Forum menu
One for all the builders and the customers.
Here's the basic question: I have two bikes, the geometries of which are almost a match, but the other qualities of which I want to combine into one. To do so would require a custom build, but even then I don't know how possible it is. (You may have to bear in mind I'm tall and I'm talking about 62cm+ frames here.)
Bike One is a CAAD9. It's quite light, it's quite stiff, and the upshot of this is that it [i]feels[/i] fast. It's a joy to ride, it constantly begs to go faster, always wants to be in the 53, always skips its back end over bumps in the road like a galloping deer when I've got the hammer down. And it's also noticeably easy-rolling: this is my bike of choice for the longest, hardest rides because it just swooshes along even at cruising speed. This is all good. These are qualities I want from a new frame. The downsides are that it has no bosses/eyelets/clearance and there is a part of my mind that, no matter how hard try to I force rationality upon it, will never be quite relaxed about carbon forks.
Bike Two is a Surly Pacer. I never have to fear damage to the Pacer: it's all steel, and it's well-built. It has other qualities, too - like being much smoother on poor surfaces - but the one I really cherish is never having to think, rationally or not, about carbon. Its faults are twofold and, to me, significant: one, it's nowhere near stiff enough at the front (it speed wobbles excitingly and is a bit vague in hard corners); and two, it never begs to go faster, it's happy in the 38 and just shrugs if you throw beans at it.
Now, clearly I could have a steel bike that's stiff but lumpen and dead-feeling. Equally, I could (well, do, I guess) have one that's springy but not stiff enough.
I [i]suspect[/i] it's possible to get what I want, with thin-walled tubing, a nice fat downtube, and straight-leg forks (oh, yeah: I want discs).
But has anyone managed it? Has anyone bought or built a steel disc frameset that has the [i]joie de vivre[/i] of a good alu/carbon frameset? I'm happy to sacrifice the shock absorption of skinny, curved steel for the responsiveness of a stiffer build, but it needs to constantly want to dance along the road in the 53. A bike that does the distance is easy. A bike that sings and whoops while it does it is much less so.
Achievable? Or pipe dream? Or is titanium the only answer? (But I want a steel fork - can't stretch to titanium for that!)
Can definitely build something light and stiff with large-diameter main tubes, can also put a little spring in it with curvy rear stays, but with a completely custom frame the ride characteristics are always going to be guesswork. Educated guesswork for sure 😉
you could phone and book one of these courses http://www.downlandcycles.co.uk/ and build it yourself for the price its not far more than having a custom frame built dude
Jesus, if I can't shake the psychological niggles of a carbon fork I'd be constantly soiling myself on a bike I'd stuck together myself 🙂
I would spend some of the budget on professional psychiatric help to overcome your irrational fear of composites.
Will increase your bike options and you have the benefit of sanity.
Bez you will be supervised all the way by the guys there so you wouldn't have to worry, plus it would build confidence knowing how it goes together and having a better understanding of the construction and how strong the materials are dude like psychiatric therapy but with a frame forks to show for it at the end.
I should go into sales 😆
Sort of. Though that still leaves me looking at off-the-peg geometry, which IME is enough of a bugger in itself when you're 6'5" and want an audax-type bike rather than a straight racer or a gravel/CX bike.
I'll just pop this link here for your perusal
http://www.44bikes.com/44bikes_road.html
Steel, custom, road, disk, could have a steel fork. Need deep pockets though, and you will have to get in the que for your build slot.
ow i do like 44 bikes (insert drooling smiley)