waterrockets 

My wife said today that she's internally budgeting for a new frame for me in the next year. She doesn't want me to buy used (after I told her I'd go for a used CAAD9). And to think I had just been talking about painting it to get some more years out of it. Hmm.

I'm leaning towards Ti a bit, since the ONLY thing I don't like about my steel frame is that it's rusting (after 8 years of never missing a ride due to rain). I want ding/dent/crack resistance -- that's worth 350g to me. I just do too much commuting, bike racking/locking, and unplanned trunking (with wheels on top).

tekhna

You commute on your race bike? That's what cheap fixed gears are for...

sfcrossrider

https://www.steelmancycles.com/

Yes I'm a shill, but you deserve the best.

waterrockets 

I train on the commute, and I train at lunch. It's just more convenient, and MUCH cheaper, to race on the same bike. Also consider that I only plan to do 5-10 races/year (real races, on the weekend).

ravenmore

holy crap - gonna retire the ritchey Mike?

I do everything on my carbon Giant. Certainly don't baby it. Ti can certainly take a lot of abuse too. Tends to be a bit more pricey though.

Chucklehead

The truth^^^

ridethecliche

Buy a BD ti bike and keep the ritchey to use for everything!

Booger

So you ride enough to:

- Know how you want a frame to perform
- Know how you want a frame to fit
- Need a frame to last for many years and thousands of miles

As much as it goes against my general policy to purchase anything high end, why not custom?

slickyricky

Serotta fierte IT, carbon and Titanium

ravenmore

I dunno - 'rockets races enough that I'd really want to recommend something that doesn't cost a bazillion $$$ in case its taken out in a crash, but its gotta be durable and perform well at the same time. Actually the BD Ti option isn't a bad one. Still doesn't seem like a good fit though. Gotta think on this one.

ninjaman

I'm looking at Everti right now, they do custom frames not too expensively. Very sweet-looking as well. It does sound like Ti might suit you, WR

mazdaspeed

No steel?

Lord Chambers

God I wish my place had showers.

ravenmore

mine doesn't either. there are ways to clean up effectively without a shower. Rubbing alcohol and a hand towel will make you feel as though you've taken a shower, but the rubbing alcohol dried out my skin after a while. I diluted it with witch hazel and it worked better.

ericcox

I still lust after Sevens. As long as you keep a bike, a custom Seven really isn't so crazy.

UniversalFrost

Sure! Same here, might as well train with what you are racing with so you can "tweak" and tune to get it perfect and you get ultimately intouch with the bike.

Oh, and to the OP be very thankful that you have a wife that caring to say get a new frame. Mine would have me riding a $60 huffy mt. bike if it was up to her

carlfreddy

So, I know you probably don't want carbon, but the LeMond Tete de Course is on absolute blow-out right now.

Just a thought.

(thats the same frame as mine, but its actually stiffer)

BananaTugger

NOS Kestrels.

They are still under warranty, which is a lifetime deal with Kestrel.

Kestrel says they don't want you to race on their stuff, but having dealed with them on a few occasions, I've come to the conclusion that they could care less about what you use the bike for. As long as you don't ride down staircases or take into onto any singletrack.

Brian Ratliff

Carbon fiber is tougher than you think. I'd skip over an Aluminum frame and buy CF. Aluminum dents in crashes and there is basically no way to fix it. CF might break in a really bad crash, but it is completely repairable through Calfee for relatively cheap. I'd go Trek. I have a Madone and, even if they are really vanilla in terms of style, they make a great racing bike. Very high quality.

I don't see many people racing Ti frames. My guess is that they are too expensive to risk. Like Al, if you dent it, it cannot be un-dented. Any light, metal bike will be risking dents when you commute with it.

And BTW, CF doesn't get damaged at all by sweat, rain, or dirt. And it doesn't dent from small impacts. You have to hit it very hard to break a CF frame.

MONGO!

At most races I see a few guys on Moots, Dean, Everti or similar, not many for sure but proportionally more than I see on the road around here.

waterrockets 

Lots of thoughts coming from this thread.

I agree that I keep a bike for a long time, which validates some more spending. Still, I'm not going to spend more without some return. I guess I could consider CF... maybe Giant for the value/weight. Dunno if you can just get frames from them though.

I don't think I would want to go much over $1000. Based on what I'm seeing, I think Ti may be out of the question, going with reputable builders. Ten years ago, I'd probably get a Macalu. Anything in that same value range still out there?

That BD Moto really doesn't look too bad, from a functional standpoint -- again, no framesets...

ericcox

Have you looked at Habanero? https://www.habcycles.com/

Voodoo76

Being a heavier power rider im looking at the AL Cervelo. Would like to buy one prior to purchase. Oh, and if you ever get tired of your wife let me know

ravenmore

Giant does sell framesets but they are almost as much as a complete bike. It would make more sense to buy a complete bike and then sell off the parts you don't need. In the case of Bikesdirect you can recoup nearly the cost of the bike back that way (I know from experience). I am contemplating getting a LeChamp SL again actually for racing the crits.

The 09 Giant Team Advanced is really sweet btw. They redesigned it from the ground up.

euphoria

https://bikesoul.com/progeny.html

bam, $1200