trigger

Hi all ...

I'm in need of a new bike for commuting in the fall. I have a Marin hybrid at the moment for such a purpose, but compared to my road bike, it is frustratingly heavy and slow. In order to still have fun on my commute, it may be time to upgrade my utility bike.

I'm looking for some ideas for frames, or for complete bikes. I have no problems parting out and building up my own, but as I would like to do this as cheaply as possible, a complete bike is more attractive. Other than the Surly Cross Check, I'm not too aware of frames that meet my requirements (below). The Kona Jake would be a good choice, but I really want a steel frame.

I would HAVE to keep this under $1000, and would really love to have it come in under $800. Option B is to buy a clunker road bike and slap a rack on it.

What I Would Like:

*Steel frame, as light / high quality as I can get
*700c Wheels
*Rack mounts, or something easily adapted to take a rack
*Able to take a min. 25mm tire with fenders, the option to run 28mm would be nice
*Would prefer a compact double, but a triple would do
*Road drops and brifters
*Standard road geometry

I think those are the only frame related items I'm really partial to. I have my preferences with regard to seat, tires, bar wrap etc, but that's the little stuff.

Thanks for the help!

pinkrobe

Find a used bike - maybe a Poprad or one of the Redline CX bikes? There are loads of options out there. There is also the Surly Crosscheck, but it's [IMHO] way heavy. Why the requirement for a steel bike? There are lots of good aluminum rides out there that would do quite well...