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You could buy a quality used whole bike from a year or two ago and put the parts you want on it.
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Trek has aluminum framesets for $960 or buy the complete Emonda ALR6 with Ultegra for $2,300.
https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/b...olorCode=black |
I think part of the OP's problem is that bike vendors are stratifying the market.
Most people in the market for premium bare frames for scratch builds are looking for high-end equipment, and may gravitate towards carbon fiber. And the bike companies refuse to sell anything that they might only sell say a total of 100 per year (although there is some benefit of having bare frames for warranty support). Fortunately the used market picks up a lot of the slack. 2016 Cannondale CAAD12 Alloy Frame Carbon Fork Headset Size: 56cm, Extras | eBay $173 in shipping for a FRAME**********? cannondale caad 10 58 Cm Frame set Hmmm, $15.77 shipping is probably on the low end. ?? On the used market, however, you'll find a huge variety, frames, forks, different brands, just about anything that strikes your fancy. And, of course TITANIUM. Some will be a few years old, and you'll have to decide if that is acceptable. Colnago had some pretty frames in the early 2000's. |
Fuji Roubaix, allez sprint, emonda alr all come in a frame?
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Originally Posted by Bikeracer123
(Post 19925403)
Fuji Roubaix, allez sprint, emonda alr all come in a frame?
https://i.imgur.com/f8KFJ8A.png |
Originally Posted by CliffordK
(Post 19921478)
Hopefully I'll have an aluminum GMC Denali frame here in a couple of days. :)
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Originally Posted by wphamilton
(Post 19925617)
Just the frame, seriously?
Is there anything else worth using on the bike? |
Originally Posted by CliffordK
(Post 19925643)
:)
Is there anything else worth using on the bike? I was just wondering what you had in mind for it, or if you'd bought a new Denali. |
Originally Posted by wphamilton
(Post 19925681)
I still have the original fork on mine, which isn't really an answer to that. And the aero hoods which I kind of like.
I was just wondering what you had in mind for it, or if you'd bought a new Denali. What would you recommend? Campagnolo Super Record? Or do you think Record would be adequate? |
Originally Posted by CliffordK
(Post 19925694)
I think the frame is a couple of years old.
What would you recommend? Campagnolo Super Record? Or do you think Record would be adequate? I'd recommend a 1x8 setup with Claris and a d/t shifter. But if you're going to spiff it up, I guess "go big or go home" is a good motto. |
Originally Posted by CliffordK
(Post 19925694)
I think the frame is a couple of years old.
What would you recommend? Campagnolo Super Record? Or do you think Record would be adequate? |
This is one point about the OP's topic.
There are a lot of Shimano bikes out there. SRAM or Campagnolo bikes are much rarer. So, I could imagine the temptation to get a bare frame to build up with Campy or SRAM components. Also details like choosing one's favorite crank length, chainrings, and cassette. And, of course, wheels. There is, however, a thriving used market for "new pulls" if one gets a bike that is close. Trek has their "Project One", build as you like it program. I haven't been very interested in that, but it is worth looking at the options available. Hmmm, it looks like Project One is only CF, no Campagnolo, and very expensive. :P |
OP's best bet is to buy used bikes selectively. There are always going to be people who bought $3000 bikes and are selling them three years later for $1000 because they only rode three times. Buy a couple of those for frames and parts, take what you need and assemble the rest and throw it back on CL, and then buy whatever else you need, and there you go .....
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Cinelli offer the Experience Speciale frameset for ~$1k.
$650 here: Cinelli Experience Speciale Aluminum Frameset - Americancycle.com USA Also Shop ACEBMX.com |
Originally Posted by Maelochs
(Post 19926363)
OP's best bet is to buy used bikes selectively. There are always going to be people who bought $3000 bikes and are selling them three years later for $1000 because they only rode three times. Buy a couple of those for frames and parts, take what you need and assemble the rest and throw it back on CL, and then buy whatever else you need, and there you go .....
In the case of the Trek Emonda, off ebay I scored a virtually new Ultegra equipped SL6 carbon Emonda for a friend at a price of a new Al Emonda with lower groupset...actually less than. |
Originally Posted by mrblue
(Post 19920696)
... It seems like all you can get, from the big bike makers, in terms of aluminum frames, are complete bikes with parts you'd end up switching out, anyway. I guess carbon is the way of to go these days. Does anyone else have a fondness for aluminum frames? Or am I just cheap and old? |
Sorry, I can post links yet, but what about Ribble in the UK. I have built up a bike using one of their aluminum frame sets and it has been great so far.
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Originally Posted by J.Owen
(Post 19927475)
Sorry, I can post links yet, but what about Ribble in the UK. I have built up a bike using one of their aluminum frame sets and it has been great so far.
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Originally Posted by caloso
(Post 19927488)
It looks like a great deal and glad you can report that it actually is!
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Originally Posted by mrblue
(Post 19921546)
I should clarify. What I mean is, it is getting increasingly difficult to find a good aluminum FRAMESET ONLY, for $1,000 or less. There are plenty of boutique frame builders (Vynl, Low, etc) who make great framesets, but I can't justify paying close to $2,000 for an aluminum frameset. And, yes, one can get some pretty good COMPLETE bikes, which have great framesets, but usually those bikes come with sub par wheels and/or components, which one would have to pay extra to replace, so that sort of defeats the point (unless one can find a used frameset).
I agree the CAAD 10 & 12 is cool. I've thought about it but the 25.4mm seatpost is sort of deal breaker for me. I have lots of nice spare seatposts laying around the garage, but nothing in 25.4mm. I also don't like how Shimano doesn't make a BB30 or a BB30A bottom bracket. Yes, I know there are adapters, but, to me, it's just not the same. It's just one more thing that requires more fiddling and that could potentially go wrong. The Canyon AL frames are cool, too, but they are not available in the USA, as far as I know. The other issue I have with those is their over-sized stems, which limit one about as much as a 25.4mm seatpost. I guess I like to have seemingly endless possibilities for mixing and matching parts, so when a manufacturer does something like 25.4mm seatposts, it sort of rubs me the wrong way. eg. one example, but I'm sure there are lots https://www.merlincycles.com/eddy-me...16-101779.html |
Seems crazy to rule out the CAAD just because you have lots of nice 27.2mm seat posts. Doesn't cost that much to buy one nice 25.4mm post. One is all you need!
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Originally Posted by Dean V
(Post 19929891)
Seems crazy to rule out the CAAD just because you have lots of nice 27.2mm seat posts. Doesn't cost that much to buy one nice 25.4mm post. One is all you need!
So, with some luck, there would be no seatpost to buy, and no reason to raid the parts bin. |
I like aluminum ride the new emonda. Trek puts together a solid package with no need to upgrade
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As others have pointed out, Trek has the Emonda and Domane ALRs under $1,000.
If you can go up to $1200, I absolutely love my Allez Sprint. You should know however with the Sprint it is a very aggressive geometry, slightly more so than the Tarmac, so it will handle as such. |
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