Originally Posted by abeyance
There are plenty of choices for "beaterish" frames. My first choice is 5-800 cf frames, as I have not seen any track cf frames other than the Look frame. i doubt we could get a group buy on that one. My second choice would be a ti frame. If I wanted a cheapish alu or steel frame, others have mentioned the sources.
Also, I think a 1 in headtube would be a great idea, as it would solve the threaded/threadless debate, at least a little bit.
I too voted for cf but since no one is currently making a moderately priced cf track frame I don't think cheap cf is an option. A new frame would mean new molds(probably for each size) and I doubt that would be affordable.
As a second choice I would vote for a <$500 Al track frame comparable to a pista concept. Ti would be nice but from what I gather the cheaper foreign built ti frames are not going to have good tubing for a race frame(though it's probably ideal for a general purpose bike.)
1" headset would be deal breaker... There just aren't enough good forks available for it.
While I probably wouldn't be interested myself I don't think a super cheap Al frame is an absurd idea since it could probably be done for a lot less then any of the available options.