I bet ~$150 or so for a IRO/pake level frame could be done with enough people.

I would be down for this. For some a Mark V would be a step up from a gaspipe conversion frame. For the folks with $3000 rides it would be more of a beater-ish thing.

It also seems the most easily doable of all of the options mentioned.

I'll email tony

i'd love a mark V. send the e-mail!

is this just for the frame, or frame and fork?

small problem is still that not all frames would be the same size -
I would be in if I can get a real 58cm frame+carbon fork

Frame only might be nice, since we might never all agree on a fork.

What do you guys think of a IRO type frame, and have a framebuilder like jacobs make a limited series of custom forks we can choose from?

Win-win?

Count me in for a bareknuckle if this gets off the ground.
Not for me. I'm looking for a step up from a Soma Rush.

I pretty much just threw $100 out there as a random number. I would happily pay 'bout 250 for something like this, as 8oh4 says, but 500 - 900 without some serious planning is out of my realm of possibility for a good while.

i'd be in if i don't go broke from it and if it's a good quality frame. CF would be sick, but i don't see that happening.
what makes bareknuckle so great? (not that i'm saying they aren't great, i just don't know much about them)

Brassknuckles? Why not, see if they can do it in a better colour cause the khaki colour is pure s***. If its below $500, aluminium (maybe steel), with no fork then I'm in.

pretty sureyou can get a brassknuckle for 300 or so already. it's aluminum. and that's with a fork.

Italian Dedacciai steel, no-nonsense aggressive track beast. No decals. Good value. Lots of good feedback from owners, search here and fixedgeargallery forums. (Businesscycles.com link)

I know, but if you could get them for $150 or even $200 each, then that'd be a good deal. I specifically don't want a fork, I have enough carbon forks to outfit any bikes.

c'mon guys! buying a frame and fork from a custom builder for less than $850 is unheard of. of course, we'd probably have to find a consensus on geometry, tubes and such. if i wanted a mark V for less than $200, I would just watch craigslist for a couple of months.

edit: i just did a search on my local craigslist and found one posted right now:
http://denver.craigslist.org/bik/258181822.html

I'd only consider giving up my Steamroller for a Ti frame. 52cm, everything else I can work around.

Perhaps the OP could start a series of polls in order to nail down a consensus on this frame. After 10 pages, no clear idea of what to order has been reached.

wrong

I may be the oddball here, but I'd like to have something with roadish geometry that will take fenders. I already have a nice track bike (Bareknuckle) and what I really need is something to replace my old steel 27" wheel beater.

Shot in the dark here, but how about a large order of Milwaukees, or pehaps Gunnar Street Dogs, or have someone build something along those lines for cheap.

Another thought....Have you guys ever checked out Nashbar frames? If not you should have a look. Nashbar offers some really nice looking frames for dirt cheap, and with no graphics on them. They have a steel MTB frame for $45, and several other nice aluminum frames for less then $120! The Carbon/Alu Hybrid AluC road frame is also really nice. If enough of us are interested, maybe we could get Nashbar to offer a low cost all purpose frame with track ends or horizontal dropsouts. Perhaps along the lines of Reynolds 853, like their orange MTB frame ($279). If they could offer a $200-250 Reynolds 853 or 631 frame, it would be the best deal out there. Hell, any one of their frames with horizontal dropouts would be a smokin' deal.

http://www.nashbar.com/results.cfm?c...it=y&pagename=

I had the same thought after I'd read a post on the Mtbr forums about a Nashbar MTB frame constructed from 853.

Also- The Angus is 631... maybe Tony could do a run of Mark V frames in 631, or even 853.

this tubing:
http://www.fetishcycles.com/images/n...es/sac_6lr.jpg
which sells for $100 on ebay
and this geometry and trackends:
http://www.fetishcycles.com/images/n...attack_5lr.jpg

should be close to $100 if you got fetish/leader/etc to order it for you. (probably well under if someone took the time to order directly from the factory.)

I love how every other post in this thread is someone saying if I could just get such and such a bike at a ridiculously low price that would be great, if we all get together we could do that right? RIGHT?

My guess IF we could all get together and agree on one frame (that's a big if), the price for it would still probably not be quite as low as some of you are fantasizing about. Those Nashbar frames for instance are so cheap because they bought them in bulk from somebody who failed to sell as many as they ordered, not because Nashbar went out and commissioned a bunch of frames, and Reynolds 853 for $250? Dream ON!

What makes this sort of group buy so cool is when someone comes up with something kind of unique that jibes well with the groups general overall aesthetic. I'm not sure if this group has much consensus on that anymore, but if I had to guess I would say a decent lugged double butted CroMo frame with track geo (I'd like a Path racer myself) would come closest to pleasing the most people, and staying within the range of affordable. Since there are already plenty of options out there, it would be nice to come up with a few nice touches to make it stand out. Paul dropouts? a nifty looking seat stay? Maybe polished head lugs? Agree upon a color, and have someone design a "SSFG Special" decal set which folks can apply or not as they see fit.

I already can't afford this fictional frame unless some of the more absurd fantasies come true, but I'd be interested to see what we all can come up with if we collaborate on this project.

that's the only type of thing i could see us all agreeing upon. as cheap as we could get it.

i'm interested, and following the conversation, but am not quite at the point where i could say i'm "in." consensus is tough...