I’m building a second bike for fitness riding. I’ll ride about 500 miles per month and the average ride is 40 miles. I’ll also ride with a moderately fast group once a week, we average 18 to 20 mph, but will stay above 21 mph for most of the ride.

I’m looking for a lighter & stiffer road bike, I’m currently riding a steel Cyclocross bike and will continue to use this bike for century & 200k events. I usually fit bikes with tall head-tubes better than bikes with short head-tubes and like the fit of “endurance” bikes more than sprint-race bikes. At this point I'm considering a Soma Smoothie, but would like to know what else is out there.

I'm open minded in terms of steel, aluminum, or carbon. I'm a bigger guy on a bigger frame and I'm not a weight weenie. I'd like a good climber & sprinter that is not excessively harsh riding.

Frameset or whole bike for $750? As far as framesets many will say Specialized Allez Comp.

This

Inexpensive carbon frame. I have a 5 year old PedalForce QS2 that's been great. I've used it for races and for many group rides.
If you're willing to deal directly with China you can get carbon frames quite cheaply. But with that you have to assume that there's not much in the way of warranty. If you go with a reseller like PedalForce there is.

Hi,

The Allez has been on my short list. The PedalForce is above budget, but not by much.

These bikes have been considered and researched. I would probably like any of these;

Steel;
Soma Smoothie
Surly Pacer

Soma uses a heat treated Tange Prestige tubeset, Surly uses 4120 Cro Mo

Aluminum;
Specialized Allez
Ridley Compact
Planet-X Superlight Team Aluminum

The Specialized Allez has a tapered headset with a 1.5 inch lower bearing. The Ridley is triple butted, light & beefy. The Planet X has a shorter headtube but is the value leader, Is it too cheap?

Carbon Fiber;
Planet-X Pro Carbon SL

Here the Planet X looks like the value leader @ $500 for the frameset, but is it beefy enough for a 210 lbs rider? Should I just stick with Aluminum?

I'm in the same boat for a future build.

I'd appreciate any knowledge of best bang for the buck frame for around $600.

Currently I'm sitting around 150lbs, so frame strength is probably not an issue.

ebay carbon. $300 or so for frame + fork + sometimes bottle cages.

Those soma frames are nice. I second the 2011 Allez. Cheap, nice, light and lifetime warranty. Another option and I don't know what their prices are is call up Jade Cycles over in Holland, Michigan. I hear they have been making their own stuff or having stuff made.

I would trust a lifetime warranty of Allez or a steel Soma over some cheap chinese frame with zero warranty off ebay.

You can get some high end framesets for 750 on ebay if you look around. I saw Fuji SST 2.0 frames for 750 this spring.

I have done what you want to do, although in a different manner. (2) years ago, I bought the Specialized Allez bike, so that I could start riding again. I bought it knowing that I was buying a nice frame, that I could get on the road and then customize it to what I wanted. As of today, I have changed out everything but the cranks and stem. I cannot speak for the other frames but, I can say that the Allez responds well to just about every condition: uphill, downhill and flats. I used to race and I would feel very comfortable with this frame in a road race.

I can speak to the Ridley Compact which is a handy bike I enjoy riding. I bought it to be my main commuter/rain bike but wanted a bike that I would enjoy riding since I like to work on training during commutes. In this regard the Compact has served its role very well, so much so that I take it on long group rides as well.

https://www.competitivecyclist.com/za...RODUCT.ID=6675

ridley compact at competitve cyclists in large or x-large for $399 on clearance.

DO IT

If I was 150 lbs, I'd go for the Planet X carbon. At my size, this frame is less than ideal, and could be a little flexy.

Jade Cycles looks awesome. Custom carbon, who knew? Outside of my price range. A warranty is a must, I agree.

The Allez does look very good. I've been able to find complete bikes for $750 with dealer support. I have a Sram Apex group, but I might use the standard drivetrain for a while before upgrading. The standard drivetrain would find a home on a winter bike by years-end.

The Ridley looks solid and has a lust factor the other bikes don't have. I have a Ridley fork on my CX bike. It's smooth yet solid and helps the bike carve up the road during high speed decents.

Yep, that's my size ;-).