Originally Posted by
RNAV
What I've found is that production frames at the $1000 price point are primarily lower-end chromoly. If you want higher end Reynolds 853 or Columbus Spirit, you've gotta pay more -- a lot more. Unless you happen to find a boutique brand that's more interested in producing great bikes for a great value than they are in making bank. Long story short, that research led me to Wabi. It's certainly a small-number brand, but from all the research I've done they make a fantastic bike, and their owners are fanatical about how great the bikes are.
I agree with RNAV that most production frames made higher-end tubebets will usually cost as much as a custom frame. So if you're already at the $1,000-$1,200 for a brand new production frame, I would suggest to make the leap into a custom frame. Also, please don't make the mistake of being a cheapskate by skipping the full "made-to-measure" part. There is more than just body measurements that a builder should take into consideration to fine-tune your new ride such as your weight, intended usage, adjusting trail for a more/less nimble ride, etc. -- money well worth it, IMHO.
Along the lines of a Gunnar price-wise, check out Rodriguez (R+E Cycles) out of Seattle, WA. Their frames are fully custom -- i.e., you send in your body measurements and they'll come back with a CAD design of your frameset for you to tweak or approve. Their
Rodriguez Competition built with Reynolds 725 tubing is $1,249 for the frame. You've got a choice of steel fork for an extra $125 or a nice ENVE carbon fork for only $290. These guys produce great value custom frames fully hand-built in the USA. I've owned one of their bikes for the past 3 years. It is still my dream bike. They tackled everything I ever wanted from a steel bike.