so in the spirit of winter ending, and spring racing starting in brooklyn in little over 2 weeks, i decided to make a crit bike that i wouldn't mind crashing in cat5 races. it actually makes no sense that i would have a caad9 (great as a crit bike) built up with sram force/red that i don't race, but i'd like to hold off on using that until i personally feel a bit more comfortable avoiding the pile ups. anyway, i was looking for a cheap frame for the past month, and after failing miserably, i figured how bad could a performance frame be, and at 90 dollars shipped, it wouldn't break the bank (even as a college student). plz ignore the mess (i was assembling this as a break from studying).
current build plans:
performance house brand frame ($90)
carbon fork from an orbea ora ($60)... yes i know this is from a tt bike
alex r500 wheels ($110)
shimano 105 shifters + derailleurs ($130 total)
shimano ultegra chain ($25)
shimano ultegra cassette ($20)
fsa gossamer crankset ($35)
easton ea70 ergobars ($15)
easton ea50 stem ($4)
easton ea50 seatpost ($15)
assorted other crap... saddle, bars, cables, seatclamp ($100)
total cost: $~600 for a full 105 bike, not too bad right?
one thing that does elude me are downtube cable stops (will take donations on those
)... i just don't understand how the little buggers can cost 25 dollars! anyhoo, will eventually post pics of the complete bike, just thought i'd post about the frame since some people have asked me when i first planned the project. build quality is moderate, the bb and headtube are properly faced, only drawback is that it's kind of heavy and the welds aren't gorgeous...
on an unrelated sidenote, the sram crankset boxes make really good makeshift bike stands!