My bareknuckle frame died (its a long story) and I need a new frameset to slap its parts onto, which includes relatively nice stuff (Sugino 75 crankset, custom 1500gm wheelset, thomson seatpost, etc).
At first I was considering just buying another Bareknuckle (~$700), but after looking around, now I am thinking about just getting a Pake French 75 frameset (~$400). Geometry is similar, and the Pake is probably a lot lighter, mainly because of the carbon fork. And its several hundred dollars cheaper. I also make enough money that I don't need to ride around a crappy Kilo TT, but on the other hand, saving money is always nice. Has anybody ridden this thing?
For this particular bike I am not interested in fenders, big tires, or relaxed geometry. I will mainly be riding this thing on roads, for relatively short, high intensity rides with some hills. I'm mostly interested in stiffness, and to a lesser degree, weight, and I would prefer provisions for front brake and standard round tubes (so I can mount bottle cages). The BK worked well for this, which is why I'm tempted to get another, or something like it.
I'm also considering a Wabi Lighting SE, at a substantially higher cost, although this deviates from the original intent of the bike (lighting fast sprinting bike) toward a more comfy road-oriented bike. I'm willing to consider that, but am hesitant. I have other road bikes after all. But considering the apparently quality of the frame, it may be worth spending the extra money here, although thats about as high as I am willing to go. (links to frames below)
What do you think? What about other options.
Pake...~$400.....
http://store.somafab.com/paaltrfrset.html'
Bareknuckle...~700....
http://www.retro-gression.com/produc...track-frameset
Wabi Lightining SE...~775...
http://www.wabicycles.com/Lightning-SE_bike_spec.html