Hi All - I'd like to build a steel frame road bike. What is a good quality road cycle frame that I could use for such a build? I've looked at the Surly Pacer and Soma Smoothie frames. ARe these good frames? What other steel frames are available for a road bike build? What's the going price for a good steel road frame?

Thanks in advance.

Gunnar is Waterford's standard line of bicycles. Serotta Fierte also comes to mind.

I have a Surly Pacer. I really like it but it is not a fast racer type bike, more like a sport touring bike.

My bf rides a Gunnar Roadie and he likes it a lot. He sold off his titanium Litespeed to ride the Gunnar instead. Gunnar frames go for $700-800 new. Less on ebay.

Thanks for the replies! I checked out the Gunnar and Waterford websites and I liked the descriptions of their frames. However, they are a bit pricey.

eofelis - how do you like your Surly Pacer? I think I would like to build a quick bike and something that is relatively light (for a steel frame) but I don't mind if it has a sport touring geometry.

Rivendell!
Some of the best riding steel frames out there.

Are you looking for custom? Because some of the standard road steel frames by the bigger companies like Jamis are pretty nice. Not fancy lugged steel or anything but still good steel.

How about giving us a price range then and tell us what you are going to use it for and quit wasting our time!

There is a world of difference between a $400 Surly Pacer made from 4130 CroMoly and a $725 Gunnar Roadie made from True Temper Ox Platinum. If you are on a budget that is okay, just let us know what it is.

Here's a good place for frame reviews.
https://www.roadbikereview.com/cat/fr...S_2493crx.aspx

There probably is quite a difference between the Pacer and the Roadie. I think someday I will upgrade to a custom geometry Gunnar Sport frame, but every time I ride my Pacer I'm pretty happy with it. So I keep riding it.

It might make a lot of difference to this discussion, but my Pacer is the teeny tiny 42cm size. The larger sizes might have a much different feel.