Ok So I dropped off my 10 year old Blue that I really love at my LBS to get it upgraded to Ultegra (from 10 year old 105) and to get the headset looked at (always loose). At the shop they found a big prob, the steer tube had a compression ridge in it (over tightening for years my bad) To fix it they slammed the stem to get past the ridge, well almost it has a bit just a bit below the cut. Bottom screw on stem is at correct tightening top screw is not tightened as much, but everything feels good. Because I'm 47 and never the most flexible person in the world I told them just flip the stem and I'll see how it goes. The fit is not as good as it was but I maybe able to change seat position forward a bit to get it good or I could get a different stem, but honestly the look of a riser stem with the slam is fairly lame. I also have not so much faith in the condition of the forks.

So I could

A. get a new fork $400 ish

B. Get a new (most likely used) frame and fork and swap everything over to it $1000ish

C. just ride as is and hope fork holds.

I had it in my head to get a new frame/fork next spring with my tax refund, but this may put me a head of my not so serious plan.

What's a 'tax refund'?

Why $400 for the fork?


I'd just get a cheaper fork.

Didn't you see where he metioned LBS?

Yeah, should be able to get a very good one for half that, even AT the LBS.

It is time for a new frame, and you know it. Just get a Workswell 066 from China for $450 with sestpost, bottom bracket adapter, and headset included. Best bike decision you will ever make.

Not sure I could trust a generic frame

How about looking around online for a new fork, with same specs as old? Probably cost around $150 max.

Then either install it yourself, or pay a shop to install. Shouldn't cost much.

I took this advice and it turned out to be absolutely correct.
What is ‘generic” Giant?

To me “Blue” might be a one-off custom highly valued by the six people who own one, or could be a “generic” frame sold in a Canadian box store.

The companies in China which make the vast majority of frames (and almost all the parts on your bike, regardless of the decal, was made in a factory in China) are only ‘generic” if a major manufacturer doesn’t order them and pay for them.

You could call them “direct sale” frames.

Or you could look down on them, and on all the tens of thousands of people who have been riding these frames for the past ten years and loving them. it’s cool.

We can all chuckle when people pay four times as much for a decal.
If yuo can afford $400 for a fork, do it. If it was me, I’d buy a whole frame, but if you would rather just buy a fork for that same cash, go ahead. Really, the only thing that matters is that You are happy with what you bought.

But seriously ... is the fork hand-carved by elves from a single block of unicorn horn or something? How much “design excellence” and “superior hand-crafting” does it take to make just a fork? I think the price is a little steep, is all I am saying.

Again, so long after everything is spent and you are back on the road, you are happy, none of the rest matters.

What is the fork steer tube material? Steel? Aluminum? Titanium? Carbon Fiber?

Perhaps the Soma High Rider Stem? Would you need to shim the top half of it?

High Rider Stem | SOMA Fabrications

Probably what I'll end up doing.

I guess I worry that a Chinese generic frame won't have the quality control of a more established bike company, and I do think there's value in supporting the companies that do the actual research instead of the one who copy it.

I agree with this. I think generic frames are probably fine, but to say the only difference is a decal is a pretty simple view, imo.

You are welcome to buy one of each and let me know how the two bikes turn out.

Of course we are All full of stuff ... but I sincerely doubt most of us could tell apart bike brands in a real double-blind, no cheat test.

And for those of you who make a ton of money and really think your purchase is the reason Specialized and Trek are in business .... Thank You. It is that sort of thinking which ensures I will be riding the latest Trek or Specialized design two years later for one tenth the price.

As for QC ... that is Real BS. As i said, these factories have been turning out parts and frames for a decade or so. People who need cheap affordable frames (say, to race as a "pro," which is someone who is broke because he spends all his time to try to race) have been riding the snot out of Chinese CF for years and years ... if they were unsafe the companies wouldn't still be in business. if they didn't correct QC issues, they wouldn't still be in business.

Anyway ... as I have said twice before ... all that really matters is that You get what You need to enjoy Your ride. How you live your life is your business. Hope it goes the way it should.

Do research and quality control increase the cost of a frame 6X or is MOST of the difference just more profit? I say the latter And what does generic mean? The Workswell frame is a brand just as much as a Spesh or Trek or Giant is. I know who makes it and who sells it. They just don't bother to put decals on it. BFD.