Inexpensive but good framesets
 

I've been eyeing this frameset
BikeIsland.com - Bicycle Parts, Accessories and Clothing at Affordable Prices with Free Shipping

It's a little bit different than the 4130 steel framesets that are in abundance everywhere (new albion, surly, soma etc.)

Anyone have experience building up an all rounder style bike for touring, gravel, single track around it?

Meh
 

Steel... Taiwan. One of many Brands of Maxway Ltd. for various Importers.
(Go look, for yourself.. I'm even Lazier than you.)


NB; you can go on a bike tour without buying a special touring bike, you realize??


:innocent:




..

indeed it is.
it's aluminum.
it's a generic unbranded no-name.
and rear spacing is 130.
can prolly get it on taobao for $30.



you should buy it and try it. take photos and keep us updated.

seller on ebay has essentially the same frame
https://www.ebay.com/itm/253736960994


and freakin' wally-world has bike frames!
Cycle Force Cro-mo Cyclocross Frame, 58 cm $76.11
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Cycle-For...58-cm/37453694
free shipping!


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...bd8ef1d68b.jpg

It seems like a pretty solid deal. I have dealt with Bike Island a few times and they have been great. If you go to Bikes Direct, you can probably see some pics of what that bike looks like built. Most of their cross bikes have pretty racy ergos. You may be wanting something a bit more relaxed for an all arounder.

If you have a rich relative it would be better to buy a complete Trek 920 and make thousands of dollars in modifications to get just what you want.

I think that is a canti boss.

i rather like the idea of getting an aluminium frame with 130 rear that can't be cold-set to use modern hub spacing, and getting some billy-bob at a cambodian night market to weld the carp out of it.:crash:

No. Higher up. Just under the black seat post collar.

methinks that's a cable stop for canti brakes. looks to be a little add-on doohickey attached to the seatpost bolt, rather than a braze on.



see closer ups in the black and silver gallery...


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...28093611c8.jpg


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b3e97f04f8.jpg

looks something like this...
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...62632f996b.jpg

So much odd stuff in this thread.

- the bikeisland frame is called a Dawes brand. In the text, it's referred to as a Motobecane frame. In the text there is a link to KHS' website for frame geometry.
absurd- all of it. The site needs to do a better job of hiding that they own the Dawes and Motobecane USA brands. Its inconsistent- sometimes the site refers to the brands as separate and sometimes the site acknowledges what most everyone already knows, that the brands are just names and its all the same operation.
why is there a link to KHS?! I would be pissed if i were KHS. Using KHS' site is not appropriate and I'm 95% sure would need to be changed if challenged.

- the cycleforce frame that was added into this thread is a generic frame that if purchased, will come in a box with nashbar printed on the outside. Cycleforce is a local(to me) distributor and has the rights to a bunch of cheap brands(as well as Merckx and Ridley, go figure). Why tyey have the old Nashbar frames is odd. But in a related note, Nashbar no longer lists their generic frames on their site so maybe this is a closeout of product that used to be on a closeout website.

- that thing in the back of the frame is a brake cable stop. It connects to the frame using the seatpost binder bolt and can pivot.

- the bikeisland frame cant take a road or cyclocross crank with external bearings. That eliminates about 95% of new cranks that are good quality. What a totally useless design.

- the linked ebay listing is for a totally different frame and fork.

- not sure why 130mm rear spacing is bad per some here. It's road spacing and this is a cyclocross style frame that could easily be ridden on the road if built with that intent. The off crank limitation might keep it from being worthwhile on the road, but 130mm spacing is hardly anything to care about. My gravel bike is 130mm spacing and I just use road hubs instead of mtb hubs. Yup, that's the only difference.

- I wouldn't build a bike for singletrack around this frame. Wouldn't be fun to ride, at least not for me.



This concludes the informative session on the thread. Everyone can resume d
pointing out the rear spacing as if it matters and making trek 920 references.

Don't bail out on educating me yet. Why can't this frame use an external BB?

no idea why. The product description says it can't.

NOTE: Due to the width of this frames chain stays external bearing road/ cross crank sets will not work. This frame will need at least a 113mm bottom bracket spindle for the crank arms to clear


one more thing I missed the first time around is the fork weight . 700g? My steel road forks weigh 750g +/- 50g. And my steel cantilever gravel fork weight 825g.
hardly a great weight savings. That must be thick carbon combined with the aluminum steerer.

OKay. This is getting weirder ...
 

Here is what I found out.

It's actually a KHS frameset called, the KHS Flite CX200. Here is what the bike looks like: https://khsbicycles.com/05_cx_200_08.htm

It looks like a frameset from the 2008 onwards which explains a lot of the weird things such as the the reliance on a ST BB.

The reviews of the bike are quite positive those that I found: https://www.cyclingweekly.com/review...s-cx200-899-99 and
KHS CX 200 | Cross Bike Review

The latter review claims "With it's added support for pannier racks and fenders" but I can't see how in the bikeisland photos.

The frame itself isn't so bad. Made in Taiwan (according to stickers in pictures). Double butted 7005 ALU frameset weights 1600grams (not bad for 2008). The fork is a pig like many of the CF forks from 10 years ago (I swear they just wrapped some heavy CF around a perfectly good fork to say its a CF fork)

Geo is attached

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...31a350a38.jpeg

I found a frame at a local dealer. It's an aluminum 830 Trek. I was struck by it because it was so light. I looked it up and found that particular model was only made for one year, 1999. That makes it almost 20 years old. The headset tube is I believe large for the time @ 1 1/8 inches. It can accommodate a modern threadless fork. Somebody tried to take out the bottom bracket bearing with a chisel or something, destroying the socket mount. I managed to cut it out without hurting the threads and when I installed the new sealed, square taper, bottom bracket bearing the frame weighed 2.263kg/4.99lbs. I think this is pretty light, but would welcome input.

I looked up the Trek 830 AL. There wasn't anything remarkable about the bike except the price. Almost $440.00@1999. It had V-brakes front and back. A spring loaded suspension fork. The only thing going for it was that frame and that is what was left when I found it. I'm thinking of putting on carbon forks with a Hydraulic disk brake on the front. There is no mount for disk brakes on the back. It has the modern replaceable mount for a current style rear derailleur. The front derailleur is just a simple clamp-on tube style. I don't know if there is anything better. I was thinking carbon seatpost and perhaps spend some real money on a saddle. I was just going to use a straight handlebar with a carbon neck and good ratchet shifters. I haven't made up my mind about the wheels yet. Modern carbon wheels would more than double the cost of the project, but I might have a bike of competitive weight. Let me know what you think.

^ Sounds like a cool project. Just make sure the fork you get for it has the right specs. The length from axle to crown will be most important since it previously had a suspension fork. Decent disk brakes front and rear canti would be fine. You might be able to find some AL wheels that are still light weight for not too much. It’s a lot cheaper to save weight on tires than wheels, so go high-end there and check the weights. Dollar per pound, I don’t know that a carbon stem would be worth it if you’re trying to keep the budget from skyrocketing. You could probably outfit it with 9sp xtr for pretty cheap. 9sp xtr is light and shifts beautifully. Whatever you do, I bet the bike ends up light and fun to ride.

Thank you for the fast reply. I'll keep those tips in mind. :)