Rob Glatfelter

My work bike recently got stolen, which was a fun but ****ty fixed gear.
I'm trying to find a decent aluminium frame to build up, but I'm not really sure what to be looking out for, I know there's older Cannondales, but they've always kind of been a dream bike for me and I would feel awful about beating the crap out of one of them every day.
Only other thing I've got knowledge of is Trek 1000s but Im sure there have to be other bikes out there worth looking at.
Anyone got any advice?

Or, for bonus points, if you know of anyone selling anything nearish to Chicago...

frenchbikefan

raleigh technium, I have a frame unfortunately I am not anywhere near chicago

Bianchigirll 

for a vintage alloy as a daily rider/ commuter I would certainly consider a Cdale, but any welded alloy that looks in good shape should be OK. the screwed and glued type would likely cause problems quicker than a welded.

will this be a FG/SS or a geared bike? the vertical drops on an alloy can be problematic for a SS/FG

Rob Glatfelter

No no, Want to do a 2x? for it, probably with downtube shifters, unless I get a visit from Sramta Claus.
I've had a couple friends talk pretty ill over the Raleigh Techniums, they are glued aren't they?
Then again, theirs were mostly used for polo, and that is an awful lot of added stress on a frame.

frenchbikefan

you are going to find people who love them, and people who hate them usually based on what they have heard. Personally I have a bikes direct aluminum bike, lighter, carbon fork, and it never gets ridden over my steel bikes. nothing beats steel, but I got the technium for a steal

GrayJay

Techniums did use adhesive and but only the main triangle was made of aluminum, lugs and rear end are steel.
In terms of production numbers, I suspect that cannondales dwarf all other available welded alu bikes that were available in the 80's so you are probably most likely to find a cannondale if you are looking at 80's vintage.
If vintage is not a big consideration, tiawan cranks out boatloads of cheap welded aluminum frames these days.

Giacomo 1 

Miyata also makes some very nice aluminum bikes.

I have one and I love it. Extremely light, responsive and agile, not to mention well built to. I have no fear what-so-ever about the bonded frame. Heck, the bonding looks just so much better than welding to. Smooooothhhhh....

svt4cam

+1 on the technium long enough wheelbase to comfortable and fit fenders short enough to climb well and handle well. They make great fixies.

+

tigerdog

Old Kleins rock. They don't break, they don't flex and if you surf Craigslist long enough you can find some pretty darned good deals. Look for one of the original "Performance" models; they had fairly long wheelbases and chainstays and were often built up as light touring bikes.

wrk101

Cannondales are very common. Just be prepared, most Cannondales from the 1980s had suck paint. So expect to see a lot of paint failure/chips/etc. I would look for a complete bike, and not just a frame. Even if you have all of the parts for the build in hand, often you can find complete bikes for about what a frame sells for. Then sell off the excess parts to help offset the build, or transfer them to another frame and sell them, etc. Out of the last 200 plus bikes and frames I have bought, five were framesets, the rest were complete bikes.

The two Treks below look like pretty good deals.

dedhed

Check the milwaukee Craigslist. Probably better deals than Chicago
https://milwaukee.craigslist.org/bik/2568926503.html

https://milwaukee.craigslist.org/bik/2572012700.html

https://milwaukee.craigslist.org/bik/2570983723.html

https://milwaukee.craigslist.org/bik/2569399883.html

RoboIsGod

Yeah I'd say Cannondale's are gonna be your best bet. I had a glued aluminum Miyata that looked/rode nicely but was quite flexy and I wouldn't put too much faith in it's strength (also you could never re-paint it). A friend has a Raleight Technium that he says is OK. Your going to really want something with larger diameter tubes, nothing that looks like steel.

I have an '89 Schwinn 754 that rides amazing and looks really cool. See if you can find one (they also made a 574 and a 974). They are Klein rip-offs and were some of the last quality bikes to be made in the USA plant.
Pic: https://www.pedalroom.com/p/974-schwinn-1975_1.jpg

Alan Edwards

Nashbar has a nice welded frame for 75$ new plus shipping, cheaper then a used Candal. They send the frame without the stickers on so you can put what ever you want on the frame.

RFC

My favorite Alu bike. Really the Cannondales are very bulletproof. Beat the Sh#t out of it and, later, have it powdercoated back to a classic. BTW, I do have some experience with the Trek 1000 plus series. Likewise bulletproof.
\

elguicho 

What size are looking for? I'm in Chicago and I have a 1989 Cannondale I have to let go. PM me.

Rob Glatfelter

I'm looking for a 56-59 I think, somewhere in that range.

Henry III

I would stick with a Cannondale. The Techniums in the states that get a decent amount of cold weather seem to not have a good life span. I don't know if it's from the epoxy not being able to handle the big temperature changes if left outdoors or different expansion rates between the AL. tubes and steel lugs? Just seems like a lot of midwest folks have had issues with them. I had one but never rode it and had it as just a frame for as long as I had it. But like someone else said, why not just get a Nashbar aluminum frame and be done with it instead of playing the CL or message board search game?

mralistair

https://schutt.org/velo/photo/vitus-979-right-900.jpg

really cool lugged alu frames,


though maybe not for a commuter, they were bonded with aerospace adhesive, not welded.

Italuminium

As the ALAN apologist in residence I have to point you towards them the first to construct full alloy frames, they utilized a revolutionary Screw and Glue concept to join the tubes. These frames were light and responsive, build with fine traditional Italian dimensions and angles. I have a nice one in size 54 that I use as my sunday nice weather rider (full campa SR), and another size 60 frame that will probably see fixed gear duty. See, the advantage is that they are alloy frames with horizontal dropouts (a rare trait). click on the link in blue below to see a thread about my ALAN+pics.

svt4cam

Well your not the only Alan apologist (lol) on the thread I just couldn't bring myself to hack the hanger off an Alan whereas it was painless on the Technium.

RobbieTunes

cheapest Technium
next C'dale
next Klein, maybe a Vitus
or this '86

Italuminium

good! well, the ALAN I want to put out to FG duty is going to lose its hanger either. I'm no drew.