Ultra

Mercier (Joke I know everyone loves the #KiloTT here)
Eighthinch (Also kind of a joke, I've read nothing but negative stuff)
Affinity (Kind of confused on this one? Not a lot of info I could find on them here)
17Teeth (Hard to search this one on the forum, due to its name I guess?)
FactoryFive (Again, I've read Mixed stuff)
Collosi (I've read all good things)
Masi (I've heard they used to be super awesome? But a few years ago they changed production or something)

Why? I'm building a new bike and haven't worked with these brands. My local bike shop guy barely speaks English or I'd ask him, although apparently we're best friends.
Anyway, if anyone knows of any other great frameset manufacturers between NY and DC I'd be interested in hearing about them, or any other they are super passionate about.
Looking to keep my next frame +/- $500.00 USD.

PS: Kind of don't want to go the Kilo TT route, just because I'm going to be dumping money into this thing as time moves forward.

Sherblock

"wabi"""" <3

(o:

Ultra

Yeah yeah, forgot the Wabi love. Heard all good things about them also.

Scrodzilla

Leader

Ultra

This guy gets it.

Negaholic!

Leukybear 

In the words of many, I have neither owned nor ridden a Wabi but I'm going to recommend you to buy one anyway.
Yeah I can feel through the internet that they are 110% awesome and you should give them your money.

Here, Wabi is that brand that many people talk/ hype about and recommend yet those that vouch seldom buy or have even ridden them... so yeah take all those recommendations with a grain of salt.

Ultra

Yeah Mercier and Wabi seem to be in the same spot. Years ago I remember everyone recommending the Fuji Feather with the same enthusiasm.

Leukybear 

Exactly!

Anyhow you should check Colossi's offerings as well considering they're heading stateside with Mr.Ex-Leader-lover above being one of the major dealers. They have steel offerings as well.
From having seen and ridden one in person, (even the stupeb track), I can vouch with certainty that they do good work.

Ultra

When I saw this my jaw dropped, haha. And that was before I actually researched the company.

Sherblock

I also recommend looking at colossi, but they do a lot of track stuff, and I'm not totally sure what you want to do on this bike.

What do you want the bike to be able to do? Are you just looking for a cool tarck monster?

Ultra

Yes. A tarck monster.

I kinda wanted to support Affinity since they are from where I grew up, buttttt value is a thing sooo.

Mumonkan

factoryfive is just colossi frames rebranded by a gwilo in hong kong
affinity is a similar company that makes tarck frames, geared towards the form>function crowd, dunno if anyone actually uses them on the track

having owned an eighthinch i can say that its not gonna be the most amazing bike, its a tank for sure. hard to break but not the most nimble lively thing. its cheap and will last you a long time, its fine if this is your first big boy bike, which is what mine was, or a lock up commuting type bike.

leaders are definitely a step up and still (mostly) reasonably priced, just stay away from any of the aluminum frames that have an integrated seatpost clamp. i still own one and love it, much lighter and better looking than an eighthinch

TejanoTrackie 

VISP













just kidding

Juan Foote

Mercier, Masi, Dawes, Motobecane, etc. are all names bought up by the entity that is Bikes Direct. All of them should be considered pretty much the same in build and quality, and pretty much the same quality as any other spec built Chinese frame for even bigger names whom use the same suppliers. Oftentimes the "big" brand gets the frames their on site inspector chooses and then others get the rest.

Might consider looking at Soma?

TejanoTrackie 

Yeah, none of us own the brands we recommend.

TejanoTrackie 

+100

The Soma Rush is the only frame that I've liked so much, I own two of them.

3speedslow

Ultra,

Looked down the same road you are exploring and came up wanting , and ordering, the Soma Rush. Soon to arrive !

Best price located with that little shop run by Scrod.

TejanoTrackie 

Lemme guess. You bought a 55cm ?

Jared.

Go to Kissena. Bunch of fast guys and gals on Affinity bikes.

AlexGS1

If we're just naming frames, than I'll throw out Pake Rum Runner as a great low budget solution. I've not ridden a Kilo, so I can't compare them. But, I got a RR Frame and fork off of CL for $80 and love it. Its not super light, but, it seems to endure potholes a good deal better than many frames I've ridden.

cDiff Notorious

have you checked out the EAI Bareknuckle? I read that it has problems with the paint chipping or something but its a track bike meant to take the beating on the street.

Not mine but hawt damn

Ultra

Thats a little more than what I want to spend on a frame unfortunately.

Definitely worth checking out, thanks for suggesting it since you actually own the frame.



Its a good looking bike, I'd definitely like to hear feedback from someone who owns one.

Scrodzilla

I had one and it was nothing but 100% awesome. Tight geo, nice Dedacciai steel, high BB and no issues with paint chipping on mine.

I know a handful of other people who own them and love them as well.

Ultra

The Soma? or EAI?

Scrodzilla

Bare Knuckle