does anyone still make quality steel production bikes?
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does anyone still make quality steel production bikes?
I am not talking something in the direction of the clubman but more in the direction of the discontinued 853 lemond... a friend of mine is looking for a replacement bike after getting hit by a car, and I am trying to help him find something decent and preferably steel. I think his price point is about 1500 (im not sure if he is willing to buy used, because then it would just become an ex-custom ebay hunt). I've looked around some of the big names I can think of, but with no luck.
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Are you looking for a dedicated performance bike, or something a bit more relaxed? You can still get good cyclocross steel frames from most places (Surly, Masi, etc). or, Jamis still has some nice steel bikes...like this one
https://www.jamisbikes.com/usa/thebik...9_eclipse.html
Yes, it's 3200, but I'm sure that you can find some cheaper bikes with similar geometry.
https://www.jamisbikes.com/usa/thebik...9_eclipse.html
Yes, it's 3200, but I'm sure that you can find some cheaper bikes with similar geometry.
#3
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Jamis and Kona offer steel-framed production road bikes, but I think these are high end bikes, outside the $1500 buget--Ut! check out the Kona ***** Tonk. Maybe a Bob Jackson or Mercian build would work? Salsa? Does Surly do a Pacer complete bike?
#4
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I like the concep of Kona's Kapu (chromed lugs), but I was dissapointed with the finishing of the '08 model. I am told it has imporved, but have not seen one. It is also $2100+.
You can have a Rivendell frame for $1000-$2000+. Depending upon what your friend had, it may not be a bad repalcement.
A number of European makers still have a steel offering if you prefer a racer-bike. GVHbikes.com has a bunch.
I like Surly and the Salsa Cassaroll, but these are more utilitarian bikes in my view.
Several makers (Raleigh, Fuji, Novarra) make steel touring bikes.
All I can think of right now.
You can have a Rivendell frame for $1000-$2000+. Depending upon what your friend had, it may not be a bad repalcement.
A number of European makers still have a steel offering if you prefer a racer-bike. GVHbikes.com has a bunch.
I like Surly and the Salsa Cassaroll, but these are more utilitarian bikes in my view.
Several makers (Raleigh, Fuji, Novarra) make steel touring bikes.
All I can think of right now.
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Bianchi still sells steel bikes. they're Taiwanese built, fwiw.
https://www.bianchiusa.com/09-bicycle...oad-steel.html
but i rather like mine (2007 Eros).
they've also got a $3300 lugged model made from Columbus tubing that i'd near kill for:
https://www.bianchiusa.com/09-bicycle...-doiomiti.html
celeste paint, chrome lugs and campy throughout. gorgeous.
https://www.bianchiusa.com/09-bicycle...oad-steel.html
but i rather like mine (2007 Eros).
they've also got a $3300 lugged model made from Columbus tubing that i'd near kill for:
https://www.bianchiusa.com/09-bicycle...-doiomiti.html
celeste paint, chrome lugs and campy throughout. gorgeous.
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Welded Tange Prestige Soma Smoothie is probably a nice option, of course you are looking at a carbon fork... as I assume you would have with the Lemond.
https://www.somafab.com/smoothie.html
For a more classic look go for the chrome headlugs
https://www.somafab.com/speedster.html
but that is a more relaxed geometry bike and the speedster is probably more akin to the Lemond 853.
https://www.somafab.com/smoothie.html
For a more classic look go for the chrome headlugs
https://www.somafab.com/speedster.html
but that is a more relaxed geometry bike and the speedster is probably more akin to the Lemond 853.
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Good see big names selling a range of bikes in steel again!
Bianchi still sells steel bikes. they're Taiwanese built, fwiw.
https://www.bianchiusa.com/09-bicycle...oad-steel.html
but i rather like mine (2007 Eros).
they've also got a $3300 lugged model made from Columbus tubing that i'd near kill for:
https://www.bianchiusa.com/09-bicycle...-doiomiti.html
celeste paint, chrome lugs and campy throughout. gorgeous.
https://www.bianchiusa.com/09-bicycle...oad-steel.html
but i rather like mine (2007 Eros).
they've also got a $3300 lugged model made from Columbus tubing that i'd near kill for:
https://www.bianchiusa.com/09-bicycle...-doiomiti.html
celeste paint, chrome lugs and campy throughout. gorgeous.
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1 Super Record bike, 1 Nuovo Record bike, 1 Pista, 1 Road, 1 Cyclocross/Allrounder, 1 MTB, 1 Touring, 1 Fixed gear
1 Super Record bike, 1 Nuovo Record bike, 1 Pista, 1 Road, 1 Cyclocross/Allrounder, 1 MTB, 1 Touring, 1 Fixed gear
#8
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Masi's got some nice looking options. They're more like the Surly/Salsa range though.
You may be surprised at what you local framebuilder can build for a reasonable price, and they'll likely work with whatever tubing quality you'd like.
You may be surprised at what you local framebuilder can build for a reasonable price, and they'll likely work with whatever tubing quality you'd like.
#9
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Bianchi still sells steel bikes. .....
......they've also got a $3300 lugged model made from Columbus tubing that i'd near kill for:
https://www.bianchiusa.com/09-bicycle...-doiomiti.html
celeste paint, chrome lugs and campy throughout. gorgeous.
......they've also got a $3300 lugged model made from Columbus tubing that i'd near kill for:
https://www.bianchiusa.com/09-bicycle...-doiomiti.html
celeste paint, chrome lugs and campy throughout. gorgeous.
Roll your own for less than $2000.
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Gunnar Sport or Roadie is $800 for a bare frame. They're both sloping top tube though.
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I am trying to help him find something decent and preferably steel.
(the Jamis Eclipse is) 3200...
Best,
tcs
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but you're paying modern labour prices.
and it's pretty.
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gvhbikes.com
#14
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I'm with DiabloScott; in your friend's price range I'd be looking at a Gunnar Roadie. True Temper OX Platinum tube set with a 56cm frame weighing in at 3.6 pounds.
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Surly makes only steel frames and bikes. Can order one from any bike shop that has a QBP catalog(that'd be about all of them)
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Maybe the cost of Veloce has gone up though - just a few years ago a Veloce equipped Bianchi was aroun $1650. Now I see 3 Veloce equipped models on their site for $3300 - $4200!
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1959 Bottecchia Milano-Sanremo(frame), 1966 Bottecchia Professional (frame), 1971 Bottecchia Professional (frame),
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1974 Peugeot UO-8, 1988 Panasonic PT-3500, 2002 Bianchi Veloce, 2004 Bianchi Pista
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full ultegra & 853
#20
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Seriously. And I think the thing is hideous too. It looks like somebody took a decent vintage frame and cobbled a bike together with whatever was in the parts bin with no regard for how any of it goes together stylistically. The chrome lugs and vintage font decals totally clash with the carbon fork, threadless headset, and black components.
Maybe the cost of Veloce has gone up though - just a few years ago a Veloce equipped Bianchi was aroun $1650. Now I see 3 Veloce equipped models on their site for $3300 - $4200!
Maybe the cost of Veloce has gone up though - just a few years ago a Veloce equipped Bianchi was aroun $1650. Now I see 3 Veloce equipped models on their site for $3300 - $4200!
To be clear, I wasn't really addressing the aesthetics of the bike, but rather the high cost for a bike equipped with lower-end (albeit nice) componentry. Mirage/Xenon is being discontinued, and PBK just blew out their last Mirage/Xenon group sets for $230. That leaves Veloce at more or less the bottom. It is a nice group, but for a $3300 bike I'd expect a little better - that what really surprised me. Hell, you can get a full CF bike with Ultegra for around $2000. And if I can get a Centaur group retail at ~$600, what could the wholesale cost be for manufacturers - especially with economies of scale factored in?
It looks like steel has become "boutique", even when massed produced. This pleases me, as it makes the three vintage frame/modern drivetrain bike I built seem like bargains - they are worlds above the bike in question, and cost a fraction to build. And they are one-off's, to boot.
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I like the lack of reasonably priced, decent component steel bikes, as I have a workshop full of vintage steel right now!
Anyone looking for a "new" steel bike should carefully investigate the used market first.
Anyone looking for a "new" steel bike should carefully investigate the used market first.
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+1. The price differential between quality new and vintage is enormous. Even with what I perceive as some recent price rise for vintage, unless one is going for a trophy collectors item, a few hundred dollars should be able to get a high quality vintage frame in outstanding condition. Plus, you end up at a much better spot on the depreciation curve. Right now, a 20+ year old frameset is about as cheap as it is ever going to be, whereas a new frameset is as expensive as it will be for a long time, until it possibly acquires collector cachet. Even then, I'm pretty sure that all the vintage bikes I have, including a couple that were virtual time capsule guys, were acquired for less than they sold for new, not even accounting for inflation.
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You're barking up the right tree, but you're not thinking the proposed build through. Here's a breakdown of the Cinelli in the real world (I'd much rather have this as well):
Cinelli frame: $1170 or so, delivered
Centaur $612.11
Headset: $60 (something reasonably good)
Seatpost: $50 (something reasonably good)
H'bar: $60 (something reasonably good)
Stem: $40 (something reasonably good)
H'bar tape: $20 ((something reasonably good)
Tires: $50 (something reasonably good)
Tubes: $10 (something reasonably good)
Total: $2172 for a fair do-it-yourself build
Add $400 or so for a build more suited to the frame.
#24
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I put my Cinelli together with a mix of Record/Chorus, and two bits of Centaur (RD/FD). About $1,700 all told. And it is more than a "fair" build. The Palo Alto, about $1000-$1100, and the Dancelli about the same. All much better bang for the buck than the $3300 Bianchi, and with the pound depressed the time to build is now.
But even at your ~$2100, that is a better frame and a better group than the Bianchi for more than $1000 less. Also, I think that Centaur is plenty good enough for a Cinelli SC.
So yeah, I'm thinking it through - I've done it three times (four, if you count the Battaglin I built for my daughter). and I'm fixing to do it again for Blankcrows and his Chesini. Deals are out there, for both parts and complete bikes. A complete Cinelli SC with Record group just went on the local CL for $1000.
But even at your ~$2100, that is a better frame and a better group than the Bianchi for more than $1000 less. Also, I think that Centaur is plenty good enough for a Cinelli SC.
So yeah, I'm thinking it through - I've done it three times (four, if you count the Battaglin I built for my daughter). and I'm fixing to do it again for Blankcrows and his Chesini. Deals are out there, for both parts and complete bikes. A complete Cinelli SC with Record group just went on the local CL for $1000.
With Aksium's, no bars and a $20 saddle maybe.
You're barking up the right tree, but you're not thinking the proposed build through. Here's a breakdown of the Cinelli in the real world (I'd much rather have this as well):
Cinelli frame: $1170 or so, delivered
Centaur $612.11
Headset: $60 (something reasonably good)
Seatpost: $50 (something reasonably good)
H'bar: $60 (something reasonably good)
Stem: $40 (something reasonably good)
H'bar tape: $20 ((something reasonably good)
Tires: $50 (something reasonably good)
Tubes: $10 (something reasonably good)
Total: $2172 for a fair do-it-yourself build
Add $400 or so for a build more suited to the frame.
You're barking up the right tree, but you're not thinking the proposed build through. Here's a breakdown of the Cinelli in the real world (I'd much rather have this as well):
Cinelli frame: $1170 or so, delivered
Centaur $612.11
Headset: $60 (something reasonably good)
Seatpost: $50 (something reasonably good)
H'bar: $60 (something reasonably good)
Stem: $40 (something reasonably good)
H'bar tape: $20 ((something reasonably good)
Tires: $50 (something reasonably good)
Tubes: $10 (something reasonably good)
Total: $2172 for a fair do-it-yourself build
Add $400 or so for a build more suited to the frame.
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Bianchi has a better value steel (TIG, Taiwan) with Ultegra/105/FSA compact crankset for way less the Dolomiti. I've seen this bike in my LBS and it's purty.
https://www.bianchiusa.com/09-bicycle...vigorelli.html
https://www.bianchiusa.com/09-bicycle...vigorelli.html