Originally Posted by
jshowyin
Thanks again everyone for your help and taking the time to comment.
Another question. If I am comparing an aluminium or scandium cross bike with an aluminium or scandium road bike am I going to notice any difference in the ride? I understand that the geometry between the two may be slightly different, but any other differences.
After reading superstator's comments I looked into the price of brakes and headsets and he/she is right. If I buy a new frame (any of the three I was interested in), then it's unlikely that I would have enough left over in my budget for the other stuff.
Therefore:
* I am reconsidering buying a used frame (and losing the warranty as a result). Can anyone tell me of their experiences with the durability/longevity of any of the three frames above?
* I have read numerous times about canti brakes not being as powerful as other options. Are the cheaper ones even "worse" - ie. less powerful or harder to adjust etc? Can anyone recommend any decent cheaper brake options?
Thanks again.
Tube shape makes a big difference - I think the Con Crosso has a very forgiving, even springy ride, but I think that's down to the shaping of the stays at least as much as to the material. Add variables like tires, tire pressure, and wheelset, and I personally think frame material is a pretty small slice of the total "feel" of the bike.
Longevity has been fine with mine. The top tube mounted cables rub on the paint, but that's life with a cross bike. It's got two seasons of racing on it, and I'm not a lightweight or at all shy about abusing it. I ripped the rear der off in the spokes a few weeks ago, and the replaceable hanger just bent a teensy bit until the derailleur body itself snapped. New 105 der, bent the hanger back, and it was good as new. Then again, I've done the exact same stuff to my plain jane OCR for four or five years now, and it's taken it like a champ - including the destroying of derailleurs and some inadvisable offroading.
My canti's are tektro oryx ($16 at Jenson). They have less leverage I think than calipers or nice canti's like Pauls, but they work well enough. My hands do cramp up a bit on long descents, and a technical singletrack descent is especially unpleasant. IOW, they're safe, but you'll definitely be wanting to upgrade pretty quickly.