group set on it, I'm not sure yet.

What are your thoughts for that price?

You can get a really, really killer frame for 1300 bucks.

It all depends upon what your priorities are.

Are you a big frame bending sprinter, or a lightweight? Do you want a big name, or a botique build? Aluminum or composite?

135lbs, climber. Big name isnt huge, but want it to work - the only reason that im not sure if i should go with carbon is because the crashes, I only got in one out of the ~15 races i did this year...but it just put a few scratches on the bike, nothing major. I have half my points to upgrade to a 3 now, lets say carbon for now to see the choices.

Right now i have a trek 2200, full ultegra. it has a carbon fork/seat stays. Im not a big fan of the bike but it works, it would become my training/rain bike.

the new pedal force group buy is really a nice budget choice. If I didn't have something in the works I would sport one of them as a race rig.

the new pedal force group buy is really a nice budget choice. If I didn't have something in the works I would sport one of them as a race rig.

Looks pretty nice for the price.

A Ridley Orion could be nice.

A Ridley Orion could be nice.

Ill look into it - thanks

I don't have the dough, but if I did, I'd go Ti. The only way to convince me to get a carbon frame is if it had a crash replacement warranty. I got hit by a car this Summer and the frame/fork are wrecked. It wasn't a devastating collision, and I'm sure if I'd been on a Ti bike I'd only be replacing the fork. But like I said, I don't have the dough, so I'm going in to the RS2 group buy.

I was talking to the owner of Habanero cycles a bit and he can put you on a Ti frame for well under your budget.

I don't have the dough, but if I did, I'd go Ti. The only way to convince me to get a carbon frame is if it had a crash replacement warranty. I got hit by a car this Summer and the frame/fork are wrecked. It wasn't a devastating collision, and I'm sure if I'd been on a Ti bike I'd only be replacing the fork. But like I said, I don't have the dough, so I'm going in to the RS2 group buy.

I was talking to the owner of Habanero cycles a bit and he can put you on a Ti frame for well under your budget.

I like the longevity and all of Ti but I'm going to stick with carbon/aluminum for now

Worth a look:
http://easternshorecycles.com/itemdetails.cfm?id=1503

Worth a look:
http://easternshorecycles.com/itemdetails.cfm?id=1503

How do those ride being almost half and half carbon/aluminum

How do those ride being almost half and half carbon/aluminum

Honestly, I don't know from personal experience. A friend of mine has one and loves it - he's a bit bigger than me and is a sprinter through and through. I've ridden it a few times but it is the wrong size for me so I'm not a good judge. The bike is extremely stiff, but not bone-shatteringly so. Having said that, I ride an all Alu S-works E5 but the fit is so good it feels comfortable so maybe I don't mind the supposed jarring as much as some might. The carbon top half on the Tarmac is said to dampen some road noise. The reason I heard (from a Specialized rep) that they don't make that model anymore is the cost. That was the reason for the odd sizes the bike came in - not cost effective to make it in all size increments. For $1k though - that's a hell of a frame.

You can get some killer used to almost-new deals on eBay with $1,300 in hand. Giant, Specialized, Cervelo (if you are patient), etc.

A Ridley Orion could be nice.

+1. i just bought one and it's unbelievably sweet. amazingly stiff bottom bracket, incredible balance, great handling, and extremely comfortable. i bought it wanting a solid carbon frame at a decent price and i got way more than that. i find it to be as comfortable but more responsive as the specialized roubaix i test rode.

BMC RoadRacer SL01 or Streetfire SSX. Even though the Streetfire has a lame name, and is BMC's lowest end bike, my teammate who races one (he bought the frameset) said it's one of the stiffest aluminum bikes he's ever ridden and he meant it to just be a training bike, but he races it a lot now.

Another great frame would be a Ridley Scandium, if you want a straight up race bike. They are fairly light and VERY stiff. A plus is they have extensive sizes available in their traditional geometry line.

System six?

You could get two CAAD9 F&F's for that amount of money.