n+1 bug is striking again...what steel bike should I buy, ver. 12367965
 

I have a Trek Madone that I don't really like. I'm in the middle of pulling off the Shimano 6800 drivetrain (brifters, brakes, crank, BB, wheels) and swapping back on the 105 10sp. stuff. I'm selling the bike. I don't like the bike because I never felt "connected" to it. It's a fast bike and is comfortable, but when I ride it, the bike just "feels" sterile to me. Like it has not character. I bought it because I wanted to see what all the Carbon Fiber hype was all about and I've decided that although the bike "feels fast", I'm no faster on it than I am my Lynskey.

I don't "need" another bike, I just want another bike because, well, n+1 :D So, what I'm looking for is a Steel bike and I really want one with classic looks (think horizontal top tube). I'll be using the bike for general purpose duties like riding on the weekends, after work, get coffee, etc... It won't be a touring bike nor do I want a race bike. I tend to like a bit more of an upright ride. My rides tend to be 15 mi. on up. Most rides end up in the 25 - 30 mile range but occasionally go 60 - 70 mi. I'm not a fast rider nor do I care to be, I just love being out on my bike and if I'm slow, my partner and I don't care, it's nice to be out. On my terrain, I usually average ~ 15 mph.

The bikes I'm considering are the Gunnar Sport, Cielo (I think the cross one), and CoMotion. I picked those 3 because I really want an English blue bike with white panels and all 3 of those offer custom paint. I could buy vintage, but I'm having a hard time finding anything in that color in my size. (I'm 5'6" and all of my bikes are sized either small or 52). I'm not opposed to stock colors, but I do NOT want black. If it's not English blue I want wild like lime green, hot pink, retina searing yellow, something like that. Cielo and CoMotion are in the $2K range for frame and fork. The Gunnar Sport will be about $1500 by the time I get all the paint and fork options done.

I really was wanting to spend under $1K for frame and fork so I thought I'd turn to you all for suggestions. I know of Soma and Surly and those are cheaper. I'm thinking I want an American built frame but not sure if it HAS to be. That said, I think if I opt for an American built frame, I think I'm not going to get anything under $1K.

Sorry for the long post, anything that I'm missing?

If you sell the first bike and buy another, wouldn't that really be n-1+1, or just n?

:)

Hmmm, I wonder if my partner would see it that way? LOL. His comment was, clearly you don't need another one if you're getting rid of one that is perfectly fine, LOL.

All-City Mr. Pink, or Space Horse.

Or Surly Pacer.

New, I'd recommend the Bianchi L'Eroica, Columbus steel frame, lugged construction by the Bianchi craftsmen, special Campagnolo 3 arm spider crankset, down tube friction shifters, limited production Brooks leather saddle, 10 speeds on the rear cassette, double on front, special production Dia Compe centerpull brakes, Vittoria tubular tires, etc, etc, etc. If I had $3500.00, it would be my choice for an N+1, period.

Bill

I am certainly a fan of Co-Motion and would highly recommend them as they did a fantastic job on my touring frame but I wouldn't scoff at a Gunnar because they are made by Waterford who sort of originally was Schwinn Paramount which is good stuff and a great lineage to have especially seeing all the awesome stuff they have made over the years. If I had the cashola I would go for lugged to the nines Bishop, Waterford or Demon but on a budget Co-Mo or Gunnar ain't a bad deal.

Nothing against Cielo at all just not as excited by their work but still quality stuff and nothing to scoff at.

Marinoni has some nice steel models and will do custom paint. Canadian made, reasonable prices.

I looked at their website and it's in French. Do they sell in the US? I LOVE that Bianchi, but I'm not sure I want to go FULL vintage with the downtube shifters. I have a Shimano 6800 drivetrain already. I still need a stem, handlebar, saddle, BB, and headset and I'm set for the bike -- I have the rest. So all I'm looking for is the frame and fork. I do like the look of the Bianchi Tip Corsa though. So pretty...that may have to be what I get.

You could go vintage and modernize the bike. That way you can get a frame from a US custom builder and stay under budget if you shop around. You could also shop around for a high end vintage Trek or a Schwinn paramount as well.

There is a long thread about modernizing vintage bikes. Not a big deal as you are going from 126 mm to 130 in the rear.

Mercian or Bob Jackson from the UK?

You're going to be hard pushed to get a US made frame for under $1K, as you figured out. You might want to consider a Taiwanese built steel frame, if you're budget constrained. I have a Ritchey Road Logic, which I got for under $1K (frame + fork) which I honestly believe to be one of the best steel production frames out there.

It's not "English Blue", which even as an English person I'll admit I had no idea what it was. Turns out it's sort of like a dark version of Celeste, who knew?

I recently bought a cross frame from Black Mountain Cycles, which turned out to be a really nice frame ($595 for frame and fork). They do steel road frames also, the current batch of which are Eddy Merckx inspired orange:

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YGRMMqn5M...0/DSC00618.JPG

Yeah, I know, not blue! :D

while there is no "cure" for the N+1 bug, there is treatment for the most common symptom. The treatment is however, only temporary, the bug is known to return from time to time. Each time the treatment puts it on hold for awhile.

There is also an English language website: Cycles Marinoni

Over the winter I was thinking of buying a frame from them, but in the end opted for a vintage Columbus SL frame that I built up with modern parts. Anyhow, I don't think Marinoni has a US distributor at the moment, but they're very easy to deal with on the phone or by email and will ship to the US.

What about this blue and orange?

http://fairdalebikes.com/wp-content/...dship-blue.jpg

http://fairdalebikes.com/wp-content/...hip-detail.jpg

I'm hoping to have one of these in the future.

Mercian. King of Mercia Complete Bikes UK

Some great options! Fairdale and Black Mountain looks like great options! I looked at a Kona model, but I guess in the end, I don't really want a "mass market" bike. So many great choices, keep them coming!

I'm sure you are. ;)

BTW I just noticed that they spelled butted with three Ts.

lol, that's funny. I like their vibe.

I rode with a racer this weekend that sells bikes in Austin. He is a die-hard carbon racer guy that sells and rides the big names, but he also sells Fairdale and really loves the Goodship. He said it has a special quality to it that people are excited about and that it is making a lot of converts down there. One guy racing and winning on one in the Cat 3/4 group he said.

Fairdale have an excellent vibe about them and have some very attractive bikes and frames in their range.

Wishing good things for them. :)

I hear Breezer Venturi frames I going for cheap now at Bike Wagon. Modern steel, and it's blue!

I really do like the looks of this bike. What do you think that frameset weighs?

I just called him. Seems like a nice guy. He said a 56 frameset with an uncut steerer tube weighs 6lbs 3oz. or 6.1875 pounds. $685 shipped with a Cane Creek 40 headset. Seems like a pretty good deal.

Now I've gone and done it. ;)

Yeah, Mike's great to deal with on the phone and he also responds to emails very quickly. I got a 58cm cross frame and it weighed what he said it would (5lb for the frame, 2.4 lbs for the fork). The road frames are lighter than the cross frames. You'd be paying $10 less than I did because of being in a closer timezone, as I also got him to install a Cane Creek 40 on mine. It's a really nice frame, the quality of the paint and welds is excellent and it went together easily.

I'm just compiling my list of next bikes in case mine disappear in a central Texas tsunami or something :)

Ritchey Road Logic
Fairdale Goodship
Black Mountain Cycles Road

The list continues :)

I would like to build one from the ground up just for the fun of it. I have about 80% of the parts laying around that I'd need minus the frame. But I certainly don't need another bike.

None of us do! Still...