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Follow heart or follow head? Which frame?

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Follow heart or follow head? Which frame?

Old 10-07-14, 08:40 PM
  #26  
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Old 10-07-14, 09:15 PM
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Go with your heart, logic can be dismissed but desire needs satiation
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Old 10-08-14, 12:34 AM
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Two things:
First, if you don't enjoy riding it, you won't.
Second, you must be able to sit in a coffee shop and look with love at your bike.

I'm not suggesting anything, I went custom.
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Old 10-08-14, 07:46 AM
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Originally Posted by europa
you must be able to sit in a coffee shop and look with love at your bike.
Quote-worthy stuff!
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Old 10-08-14, 01:11 PM
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Originally Posted by prooftheory
You could get one of these and have it painted, for an inexpensive lugged and threaded option.
Those are threadless. He might find a shop willing to thread them though. My experience with that was not good though. All the LBS were willing to add threads to a fork with existing threading, but none were willing to thread a virgin steerer. They were paranoid, saying it wasn't designed to be threaded. It didn't matter that I pointed out the wall thickness of all modern 1" steel fork steerers is the same. I think they were just being timid about getting the die started, which can be tricky.
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Old 10-08-14, 01:38 PM
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Vintage Bianchi Signature Celeste Lugged Steel Frame Set 50 cm 53 TT | eBay
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Old 10-08-14, 02:13 PM
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Wondering if the OP knows about the Fuji Feather. No, it doesn't approach the same level of detail as the Pista Classica, but I think it has a great classical look and offers a lot of bike for the money.
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Old 10-08-14, 02:26 PM
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Why do you keep posting links to road frames when OP asked for opinions between two track frames? If going threadless bugs him, doing a conversion would bother him even more.
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Old 10-09-14, 08:24 AM
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Originally Posted by leegf
Wondering if the OP knows about the Fuji Feather. No, it doesn't approach the same level of detail as the Pista Classica, but I think it has a great classical look and offers a lot of bike for the money.
I think the only thing it's got over the Brougham is a quill stem. I cross shopped them a few yrs back and found them to be very similar. It would be a lateral move rather than an upgrade IMO.
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Old 10-09-14, 09:47 AM
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Chill the **** out.

The guy asked for other ideas and suggestions. The angles of the Bianchi look pretty slack (72.5 degree head tube) so I figured a similar classic road frame might also interest him since he seemed to be interested in the look as much as the performance.

Originally Posted by prooftheory
Why do you keep posting links to road frames when OP asked for opinions between two track frames? If going threadless bugs him, doing a conversion would bother him even more.
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Old 10-09-14, 11:00 AM
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I'd like you good folks to know that I appreciate and consider any and all ideas related to this decision. It's a particularly tough one for me because I am downsizing to a condo from a larger home, and can only accommodate 2 bikes as my wife also has a Pashley. Since I already have the restored Dunelt for more civil riding, I'm down to having to choose. I know that something closer to road geometry would be safer and more comfortable for those long rides over real-life roads, but darn...whether in cars or bikes, I love the stripped-down, edgy looks of a track machine. I wonder if I can just build one anyway, hang it on a wall and convince my wife that it's the latest trend in decorating.
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Old 10-09-14, 11:09 AM
  #37  
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Originally Posted by nightfly
You mean they are ridden by d0uchebags?
Is that what it means?
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Old 10-09-14, 11:40 AM
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@nightfly, fair enough.
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Old 10-09-14, 11:48 AM
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Former bianchi owner now currently a wabi owner. I love my wabi.
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Old 10-09-14, 12:07 PM
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Hopefully my memory is not too inaccurate re there is earlier post in this thread about you needing a smaller frame?
Time left on the auction so its bound to go up, but even if it does, IMHO this is far superior to the Bianchi frame in your OP
$1900 Used Cinelli Super Pista Frameset Black Steel 52 cm Track | eBay

You also mentioned your concern with drilling a Cinelli track fork? FYI the bracket from
https://www.benscycle.com/p-300-eaip...t-caliper.aspx
works like a charm on my SC Pista...
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Old 10-09-14, 01:35 PM
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Originally Posted by thewilson
Former bianchi owner now currently a wabi owner. I love my wabi.
Would you elaborate? I'd like to know more about the Wabi, which Bianchi model you rode, and why the Wabi fits the bill so well for you. Thanks.
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Old 10-09-14, 07:11 PM
  #42  
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Someone ordered a Bianchi Pista Classica frameset through my shop awhile ago and I was very very very much disappointed with it. Was pretty damn ugly. The lugs looked like garbage and the seatcluster was damn ugly. Its not even nice steel. And the headset it come with is trash. For the money I was expecting a lot more. The lugged Kilo frames look better than this did. I think you will be highly disappointed if you get this frame. For the price you can easily find a much nicer vintage lugged track bike, though it will be used and 1" threaded. So go with the Wabi.
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Old 10-10-14, 02:01 AM
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Originally Posted by jpsawyer
Someone ordered a Bianchi Pista Classica frameset through my shop awhile ago and I was very very very much disappointed with it. Was pretty damn ugly. The lugs looked like garbage and the seatcluster was damn ugly. Its not even nice steel. And the headset it come with is trash. For the money I was expecting a lot more. The lugged Kilo frames look better than this did. I think you will be highly disappointed if you get this frame. For the price you can easily find a much nicer vintage lugged track bike, though it will be used and 1" threaded. So go with the Wabi.
Speaking generally, because I don't have any experience with Bianchi, you do have to be very careful with the branding. What drove me to go custom was me getting all excited about a famous Italian brand that had brought out a steel frame (I forget the exact brand now - old phart's syndrome I'm afraid). I'd seen the geared version and it was beautiful in every detail. Then I got a chance to go over the fixed gear, actually had the money in my pocket. It was rubbish. Unbranded parts and a frame that looked like it had been chucked together in a chook shed ... and painted by one of the chooks. Talk about a cynical commercial rip off.

I think there's a lot of sense in going down the vintage roadie route. Some of those frames are gorgeous with their lugged frames, often with real chrome that polishes to a deep shine. Easy enough to convert to fg and easy to revert to geared if you find your aging legs are asking for more frequent gear changes. Of course, you have to find the right frame, but they're often available from Eastern Europe via eBay.
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Old 10-10-14, 02:04 AM
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Not wishing to confuse you of course but we can keep throwing in suggestions until you make a choice
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Old 10-10-14, 05:23 AM
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Originally Posted by europa
Not wishing to confuse you of course but we can keep throwing in suggestions until you make a choice
I'm soaking it in like a sponge so please keep it coming. Right now, the Wabi is as strong a contender as ever, but I'm giving vintage and possibly even custom a fair look. Unfortunately, I'm beginning to see the Pista Classica as not quite its former self. I find myself looking at it less as my eye becomes trained to see the quality of the older frames.
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Old 10-10-14, 07:41 AM
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I do have to say that Wabi "Desert Turquoise" is an incredibly appealing color. They also offer custom painting and detailing so it would in fact be possible to dress up your Wabi.

Wabi Cycles custom paint and detailing options
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Old 10-10-14, 08:47 AM
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Originally Posted by leegf
I do have to say that Wabi "Desert Turquoise" is an incredibly appealing color. They also offer custom painting and detailing so it would in fact be possible to dress up your Wabi.

Wabi Cycles custom paint and detailing options
I own a Wabi Lightning and really like their quality, but when it comes to lugged steel frames I just can't see having a threadless setup. All my bikes with lugged steel frames are over 20 years old and have threaded headsets and quill stems, which I think makes them look so much better than modern TIG welded frames with threadless stems. So while the Wabi Special is a very nice quality frameset, I wouldn't want one for that reason.
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Old 10-10-14, 06:25 PM
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Originally Posted by TejanoTrackie
All my bikes with lugged steel frames are over 20 years old and have threaded headsets and quill stems, which I think makes them look so much better than modern TIG welded frames with threadless stems. So while the Wabi Special is a very nice quality frameset, I wouldn't want one for that reason.
Can we all point and say "snob"
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Old 10-10-14, 06:58 PM
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Really wish for the OP's sake Soma still made the Van Ness. I feel like it would fit his needs perfectly:



You might also have a look at the latest Soma Rush. Not lugged but pretty chrome, threaded headset and very classic looking if set up right.



I've got an older one in black with a threaded fork and they really do a nice job of combining track geometry with good quality steel and a road friendly ride.
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Last edited by nightfly; 10-10-14 at 07:09 PM.
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Old 10-10-14, 07:08 PM
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I have been following this thread and placed an order for a Wabi Lightening SE this afternoon.

I didn't even know I wanted a fixed-gear until a few days ago. I wasn't sure which model to get so I called Richard to get his opinion. He was also super helpful with sizing, gearing, etc.
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