I don't know how you would get your hands on one, but it's pretty sweet. The frameset price is actually great for what it is, but out of stock.

https://www.voodoocycles.com/avalou

Looks good.. but.....
On their website, in the geometry picture, the drawing is of a curved fork.
The real fork is straight.
I cannot handle straight forks on a steel frame... it does something to my eye.
1 and 1/8 threadless steerer and hollow stem is lighter.

At a glance it looks like a VOOOOO bicycle. But a red one with fancy lugs!


Regarding the fork, i prefer a curved look on vintage, but with the modern wheelset and components the straight fork is not so bad. While pretty, upon close inspection, the bike looks 'confused'. Like, "What am I?" Beside showy. Designed in Taiwan for the American market.

It looks quite striking with the chromed lugs and candy red.

The sun doodles, the kinda bronze/copper head badge (thick badge, yeesh), the flowing script for "Avalou", the block lettering of Voodoo, modern tubing badges and distinctly retro lugs... I should stop looking at it. Pick a look and go for it. This reminds me of the first salad I made at a salad bar... it had everything. That was not a good salad.

What's up with the headbadge? Pretty chunky, and doesn't seem to be sitting flush with the head tube.

Pretty paint and chrome, tho.

+1 about the fork. Straight blades just don't do it for me.

DD

YMMV...

There's generally nothing I dislike more than modern things pretending to be older things when it's really just a style statement. In this case it's actually not bad. I like the modern'ish tubing...I like that it combines an older aesthetic with some modern parts. I can definitely see a niche market...guys who want a hot rodded vintage bike, but don't want to put in the effort of sourcing/building it all.

It's not something I'd buy, but I get it...and it's better executed than most bikes like this. Sort of a poor man's Hetchins, with 853 to boot.

Also not wild about the fork...but Colnago sold an awful lot of them, so what do I know?

I like chromed lugs, and I like unusual decorative lugs, and I like good design. But this just strikes me as frilly and fussy, with disproportionately small details that serve more to obscure the design than enhance it. So I'm not a fan.

Worse, the bad lug design monopolizes my attention. All those other details you guys complain about? I didn't see them. I too dislike straight fork blades, but I didn't see them, my eye stuck on the ugly lugs.

The frame looks ok... (minus the awful headbadge), but the rest? Ugh.... no.

The black groupset looks awful on that bike. The brakes alone ruin the look of the bike. Especially with SRAM plastered all over it.

The bike needs a silver groupset with white cable housing. And silver rims/spokes as well.

And seriously, what is up with that headbadge?

Looks like an attempt at "let's make a flashy bike so people will spend $1300 on the frameset (!) or $2500 (!!) on the bike."

No thanks.

It's probably not a bad bike in the $400-$500 range, but for $2500???

At $1395 for the frame and fork, I think the poor man might be better off looking for a good deal on a real Hetchins.

I'm a sucker for chrome and this did draw me in on that score, though something is slightly off about it. Maybe the shorelines aren't quite sharp enough. I could live with the straight fork -- at least it's not a unicrown. But the build...couldn't they have at least used a silver Potenza group for the glamour shots? And, yeah, that head badge is an offense against all that is aesthetic.

That $500 pricepoint is totally unrealistic.

They'll have a tough time with $2,500 as well.

True...a real Hetchins frame would run 2k or less, but it wouldn't be 853 (if that matters to the person).

The headbadge is pretty bad, but I don't mind the black on it. It is what it is...a mix of functional modern parts on a classic frame. I think it's a nice substitute for the person who wants to hot rod a steel frame, and would rather spend money then hunt stuff down on the internet. That's not me either...but I - guess - there's a market for it? Like the instant eroica Bianchi?

Granted...I might be biased:

Agree. Those nice lugs with black components and that straight fork. Confused indeed.

Lugged 853---you don't see many of those.

Love the Hetchins and Colnago nods and the overall look---it's the bike equivalent of a street rod show car. Definitely not for the average ultraconservative cheapskate C&V type, so it's got that going for it, too.

If I were tempted to buy a steel bike, this one would be near the top of my list.

Yeah, I could see how it would be fun.

On the other hand, $2,500 gets you this and a spare Campy Neutron wheelset.

A Della Santa frameset would near the top for me, or even one of those fancy Lyons that keep popping up.

Sooo much competition at this pricepoint.

DSCN6669 by gomango1849, on Flickr

To me they are trying to be too many things all at once. I had much the same thoughts and objections as those above. Tried to be a Hetchins with those lugs. but they aren't finished like they should ve and the paint looks just too heavy and thick. Another NO vote for the straight fork blades too, they look like rapiers were placed on a steerer lug.

Biggest complaint here is the black groupset, again. Not sure this would be saved with a silver Potenza either. Sorry but it misses the mark here.

Bill

You don't, and I think this bike illustrates why. It's cost prohibitive. I don't know what it costs to manufacture a frame from 853, but all the ones I've seen recently (lugged or not) have had an asking price well over $1000 for just the frame and fork. At that price point, you're competing with custom frames and well-preserved vintage frames. I'm sure there's a market for it, but it's got to be small.

For instance, I have enough disposable income that I could afford this bike if I made it a priority (meaning I'd have to cut back all the other bike stuff I wanted to buy). The chrome lugs hit my happy button. The fact that they chose to use a threaded headset keeps me looking. I absolutely love that it's 853. I even prefer new components. Yet the most I'll do is look and nod approvingly.

Why? Mostly because a bike has to be something special for me to be willing to spend that much money on it. Even if they cleaned up all the minor nits I have about the appearance (like the head badge and the graphics), at the end of the day it would still be a Voo Doo, which isn't bad but really doesn't do anything for me. I'd rather have a top end frame from one of the classic builders like De Rosa or Colnago or even a high end Raleigh, even though I'd be looking at Columbus SLX or Reynolds 531 tubing.

$1395 is half to a quarter of what most US builders charge for a quality tubeset. Yes, you can get a Mercian or Hetchins...but 531 is very different. It's a very different price/level more similar to something like Gunnar. Whether there's a market for it or not, I can't say...but I don't think the same guy is considering this and a Kirk.

As far as high end vintage SLX, that's also a different market.

Most of us are not the demographic for this.

Fair enough, but if we're not the demographic for a high end steel frame with chrome lugs and a quill stem, who is?

Regarding the cost of a custom frame, I see your point but I think there's some point at which the target customer has enough money to say "If I'm going to spend X dollars for this, I may as well spend 4X dollars for that." Or, conversely, "I wish I could afford to spend X dollars for this, but I can get that for 0.25X dollars." In the first case, "that" is a custom frame. In the second case, "that" is a used LeMond with an 853 frame. But there are probably people in between for whom this is exactly what they want.

I'm a long way from a marketing guy, but...at a guess...rich guy who thinks eroica is cool, remembers his childhood lugged bike, but doesn't want to deal with finding/restoring a vintage bike.

I have no idea if a market exists - it wouldn't be the first model failure. I'm pretty sure if they're looking at us, they're in trouble.

You cannot price this at 80's or 90's price points.
Not really surprised with the $2.5K price, considering the cost of talented labor these days to produce something that nice looking, with all that detail.

I want a 650b version, with fenders.
Cover all bases.

Would rather have a Waterford for that price. They can do fancy lugs, chrome or stainless, 853, whatever. Wouldn't put entry level SRAM on it either

True, it's higher end, but not necessarily high prestige in the C&V world. There's any number of well made Japanese bikes that are as high end as their Italian friends, but don't command nearly the price or adoration because their brand and by proxy the legacy of racing just isn't as great. When I see this, that's what I think. It checks all the boxes, but I'm lacking that 'fizz'. For the price, you can have that grail bike with the fizz =)

I think this bike just needs a more homogeneous paint job to tie it all together and a silver groupset and non eBay special looking wheels to just be cohesive. I'd love to know the story of this frame as told by the builder, the painter, and marketing. I bet each story is radically different.