cycledog1

Yes - and I think the thing to remember on all of these steel rides is that a person's personality and pride are reflected by their changes and alterations of the orig intent of the stock bike. one person's dream is another person's pig, in other words. put it out there, you hope people will be respectful in their comments or say nothing. however, it is the age of "they won't ever meet me so I can say whatever I want" though. with social media, I guess, its hard to expect people to be human, respectful, and reasonable anymore.

keep posting them, I'm loving the diversity -----------

RNAV

Unfortunately my painter will have to respray that panel . . . everything on that bike was masked off and painted, to include the logos -- no vinyl decals were used.

saverin

Anyone else seen these steel frames floating around Ebay and such? Curious what others think of this frame. Some further thoughts in this thread.

Fits what I'm looking for in a modern steel frame: sub 1750g frame with agressive geometry. Would love to get some additional opinions...

rgconner

My first real road bike was a 1999 Veloce.

Seeing this brings back good memories!

bruce19

I bought my Guru Sidero from a friend for a great price. It came with SRAM Rival. I have upgraded the crank and derailleurs to Red. And, this week I will be adding Red shifters. Don't know if upgrading to Red brakes is worth it.

mercator

Well, interesting for a cheap steel frame, but those sizes look really small - the largest frame has a TT of 535 and HT of 115.

saverin

I tried comparing the geometry to my current bike, and the effective horizontal TT of the size L compares to a 54cm frame, which works for me. I like the compact frame geometry, though I'm coming from a CAAD4, so it's quite a big difference.

Thoughts on the quality one could expect from a steel frame out of China?

Maelochs

China has been making and working steel (and selling it to the U.S.) for quite a while ... since the Great Leap Forward starved a few tens of millions of Chinese in order to pump up the steel industry.

Also, I ma pretty sure most of the aluminum and steel frames were ride right now came from factories in China owned by Taiwan firms.

regarding those Specific frames ... can't say, but if they sold a touring model I'd buy one.

saverin

My biggest concerns would be a) whether you would actually be getting Reynolds tubing, and b) the weld quality.

bleui

does a good/bad weld quality affect the ride?

bleui

some say it's worth it, if you're upgrading to the new aerolink caliper
I'm good enough with the old classic Red brake

Kopsis

No, it affects reliability and aesthetics. Tubing selection combined with frame geometry affects the ride -- which is typically a complete unknown on an unbranded direct-from-China frame.

Kopsis

And that's the weld on the frame they thought was good enough to be their show piece

mercator

Merlin is clearing out some nice looking merckxs - columbus zona

Jarrett2

Doesn't get any more modern than this:



Rob?s TransAm race bike | English Cycles

mercator

Wow, that is one far out bike. I bet he has to trim those bottle cage bolts on the seat tube pretty carefully.

himespau 

That was my first thought as well, but since the builder is also the rider and he's done it with his ultra low weight steel bikes in the past, I'd bet that the seatpost is integrated right into the seattube as a single piece. Not seeing a clamp in support of that, so I'd guess there is just paint differences between the two parts.

mercator

Actually, there is a gallery of photos on the linked site - you can clearly see the binder bolt. It looks like the top of the seat tube has a sleeve welded over it.

MZilliox

Here is my modern steel: Goodrich Uber OS steel and Zanconato Mini Max steel

BillyD

Yikes!

chaadster

But the head tube!!!

bleui

are they all custom? do you have the exact geo between the two?

MZilliox

Both obtained second hand, neither custom for me, different geometries, but similar overall setups as far as reach and saddle setback.
Zanconato is something like 53st x 55.3TT, has a tighter wheelbase and higher bb, steers more at the hips, more stiff than any steel i have ever encountered. thinks crits bike Campy Chorus 11 and always Boras

The Curt Goodrich is my baby. stiff in the stays, but a bit more forgiving elsewhere, has a bit more clearance (28s no problem), and has a square 55x55 road race geometry. a bit more of an all day kinda ride, but if i were a racer, id not hesitate to lineup with this bike, its not what would hold me back. Record 11 build. I call her le Bleu, and she has a few different shoes. She likes the Boras, but usually chooses some hyperons, and some aluminum wheels with fatter tires, depending on her mood!
bigger pics, i just learned how!

Field of fast by Matt.zilliox, on Flickr

slow blue by Matt.zilliox, on Flickr

Lets go by Matt.zilliox, on Flickr

Maelochs

Those are proper steel bikes. Like the Zanconato picture just as a picture ... but the bike is gorgeous.

I hope the Goodrich has a sense of humor and doesn't punish you for captioning its photo "Slow."

chaadster

Yeah, it's a good thing he has extended head tubes and external headsets on 'em, otherwise they'd have too many spacers and wouldn't fit.