Slave2Gus

OK, so it's a labor of love.
First time thread here.
I'm having a tough time carving through the morass of frames that are available. Maybe some of you would lend an opinion.

I've narrowed down to steel or carbon for reasons of price and ride. I'll probably be on a fairly small frame, 50-52cm, so angles should be tight.

I'm currently considering a Pegoretti Duende or a custom Strong for steel options. Thinking of a Calfee Luna for carbon if the geometry works. The chain stay on the Luna looks to be a full inch longer than the Peg. I am concerned that might impact its acceleration, etc. (but I really don't know!). I admit I haven't searched the carbon market to nearly the extent that I have steel.

I'm 155 lbs and, being a mountain state resident, can't help but do a lot of climbing and descending so a frame that leans that direction is desired. A somewhat smooth ride is nice as well since a few aches and pains from my younger years are having a reunion tour in my back but I would hate a noodle. Light is also nice but not at the expense of good sense. I will definately do a complete fitting before ordering.
Any thoughts are welcome.

Markedoc

I'd take the custom Strong in a heartbeat. Nothing like a bike built to YOUR specs and paint choice. Probably a few ounces heavier but who couldn't lose a coupla lbs off their gut anyways.

gmason

Take a look at the Casati Laser (steel) as well. Every frame is custom, and I love mine!

https://perso.wanadoo.fr/masong4/casati.htm

Hanzo

Don't listen to me as I haven't ridden any of the models in question but Pegoretti's are HAWT.

531Aussie

do you have any seat clamping/slipping issues with that frame?

sunninho

Oooh, I like the Casati Laser. I looked at a frameset on Ebay once and almost pulled the trigger...

samp02

The calfee you can custom the head tube which can make a big difference in dialing in the right size. All bikes mentioned are fine choices. Good Luck.

Slave2Gus

Yes, I am quite sure I need a head tube slightly larger than usual.

gmason

Not at all. The design of the internal clamp is their own - ten years or so ago, as I recall. Pretty clever bit.

Others have suggested that trouble could occur if ... any number of things unlikely to happen ... occurred, but if any care at all is exercised, I don't see an issue. And if there were serious issues, I assume they would have dropped it long ago.

I love it!

mwilding

I just checked Casati's site and may have to change my underpants...

Serpico

pegoretti, but I would get a different paint scheme--I think you can use any paint scheme you want, there's about 10 different styles

gmason

FYI, Casati will do anything you want as well. I happened to like yellow, and ...

531Aussie

I had some seat-post clamping problems with this Scapin (I've since sold it)
Does yours have the seat pin going through the seat stays?




that's cool

tell me again how much the frame was?

gmason

Mine is the Laser Piu, which has the internal cables. That is about 350 EUR more than external cables, and was 1895 EUR.

The seatpost slides down into the seat tube only. Where the top tube meets the seat tube, the seat tube is slit into a pair of vertical tabs that are like barn doors. There is an internal composite collar that compresses the resulting tabs around the seatpost. The little black cap near the back of the top tube on the off side takes a 5mm hex wrench to do the tightening via a bolt through that collar.

531Aussie

got a pic of the clamp?

I couldn't see one your collection.

gmason

No I haven't. Next time I take the seatpost out, I will try to remember to take one. But as it is a few inches down in the seat tube, it may not be possible.

BTW, I think just realized what you were actually asking re the seat stays. I think the answer is still no, as they intersect the seat tube a couple of inches below the top, unlike yours where the seam in the seat tube appears to split the seat stays. They in no way play a part in the clamping process.

Slave2Gus

Who sells Casati in the U.S.? (I may as well complicate my search further!)

531Aussie

How about totally complicating your search? This is an old post of mine from another thread. These are all the "good" steel bikes I could think of
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...oser+pinarello

I'm not totally familiar with the U.S. custom builders so I don't think there's any here


The Basso Viper is steel, but I’m not sure of the quality:
https://www.bassobikes.com/eng/home.php

The Cinelli Supercorsa is steel:
https://www.cinelli.it/eng/bici/telai...UPERCORSA.html

The Carrera Sheild is steel:
https://www.carrera-podium.it/eng/cat...eld/index.html

Casati
https://www.ciclicasati.it/EN/modelli_acciaio.htm

The Ciocc Pro Race is steel, and looks like a carbon rear (i can't get the English version to work)
https://ciocc.it/Pro_race.htm

The Colnago Master is steel and carbon. There's still '04 "Classics" around:
hthttps://www.colnagonews.com/cat2005...ster/index.htm

The Coppi Genius and Neuron:
https://www.wrenchscience.com/WS1/Coppi/Bikes.html

The De Rosa Corum and Neo Primato:
https://www.derosanews.com/

The Daccordi Fibra4Steel and Profidea are both steel:
https://www.daccordi-cicli.com/daccordi_eg/prodotti.htm

The Fondriest Status Plus is steel with carbon stays
https://www.fondriest-usa.com/framese...ame=statusplus

The Gios Compact Pro
https://www.gios.it/

LeMond has a few steels
https://www.lemondbikes.com/2005_bike...l_carbon.shtml

The Moser M81 and M85 are both steel:
https://www.mosercycles.com/10100.html

The Olmo Millennium Plus and Mecury are both steel:
https://www.olmo.it/en/catalogotelaicorsa.html

The Orbea Spirit
https://www.orbea-usa.com/fly.aspx?me...duct&taxid=235

https://www.pegoretticicli.com/#

The Pinarello Opera is steel with a carbon rear:
https://www.pinarello.com/eng/opera_scheda.php

The Salsa La Raza
https://www.salsacycles.com/frames_05LaRaza.html

Serotta have a few steels
https://www.serotta.com/pages/cda.html

Most Scapin frames are steel:
https://www.scapin.com/

The Specialized Allez Cro-Mo
https://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=9360

Tommasini make a few steels:
https://www.tommasini.com/eng/prodotti.html

https://www.torelli.com/home.html?default.shtml&1

The Viner Comp Line
https://www.viner.it/english/index.htm


There still might be some of these floating around


cervelo superprodigy


In case i've missed any, here's a list of just about every bike company
https://www.mikebentley.com/bike/bikemfg.htm

gmason

First do a Google search on Casati and bicycle and USA.

These may not be good names (at least in the USA), but I have photos from them: Campagnolo America; Lanterne Rouge; and RA Cycles.

531Aussie

I assume this is the US distributor: ZAR INTERNATIONAL , STAMFORD CT 06902

https://www.ciclicasati.it/EN/referenze.htm

Picshooter

There are many great choices.Saying that, I would recommend Strong. You owe it to yourself to at least talk to Carl. He builds a great frame at a nice price.

Slave2Gus

I have talked to Carl and he IS a great guy to talk with. Very informative. He is high on my list. I've had one LBS say that Carl has produced a few "less than straight" frames but he gets so many rave reviews from others (that don't have the incentive to sell me a frame) that I'm not too concerned. Plus, if it was out of true, I'd rather deal with Bozeman than Milan. I just need to decide if I want steel or CF. I kinda like them both for their own reasons.

gmason

And if you want a great frame from "home", you might be able to get a Richard Sachs. https://www.richardsachs.com/

And check here too: https://frameforum.net/

Thylacine

Geez Nev, thanks for the mention At least my frames aren't 1900 Euro. Crikey.

52 cm huh Slave2Gus? Hrm.....My vote is for steel. At you size and weight it will be plenty light and half the price of CF. But.....if you want CF and have the dough, why not eh?

Oh, and make sure you get a 72.5 degree head angle and 50mm rake fork. Accept no substitute.







Damn, just gave away a trade secret.

531Aussie

yeah, 1900 EURO, what would that be by the time it was exported out here? $4000?
ooops