knobster

I did the exact same thing aballas. I have a carbon bike and didn't like the ride. Very stiff and wasn't pleasant on long rides. I wanted to try a steel frame and looked at the Soma line. I thought they were pretty heavy and I've read a lot of reviews on them and a lot were unfavorable. The geometry was odd also. Very short head tube. That was also what pushed me away from them.

I ended up finding a 2004 Bianchi EV Boron frame off my local craigslist for $400 in perfect condition. I've seen several on EBay and other craigslist areas. It rides exactly how I was wanting and is extremely comfortable.

aballas

I guess I shouldn't really call it harsh....it's just not the ride quality that I want...

dykim90

forget budget and get the colnago master x light. bling bling!

aballas

That's looking like the route i'm going to end up taking...wait until someone makes the same mistake I did and sells an XL Boron....then jump on it... lol

I loved everything about that frame...it was just a tiny bit on the large side..which was why I ended up selling it...

sced

One can buy a nice steel frame on Ebay for less than a $100. It may need a repaint though. I've bought two lugged Reynolds 531 db frames & forks over the last year for about $80 ea.+shipping.

Unagidon

Aballas:

I think you should first know what geometry you need, specifically reach and stack. That will help in your search a lot, and will help you judge on paper what should / should not fit.

I know you have a fork already - assume it's 1 1/8 inch. That limits you to relatively newer frames. I would go the Gunnar route - guaranteed quality and I don't think it's much out of your price range.

As you can tell from my sig, I love steel (and carbon & Ti). I bought my Miyata (1991 NOS, can you believe it) for about $400. Beautiful lugged, triple butted splined tubing. Originally had it all updated to Ultegra 10 speed, then, I saw the blue 1998 Ritchey tig welded Road Logic at my used LBS. Took a test ride, and fell in love. So now, all the newer 10 speed components are on the Ritchey while the older 8 speed stuff is swapped onto the Miyata for trainer duty. Guess what I'm saying is - be diligent on Ebay / Craigslist and you'll find something. You may end up, however, with an older bike and your fork will just sit there.

Good luck!

mazdaspeed

I would try to find a Columbus slx frame.

ultraman6970

No new stuff has this tubing, the OP should go to ebay or CL and locate something out there.

Paul01

I vote for used 531 or Columbus lugged frame for the feel.

High end Raleighs or Falcolns, (hard to find) DeRosas, Colnagos,, Cioccs, and Masis fit the bill.

littlewing6283

i was in a similar position while looking for a steel frame

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ghlight=gunnar

ultraman6970

Just in case that the bike says it is 531 or columbus doesnt mean that all the tubes are what the sticker says, in a matter of fact the only way to get what the sticker says is to go custom (talking about regular steel tubing, not oversize). No asian made steel bike has the 100% the real tubes, unless u get an european 90's and before frame.

Lightingguy

I just built up a Smoothie. Wonderful bike, very nice riding frame, very predictable handling. This frame is Soma's road racing model, yet still has eyelets for a rack and fenders, just not quite as much clearance for larger tires as their Smoothie ES or Stanyon.

I also ride a Tommaso Team Carbon (Randal Scott house brand) which is actually a great riding frame, as nice as my Klein's from the 90's, but the Soma is every bit as nice a ride, just not as responsive to pedal input as you would expect from a steel vs. carbon. The Soma replaced a Lemond Titanium and is every bit as nice a ride, while MUCH less expensive.

I purchased direct from Soma as they had a white 56cm with matching white steel fork, which no other on-line site had. The steel fork allows greater tire clearance, better then a 28mm tire, where as putting an IRD carbon fork, or something similar reduces the tire sizes to smaller then 28, if that's important.

This was a very easy build up, maybe the easiest I've ever done and I love riding the bike, 150 or so miles in 2 weeks, which for the 2nd bike says that I like riding it.

I paid $575 or so with shipping, but you can save maybe $100 or so by shopping around. I saw Bikemania had these for $340 or so, but had no carbon forks when I tried to order, so you may have to order a fork from a separate vendor.

SB

big john

No, that was for the frame only, had a fork already. They're a little more now.
Sometimes Soma has specials on line, check from time to time.

BikeArkansas

My Gunnar is on order and scheduled to arrive any day. The frame only cost about $800.00, a little less with a small discount from the dealer. I went with the Gunnar because of the geometry. It has the measurements I wanted. Actually I decided to drop the budget to get what I wanted. I looked at many frames well over $2000.00 (frame only) and kept going back to the Gunnar. I will soon know if it was a wise decision.

redvespablur

https://www.marinoni.qc.ca/Html/PiumaXpress.html

Starts at around 700 Canadian in spirit/zona

Extra 100 for custom geometry if needed. Pick your colours.

SalsaPodio

Not really. It has the same geometry as the Podio, which I, and a few others I know race on. I wouldn't call my position upright at all.

captnfantastic

i'm absolutely in love with the torelli corsa strada. eyecandy to the max. It's about 800 though. Worth a look definately. I've seen an orange one built up with campy 11 and i was smitten.
https://www.adrenalinebikes.com/store...roductid=78875

aballas

Update....

Well after finishing with the thread I actually managed to find "the one that got away" in my size on ebay...so I jumped on it... didn't care how much I spent on it, but I still think I got a screaming deal... $1000 for a 2001 Bianchi XL Boron. All original with all the OEM spec parts... Levitation wheelset, 10speed Daytona group, etc.... I'm so happy to be getting my old bike back, and to get back on the frame that really spawned my love for cycling in the first place

I couldn't be happier....I'm going to hold on to this one for a while....

I already might have someone to buy my old frame....have to figure out what to do with my sram force group though... I'm not sure if I want to put it on the bianchi just to keep it original.. If I do though i'll hang on to the Daytona group just to have it... The other thought is to put the SRAM group on my CX bike...might be overkill on it... so many decisions to be made... lol

https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

https://www.bikepedia.com/Quickbike/B...tona&Type=bike

Oostal

Congratulations!!!

That's a sweet looking bike! Looks to be in excellent condition as well. I don't think there is anything wrong with Daytona, so I wouln't change it out.

aballas

Daytona became centaur either the next model year or two later. It's a very good group. However Ill have a complete SRAM force group sitting around once I sell my carbon frame. I don't want to sell the SRAM, and i prefer it to campy. I just feel bad about making changes to such a great example of this bike. I might switch my cx bike to SRAM now....we'll see

knobster

Haha... I was going to suggest that one to you, but I didn't think it was the correct size. Congrats!!!

aballas

Neither did I at first, but It was listed as a "56cm" which they didn't produce...so it had to either be the 55 or 57cm frame... I emailed the seller for some more exact measurements and it ended up being the 57cm geometry... the size I used to have was a 59cm, and it was just a little bit too big... So the 57cm should be perfect...

I can't describe how excited I am to be getting this frame back after so long...it rode like nothing else...

Namenda

Nice bike. Its good to see you got what you really wanted.

knobster

Quite happy for you. I know I was extremely excited to get my EV and it indeed rides better than any frame I've owned.

malec

Late to the party. I ride a 2003 Masi Speciale Premio with 853. I guess they're not using the premium tubes anymore, but this frame still looks pretty sweet.