Touring frame advice needed
 

Anyone know of a good source for touring frame with a 52-54 cm top tube, with horizontal dropouts and canti bosses? Preferably steel? Most likely used and from the 80's. Ebay's been of no help for a while.

This Fuji Saratoga 22" top tube caught my eye last night. I fguess it's a little big for you, but it sounds like a really nice bike. Not sure what the brakes are.
http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/n...291066374.html

Yeah, that looks a little big. But thanks for the feedback. Anyone got a Miyata 610 frame taking up space in their garage?

Urabane cyclist makes new ones at a reasonable cost:

http://ucycle.com/bikes/framespecs.html

Buy a new frame.

Right now, new frames are a better value than used frames, unless you get lucky at some garage sale.

Plus used frames are often cracked or messed up.

And you can't tell what the heck you're buying on EBAY. I know a guy who goes around to Goodwill and buys any road bike, mostly Hi-ten steel frames. Then he takes them home, cleans them and prints out different stickers on his computer-- crappy frames get *rebranded* with Renyolds 853 stickers, Italian names, and big prices paid suckers who want a *cool fixie*

If you want a used touring bike.... pay $125 for an old MTB on Craigs list, test ride it, check for heel strike on the rear panniers, walk away if you have a bad feeling about the deal.

Good luck--- maybe a friend will find your frame and bail you out a bit? It's all about being at the right place at the right time.

Have you turned him in?

No, becuase it's maybe not illegal, or to hard to prove it's illegal. I doubt if EBAY really cares.

Buying used bikes on EBAY is gambling. Do it at your own risk.

There's a stupid collage kid riding one of these *upgraded* frames around down town. Why should I burst his bubble and tell him his bike is a Hi Ten Sears Free Spirit?

Wow, thats bad. Buyer beware, I guess.

A friend of mine has an older mountain bike, no brand decals, that he bought off a an ex-room mate. It does have a reynolds double-butted tubing decal on it. I offered to fix it up for him and when I stripped the bike down it was obvious from the weight, it was a gas-pipe frame. Still its just an around town commuter so it is okay.

Of course it's illegal. If your LBS was doing that, and you bought one of their fraudulently advertised bikes, would you just accept that as the risk of buying?

Turn the thief in to Ebay.

Just keep an eye on ebay, craigslist, yard sales, thrift shops, pawn shops, find a lbs that deals in used bikes, etc.

Old touring bikes are a dime a dozen- I've pulled about 5 or so from the trash in the last few years.

Many of the japanese bike makers (now mostly defunct), univega, miyata, nishiki, etc made good touring bikes. Just keep your eyes open.

That is up to the authorities to determine. However, before that determination can be made, you need to step up and do the right thing.

I have a few vintage road frames hanging out but I'm not sure about the sizes. I'll check when I get off work. What exactly is canti boss? Have a picture of one?

I guess there is no way to check this before buying, but I recommend buying bikes with components on them. If you buy a used bike with good components (say Deore LX etc.), mostly likely the frame will be decent too. I cannot see someone rebuilding a cheap frame with good component to sell on-line for cheap since the components alone will likely cost more than $100. In fact, I've seen may older bikes with nice components sell for equal to or less than individual components sell. For example, 7 speed thumb shifters (Deore DX or XT) sell for $35 to $60 right now on ebay, and you can often buy a complete older mountain bike with those shifters for $50 to $60 on ebay.com.