I would definately like to see a cheapish steel lugged frame... I'm in if that's the case!

building method being very cheap....

The roadie guys did it with Pedal Force, can't we just contact them and see what options they have for a track frame? The 550$USD frame that they got together on is a great deal I think, couldn't the same thing work for a track frame?

Their cf time trial frame has track ends. Only a 72.5 degree head angle though. It might be a ***** to do a run spaced to 120 too.

http://pedalforce.com/online/images/aeroblade1.jpg

Hrm, too bad, that thing looks like it has potential. CF would be fun on the streets.

Most of the higher end CF frames have hand laid carbon around at the "lugs". It may be cheap and easy to make the tubes (just like steel and aluminum), but the assembly process in many cases is as labor intensive as lugged steel.

This reminds me of that Redline 925 thread. Everybody wants something different... Ti, Al, Steele...that's assuming everybody's going to want a track frame, and has consensus on the geometry. I can also see the whole order getting screwed by flakey buyers/too few buyers.

But after factoring in stateside redistribution/shipping costs, possible import taxes, production oversight expenses, wouldn't it just be easier and cheaper to buy a Windosr Hour or bareknuckle something, which would probably be the bike you'd end up with?

This guy does a new custom for $850.

http://jacobsbicycles.com/

Here's another custom for $755.
http://curtlo.com/pricing.html

I'm not going to do it because if I do I'll buy one, but why doesn't somebody email EAI and just be like "how good of a price can you make us on 50 bareknuckles?"

As far as steel goes though, it doesn't seem like there
is a shortage of quality NJS frames coming stateside,
in fact the quanity only seems to be increasing. If you
want steel, you can get it cheaper, and with an arguably
better build quality than what you'd expect from Taiwan,
by just going through Japan.

That pedalforce frame is used by a stupid number of companies for TT bikes. 130mm spacing though.

http://www.karbona.com/pro/b-1-4-7-b.jpg

I think they do it for less than $800 shipped anywhere in the world. They have great communication but if you ask them about the frame, careful cause they think you are buying one and will write up an invoice.

email out to EAI, we'll see if they respond

A) Curtlo doesn't make track bikes
B) $755 is for a mountain bike

Why even bring this up?

A. Yes they do.
B. You can get a custom mountain or road/track frame for $755.

moki said: "2nd hand NJS frames, except for maybe 3Renshos and Nagasawas, run $4-700, including a quality BB and HS. If you know of a builder who can even come close to that price, I'd like to know."

Curtlo = $970 with a fork.

i think this bike has to be affordable lugged steel, or maybe Ti. There are just too many good welded steel and Al frames out there. I think Rivendell gets some of their frames brazed in Taiwan. Probably the Bleriot, which I've seen for mebbe $550m and that's with a hot paint job.

I think if trying to get a group buy from a framebuilder would be a bad idea. Why not look into bulk purchases of existing retail frames? People do it with car parts all the time.

More like $750, and thats bottom of the line overseas tubing/labor. The paint job isn't special at all, and it uses 650b wheels.

It's really heavy too.

Count me in for a CF frame.

greg want bareknuckle! greg want bareknuckle!! someone send the e-mail.

its been done

hmmm, i'm late to this thread, but it sure has potential.

As much as I support the idea of getting a run of relatively affordable Ti frames for everyone, I think the idea of a cheap steel or Al frame, designed to be a total beater would be easier to pull off. I think there are a lot of us on the forums that simply don't have 900 kicking around to drop on a bike on short notice, or even 500. I certainly don't, nor do I have the money to drop to outfit a 500 dollar frame (admittedly this is because I just bought a new mountain bike, but still).

However, if you said I could get a beater steel frame for a $100, I'd say hell yeah, I've got parts kicking around that I could throw on that and what I don't have I wouldn't mind being cheap on. Also, I think we'd be more likely to see people do some crazy **** with the frames and come up with some interesting builds, whereas if you throw everyone here a Ti frame, you're going to see a bunch of superlight racing builds. Hot, yes, but not all that interesting especially if there's a lot of them.

anyway, just my .02

i'm with bluedog,
sub $250 AL or steel frame (in a color other than black)
and I'd be really interested...
ex: iro mark v in a custom color
of course I don't sell frames for a living so I don't know how easy that is

i don't see $100 happening. if you really want a steel beater, there are plenty of older frames kickin around that you can get on craigslist or ebay.