hi i'm new to this kind of cycling world, so i'm looking for a new frame, i heard steel frame ride better on the street than aluminum, so what should i buy? i like the classic ones like gios & bianchi type of frames more than track frames like aventon etc

Since you're over in SE Asia, you could either buy from Europe or US and pay similar shipping costs.

I would check out some of the bikes from Bricklane out of London.
They have a Classic R and Track.

The track model is standard 4130 steel, 1 1/8" headset/threadless fork, and drilled for front and rear brake.
They go for around $350

The Classic-R is more retro. It has Reynolds 520 (VERY popular type of British steel), 1" threaded fork (so you will need a classic quill style stem), and some chrome add ons.
It's a bit over your price range and $420-ish

Classic R at the top of the page, Track at the bottom.
Brick Lane Bikes: The Official Website. Frames

We have a member here that runs a shop in the US...you'll have to see if he ships internationally (it might be cheaper since he's on west coast)
https://www.retro-gression.com/collections/blb


Classic R (notice the 1 piece quill stem/chrome)

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Track version. Threadless stem/fork, no chrome.

Yup, it would be silly to look for a bike in Asia/Taiwan - they don't have any makers or shops there, do they?

i like the classic r champagne one, how much they weight? and actually there's a lot of fixed gear shop in taiwan, and there's a lot of Taiwanese brand like Loop, Rh+O, Wonder etc but I'm not sure because there isn't lot of information of the products, a lot of people prefer ride leader, constantine, and aventon here

I'm personally fond of the 17T "Kero" frame. Considering picking it up to make into a daily commuter, so I can save my Super Pista for special rides.



Currently $130, which is a steal.

Don't buy a BLB branded bike. BLB are obnoxious hipsters who don't actually know anything about bikes, and being a london based shop they exist to extract wealth from people with fat londoner wallets and tiny londoner brains. We're talking £36 for a set of toe straps here.

Well better tell all of the London based riders that hang out on the London fixed gear forums because I rarely see them have anything negative to say about their bikes for that price range.

That reasoning would pretty much exclude most popular companies, like: don't by any Cinelli Mash bikes because they're obnoxious hipsters and want a lot of money for their accessories. Same could be said for most of the popular brands...they usually make some of the best profit margins off parts/accessories.

For some reason the editing post function isn't working.

As for 36 quid being expensive for toe straps...you can easily pay 3X that much on the Japanese brands.
https://www.retro-gression.com/collections/straps

You're kidding, right? In the UK, BLB are considered to be a joke, to be clueless people. They're infamous for removing expensive cranks using angle grinders.

This just proves that BLB aren't even the best at scamming idiots.

I don't think I'd be using Cinelli as an example when trying to prove a company isn't overpriced hype bikes.

...what?

How do you remove cranks while building a frame?! I wasn't aware cranks came pre-installed on all bike frames, then are grinded off to sell as a frameset separately.

Brick Lane Bikes is not a framebuilder, it is an overpriced and underskilled shop in Brick Lane, London. They are famous for an incident where they cut off someone's 70s stronglight cranks using an angle grinder, and then acting like they didn't know why that customer was upset. They do not make frames, though they do buy Chinese ones and put their sticker on it.

Anything else you need clearing up?

I mean, that sucks.

But nobody here is talking about shops. We're talking about frames. BLB sells frames. I don't really care if they manufacture them or not. It's their brand, on a frame. There are 4,600+ miles between me and London. What a bike shop that far away does, doesn't effect me in the slightest.

in their defense some(all?) stronglights of that era do require a specific crank puller that is not widely available today. so if the crank wasnt being reused i see no serious issue with cutting it off, its not ideal though. also one mishap in service and the whole operation is ****?

Yeah, I'm still trying to figure out this anger towards BLB. It's like if I was ordering a frame from Ben's Cycle and someone tells me a mechanic there screwed up a BB shell a few years back. Uhhhh...what does that have to do with me mail ordering a bike from them?

I guarantee just about every bike shop on the planet had a bonehead mechanic or made a bonehead mistake at one point...no one is perfect. That's pretty much meaningless when simply ordering a frame from them.

It means quite a lot, because why would you buy a bike that has "idiot company for morons" stamped on it if you don't have to?

BLB is a brand that is thought of very negatively by people from it's native country, because they've done a lot of embarrassing stupid things, sawing through someone's very expensive cranks was just one infamous example. Their dorkiness is compounded by the way they try and make themselves be a luxury brand; it's like if someone bragged about owning a State.

To be honest, I'm a bit amused by them being put forward by yanks as an example of a good brand. It's like if you visited another country and the people there thought McDonalds was a five star restaurant.

Jesus ****ing Christ, I was only suggesting he go to the shop, talk to Louis and have a look around. Never mind.

OP - whatever you do - DO NOT SET FOOT in Brick Lane Bikes because "Cute Boy Horse" from the internet said it's a bad shop.

I don't want to speak for everyone else in this thread, but I'm not saying they're a "good" brand. This is a thread specifically for cheap frames. Sure, they make expensive straps, and $800 trispokes...but their frames are under $400.



I really want that frame. I don't care what name is printed on the tubing, I don't care what the head badge says. A steel frame, lo profile frame for under $400? Count me in.

Low profile/pursuit track frames are hard enough to come by, let alone a steel version. And considering that's all I want, I don't care what the physical retail shop does all the way across the pond.

You're upset, brother?

Not in the least. I just think you're being a wankster.

So, Scrodzilla, a guy who made a name for himself on these here forums for being abrasive, who even named his account after his ballsack, thinks I'm being an arse.

Quite the complement.

It should be. Most of my friends are asses.

I'd still shotgun beers with you and laugh about the 6'4" dude with the 54cm Dutch granny bike so I guess all's good in this hood.

Er, it's Scrod, not Scrotum.

Yeah...anyone outside of New England doesn't know what 'scrod' means. It's cool if people's interpretation is that I have a gargantuan ballsack though.

Marty frame from Murphy cycles. Lugged and 4130. I keep eyeing one but I'm also eyeing a Tempo frame for the same build lol.