Nashbar frame/fork
 

I searched and only found 2 threads pertaining to my questions.

Here's the deal... I want to build a bike. Right now I'm riding a Giant 'comfort' bike and I want something a little more efficient, but able to handle some off-road stuff as well. I am really digging the idea of a cross bike. I'd be interested in looking for some races in my area after the bike is built also.

So, how do you guys like the Nashbar frame and carbon fork? Do you think it's a solid setup for a beginner build? I'd probably be using a lot of Shimano 105 stuff, since it seems to be pretty popular. Do you guys think this will be a good setup for a newb?

For racing or puttering around town and some fire roads?

I have a Nashbar fork and it seems like very good quality. It also seems to be identical to a Winwood (Muddy?)

Not sure about their frames.

Mostly puttering and trails. I might delve into some racing if I can find some in the area.

Also, is the brake/shifter lever very popular on cx bikes? Are there any other options for brakes and shifters? The reason I ask is because they are so F'ing expensive.

FYI Nashbar has 15% off all orders today.

You don't have to use road shifters. You could use a straight bar and use separate shifter and brake units. Or go to ebay and pick up some used shifters.

i like mine a lot.

http://bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=171506

Of course the brifter is popular on cross bikes and for mostly the same reasons everyone else uses them. There are some other alternatives that are perfectly valid and actually preferred by some folks for reasons other than cost.

The downtube shifter is right out. Don't even think of it on a cross bike. The old stem mounted shifters are better than that.

Traditional are bar end shifters AKA barcons. These work fine and are loved by thousands and are still in production. There are also gadgets like Paul's Thumbies that let you mount a DT or bar end shifter up on the bar near the brake levers.

Ron

Your thread was one of the two that I found. How much wear-and-tear has it gone through so far?

i ride it everywhere. it has replaced my mtb for 100% of the riding i did with it (mostly fire roads, greenways and mild singletrack) and replaced my road bike for around 70-80% (around town errands and cruising).

i hop it off kerbs, over logs, ride it over roots, and ride it in traffic (gasp!). it handles pretty much everything with equal aplomb. it isn't near as plush as either the mtb or the roadie, but the handling and durability combination is hard to beat...

still haven't broken anything on it yet (touch wood).

Okay here's my 2 cents.

If you're going for a "budget" cyclocross frame, for about the same money I'd go for the Performance version of the cyclocross frame. It's about the same amount of money, but the Performance frame is .3 pounds lighter AND it has 130mm rear spacing. Which allows you access to all the road wheels out there. The Nashbar frame has 135mm rear spacing, which is what mountain bikes have. Finding prebuilt 700c wheels with 135mm rear spacing is a lot more difficult.

You can, of course try and use 130mm wheels on 135mm rear spacing and hope that you've clamped your skewers down tight enough.

Personally I like the Performance frame better.

I would like to add that you should figure out what it will cost you to put this bike together, and then see what else is out there in that price range. You'd be shocked how much money gets dumped into bike builds.

Where is the Performance frame? I looked on the website, but couldn't locate it.

I've been looking into a similar build. At a similar price point, Fetish do the Position for 180$ or so, and you can get the Motobecane Fantom Cross for 200$ for the frame and fork.

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/...tegory_ID=3020

Here

Thanks for that info. I didn't even think there were any others in this price range.

I figured that was the frame you were talking about. I hate all of the damn decals on it though.


Also, what kind of spoke counts do you guys use? I'm guessing 32 front and rear? Anybody running lower in the front?

If I end up with this frame, which is a good possibility, first item on the list is a paint job.

As for spoke counts, I use what I have around. Usually 32 or 36. I'm not much of a fan of low spoke count wheels.

The Redline Conquest and Surly Crosscheck/Soma Double Cross are not much more money either.

I've definitely thought about those, but, in the end, it really comes down to me wanting to build the bike from the ground up. I've always had a thing for tinkering with my cars and now it's starting with bikes.

Those are all available as framesets. Bikeman has the Redline and Surly. Somafab store and bikemania have the Soma. Also, Planet-x Kaffenback (steel) is $399 for the frameset/fork/headset.
So many choices. My head is spinning!
The one I really like is the Carrera Rolls Cross...
http://www.redroseimports.com/rri_ca...l_cross_l.html

Ohhh... I didn't realize that's what you were saying. Good info man! Thanks.

The only problem now is that I'm thinking about 5 framesets and not 1.