group order frame
 

i've been wondering what the viability of creating a bikeforums frame and having a framebuilder build it at a cost savings would be.

for example:

we all get together and want to order a set of unpainted ti frames. we give the builder the following (arbitrary) specs:

Material: 3/2.5 titanium
Head tube angle: 74*
Seat tube ange: 74*
Sizes - 5 each with 52cm, 54cm, 56cm, and 58cm top tube lengths
seatpost diameter: 27.2
headtube: 1 1/8" threadless
bb - 68mm english threaded

could this result in a sub $900 frame for each buyer?

now the material could be columbus spirit steel, dedacciai fire aluminum or what have you. anyone think this possible?

Here's a $950 ti frame, no volume discount needed. Available in road or track version.

http://www.spicercycles.com/index.cg...cat_desc=Track

haha i was just looking at that and used it as a reference for the pricing on the theoretical ti frame.

I don't know if enough people would throw down for a ti frame, but I think it is entirely possible to do a group buy of a frame like an IRO/pake.

Don Walker often talked about $50 OEM frames, I bet you could do a large group buy for a frame similar to an iro/pake for under $150.


The hardest thing would be to get a consensus on what everyone wants.

Or, if you have an idea what you want (angles, tt & st lengths, etc), then yyou can go to the source and pick up the same frame for $600 or so XACD.

what about a BFSSFG steel frame?

that's what i was going to say

isn't there some Chinese factory wanting to do this in the $500-600 range or something?

for dutret and the other responses about XACD: would a group order drop the price more? I just used Ti as an example.

it might.
but then you'd have to consider the cost of a shipping container from china. Import fees. warehousing the stock once it arrives. Repacking and individual shipping once it gets here.
The Pedalforce frame group buy in the road forum considered going directly to the source and ran into these issues. It turned out to me much easier to work with the importer who handled all that annoying crap.

So what would probably work is a group buy of 100 or so IROs for a discount.
but that isn't very exciting now is it?

Haha, I was just in Xi'an in September. If I'd have know, I'd have gone there and looked at the factory.

I wonder how thick the tubes are. As a big guy I'd be afraid of buying a big flexy metal noodle.

a hundo bareknuckles, umm, debernardis? 100 yamaguchis! or force GT to do a limited production of rainbow Pulses:D

I might be down for the ti, or something dirt dirt dirt cheap.

Somebody look into those De Bernardis! Or, Bareknuckle!

I'd be in if we could get Matthew to resurrect the Kogswell Model G :)

Crate shipping and bulk orders are not that hard or expensive.

Quality control, on the other hand...that's a different story. (I'm a consultant)

You would need someone to fly over to the factory to inspect the run.

100 people throwing in an extra $15.00 a frame will pay for round trip tickets.

I'll go!

Great! How is your Mandarin?

[edit] Be prepared for costs to rise as problems arise. That means more trips, and production line adjustments.

I'd hit that.

I'd hit that hard.

You know what would be more cost effective?

Buying a batch of NOS frames direct from an existing manufacturer. You would be surprised how many warehouses are full of last years unsold/unshipped bike frames and parts!

Releasing the storage burden would be a boon to most companies, although most would not like to see last year's model compete at a lower price with this year's. It would have to be a no-redistrubution deal.

That means lawyers, and more upfront $$$.

i work for a law firm.

so what's the material of choice? ti, aluminum or steel?

this is a fantastic idea. put me down for ti.

Why don't you just ring Surly and ask for a bulk deal?

Richard

steel or al., I have a hunch that Ti is going to get complicateed and expensive fast

Aluminum. Make it aero and awesome.

Cheap steel doesn't sound appealing.