What Frame Should I Get?
 

LBS that sold me fuji track in November of '08 didn't lube seat post, and as a newb I never lubed it either, so the seat tube is now seized. I feel like I have kinda outgrown this frame and was looking to get something nicer, so I was thinking about getting a new frame and just transferring over my components, some of which are decent (mavic ellipses, selle san marco).

I was originally interested in stuff like cignelli vigorelli, felt tk2, and fuji track pro, but i really don't think i'm gonna mess with aluminum in the street. i really like nagasawa frames and all that njs stuff, but this is a bike that i'm gonna chain up at the bar or at work or whatever so i'm hesitant about bashing up a nice frame. a friend had the same situation and ended up getting a pake (w/ alternate fork), which is probably a fine frame, but i would like to get something a little bit nicer.

any ideas? thanks

edit: here's the seized up bike http://bankbank.net/img/fuji.jpg (those are road drops, getting nitto track)

Price range? Intended use?

soma rush or IRO angus would be my suggestion. If you want some lugs, go w/ Alien

locking up outside? in nyc? i've never lived there, but i imagine it's like any other large city. nicest i'd ride would be a langster if i wasn't bringing it inside. otherwise get whatever you want to pay for.

Why? Did you let this forum scare you away from the most common frame material used for bikes these days? There are plenty of folks that ride aluminum road bikes every day and don't explode.

Keep in mind that there are some folks who have invested in steel bikes that would have you believe that any other bike is sub-standard.

I laugh when I hear "Steel is Real". Yet, steel is not on the periodic table, yet Aluminum and Carbon are. Hahaha!

Also, if you live in Brookly (as your profile states), just about any bike is subject to being stolen. That's just life in the big city.

I would suggest that you only invest as much money as you wouldn't mind having stolen one day. Any "nagasawa frames and all that njs stuff" would likely be stolen very quickly as professional thieves will spend their time and efforts on stuff that can be sold easily at a fairly high price such as a nagasawa frame.

So, you sort of have some thinking to do. Either build a bike that you don't mind being locked up in Brooklyn for hours at a time, or build a "sunday bike" that you hold on to all day (I'm not knocking this because that's what I do. I don't even carry locks anymore. If I can't bring my bike in...I don't go in.)

but steel is a circle and aluminum is a square, remember?

also njs bikes are steel and njs is the best seal of quality, remember?

You're being sarcastic, right?

why would i be sarcastic about steel?

the compliant ride really helps me reach cycling nirvana when i'm riding brakeless and doing battle with traffic

Umm, I don't think you would want to ride a bike made out of elemental carbon...
And I'm pretty sure aluminium frames aren't made out of pure aluminium either.

That argument is just as ridiculous as "steel is real".

would spend up to $700 on frame. intended use is primarily commuter (i only take the train to work, everything else is bike), but i also ride my fixed gear bike in prospect park and would like to get a 2nd cog and start going to kissena every once in a while.

PedallingATX: thanks for suggestions, will look those up.

looks like the thread got derailed a bit, but here's some other questions answered:

locking up the bike - i'm not worried about it getting stolen, i'm more concerned with some idiot food delivery guy smashing his MTB up against my aluminum frame and denting the **** out of it. i just don't want to deal with that. i read in another thread that many of the alu track frames i mentioned are very easily damaged, so that's why i am hesitant to mess with them.

also, my hesitance is based on lack of knowledge. many streets i ride on are ****ty, and i don't really know what aluminum will ride like on them. like jay st in brooklyn at atlantic mall, that road is fkn horrible.

i only mentioned NJS because my assumption is that these frames are high quality. i also think the lugs, paintjobs, thin tubes, etc are really nice looking, and i'd be willing to spend a couple hundred extra to get a frame i really liked.

This guuuuuuy.

Anyway I don't really understand why you need a new frame anyway. Seems like this is going to be the "beater" bar bike, so why not just get your LBS to help you free that seatpost and continue using the Fuji...it's a fine enough frame as it is. Otherwise, if you really want a new toy, buy the nicest frame you want and build it up as your "nice" bike, while keeping the Fuji to kick around.

In my experience, you really SHOULD worry about ur bike getting stolen. Living in brooklyn myself, having ur bike stolen is really not uncommon. My torelli was stolen about 6 month ago. Now my beater's a kilo tt for commuting (~12mi/day). Which is part of the reason why most of the components on my kilo is still stock. I just don't want to put too much into it. But in the end, what bike you lock outside is up to you. I'm just throwing it out there as a fellow brooklyn-er who got her bike stolen before.

I am currently piecing together another more expensive bike. But I would never EVER lock that one on the street. Basically what i'm saying is, you can keep ur current bike for running to bars, and also get another (better) bike for when u want to do longer rides that doesn't require locking up.

I agree with mrvile. Might as well keep it and fix it and build up a nice bike. That is my plan of action when I have enough money to get a new frame.

But pake are nice. So are EAI toyo Godzilla. If you want to drop some real money go for a carbon gran well pro. That will ride so smooth.

sorry to hear that. how were you locking it up? i always use an onguard chain for frame+rear and a kryptonite mini-u for locking front wheel to frame. as stupid as it sounds, i wouldn't be averse to carrying a third lock, some sort of light mini-u.

as for the suggestion about keeping the current one and building up a new one, it makes sense and that's what i'm gonna do. throw the stock fuji wheels back on the fuji, put the mavics on the new frame, get a new drivetrain (yessssssssssss), use some parts i have lying around and i've got 2 complete bikes.

looking at a delicious torelli corsa pista frame on ebay.. *drool*

Umm...you are a bit confused.

Really?
You think this makes a good material for a bicycle frame? http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/2...2bleistift.jpg,

or this? http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/6...liffenblau.jpg

Steel is less than 1% Carbon FYI.

Yes, I have some understanding what steel is. So?

Mainly i was stupid at the time. But I see seats, wheels, and handlebars disappearing from bike on my street all the time.

FWIW, i loooooove torellis. Super smooth.

So, Steel is an alloy of Iron, not Carbon. Iron is about 99% of steel, and Iron is an element, just as Aluminum is an element. Carbon is just an alloying element that helps transform Iron into Steel, along with other elements such as Manganese, Chromium and Molybdinum (hence terms like CroMo steel). Similarly, Aluminum and Titanium are alloys of those elements, so if you want to make an analogy, you should have said that you would not want to make a frame out of pure Iron, any more than you would do so with pure Aluminum or Titanium. Fact is, all metals used in bicycle frames are alloys of some principal element, and all can be used effectively to make a frame with any desired characteristics. So, I will agree that it is silly to say "steel is real", but not for the reason that you stated.

Actually the only point I wanted to make was that it doesn't make any sense to say "steel is not real" because steel is not an element on the periodic table.

I'm not even sure we are disagreeing on anything regarding this. ;)

can we talk about frames rather than frame materials? :(

Hey man, you're the one who opened up this can of worms with your statement "but i really don't think i'm gonna mess with aluminum in the street"

A little out of your price range but you could go for this http://www.cinelli-usa.com/frame_09supercpista.html

absolutely gorgeous frame

or, you could also save up about 1200-1500 and get something custom made with 853. This is my goal