[Closed] New Steel Road Bike

Rourke For british

Pegoretti for Italian

English for, well US 😉

All at the top of their game.

Why do you want discs on a summer bike?' I'm planning a fixed wheel Rourke with TCR geometry, personally, as I like compact frames, and would like one in steel.

Friend has a few Pegoretti , lovely bikes but I’m just not ‘feeling them’.

i like the feel of good disc brakes (I’ve had expensive but crap mechanical discs and have good hydrolic discs) over rim brakes - I have decent Ultegra rims at the moment.

Rourke seem very good, the Donhou appears nice but it seems a fair chunk of cash for a stock frame?

Not heard of English but having had All City I’m not so keen on going American again.

I'd look at Shand or Mason.

2.5k is a lot on frame & fork, you are aware of

aren't you?

Oddity cycles for off the wall designs but to your geometry

Enigma steel

Not heard of English but having had All City I’m not so keen on going American again.

All city =/= English

That's like comparing charge with Rourke.

I think Rob English is actually English. He build custom steel some mad lightweight bikes.

As qwerty said, Bespoked is your friend. A top day out, made even more so if you’ve got money burning a hole in your pocket! You’ll have access to an incredible array of bike companies there, the majority capable of producing something along the lines of what you’re after.

I saw a very nice Hartley with disc brakes the other whilst commuting in London.

This actual one I think.
http://www.hartleycycles.com/jeremys-stainless-light-tourer

I'm 50 & been riding a Mason Resolution for the last two years.

Ultegra 6800 mechanical disc groupset, MasonXHunt 4 Season wheelset with Schwalbe pro one 28mm tyres tubeless. Fork is bolt through axle, takes full mudguards, internal cable routing - shifts are seamless. I'm 5'11 riding a 56cm. Looks lovely in gloss black &smooth ride.

I seem to remember Saffron frameworks making some ridiculously nice bikes. Also Feather. I've no idea what either ride like but they look great .

SVEN Pathfinder Light, that's what I've got my eyes on!

I was luck enough to visit the Casati workshop in Monza. It really is a small family, artisan business.
Not ridden one but their framesets are stunning. You see very few of them in the UK.

I'm glad I chose Ultegra Di2 over mech DA, but Ive never found my rim brakes lacking.

I have a steel Rowan Frameworks bike with integrated seat mast. It was about 3k from memory with an Enve fork.

He won bespoke a few years ago. It is a stunning bike but took forever to arrive.

i have seen a lot of Granule Frameworks bikes, also very nice.

Fairlight strael looks good.

http://fairlightcycles.com/strael/?v=79cba1185463

I have a Rourke 953,custom built to fit me and paintwork to my design. Would highly recommend, and the fitting session with Gareth and Brian is an experience on its on.
[img] [/img]
[url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/rjohnson76/34077534363/ ]2017-05-25_05-51-13[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/27678965@N00/ ][/url] - [url= https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dariogf.flickr2BBcode_lite ]Flickr2BBcode LITE[/url]

Thanks chaps some good ideas there.

no I’d not heard of the show - I’ll check the diary and try to make it.

One thing about Casati that I like is that Comtat the importers / bike shop are very close to me.

I had an 853 Audax  with carbon fork (Columbus Hive) built at Rourke towards the end of last year.  As already mentioned they are top class chaps and extremely throrough.  I already have 3 steel Genesis bikes (croix de fer, high latitude and vagabond) and although they are great bikes the Rourke is something else, i was taken aback by how natural it feels and surprisingly quick off the mark.

Im sure you wont regret whichever custom builder you go for as there seems to be a wonderful choice at the moment.  If youre anything like me youll spend several months 'perfecting' your component choice, then theres the colour scheme........

Field Cycles in Sheffield?

http://www.fieldcycles.com/gallery

Breadwinner Lolo!

Disclaimer:  I know Adam who owns Comtat.

i have a Pegoretti, a Chesini (both in Columbus spirit) and have ridden a few Casati's (the espresso/rs) and really regret getting the Chesini as despite the good tubeset is nowhere near as nice a ride as the Pegoretti or the Casat for a few hundred pounds more the Casati would have been the better bikei. I visited the factory a couple of years ago and was very impressed with the workmanship in both steel and carbon, there is a lot of experience and knowledge there, which brings me to the issue I have with a lot of 'new' builders charging £2-3k for a frame. Very fancy paint jobs but with very little rider input or a long history of building bikes for racers, that's what you get with a Pegoretti or a Casati and numerous other Italian brands that truly hand build (not the pinarello's/ bianchi's etc people pay far too much for) I want the 500th or 5000th frame out the door knowing it will ride well, not the 5th.

so my choice would be the Casati or a carbon Sarto 🙂

18 bikes in hope do custom built steel frames.

I was in yesterday and they were talking about sending people to get a bike fit with physiotherapist bike fitters and using that as part of the build.

Whatever you get, don't put deep rim wheels on it !!

100%

100% Field cycles

To chuck a few more hats in the ring, all of whom make some wonderful bikes here in UK:

August bikes

Feather

Quirk Cycles.

All have made some beautiful i've seen in the flesh. Instagram is a good start as a "virtual Bespoked", lots of framebuilders on there with photos of there works, and as you follow one or two, it starts to make similar suggestions.

My mate is an agent for Legend bikes and they look really nice!

Doctor D (Rohan) is a great guy as well.

http://doctord.co.uk/tales-from-the-attic

http://www.legendbybertoletti.it/en/

I visited the factory a couple of years ago and was very impressed with the workmanship in both steel and carbon, there is a lot of experience and knowledge there

http://casati-online.businesscatalyst.com/about.html

100% Field cycles

http://fieldcycles.com/about

the issue I have with a lot of ‘new’ builders charging £2-3k for a frame. Very fancy paint jobs but with very little rider input or a long history of building bikes for racers

Quite.

You'll not get a disc braked Pego anyway, thankfully. Have a look at Amaro in Bilbao:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/amarobikes/albums/72157629307685858/with/37414815420/

no idea how this new forum embedding works but this video sums it up for me.

//www.dorftv.at/embed/26825

or try here:  https://www.dorftv.at/video/26825

"get a nice website, rent a booth at NAHBS, call yourself a framebuilder"

Have a look at Blacksmith, Patrick's based in Holland but produces the best finished frames I've seen.

http://www.blacksmith-bikes.nl/

Thanks again for the input chaps.

From what I know/feel it’s a choice between

Casati Espresso RS in Columbus Spirit tubing, discs and internal routing. Custom sizing.

Or

Donhou DSS1 in Reynolds 853 Team tubing, discs, external routing, off the peg sizing.

Both th have their unique appeal, one thing though the Donhou doesn’t have the same length ‘pedigree’ as Casati - does this matter? Is Donhou as ‘good’ as Casati?

Take into account the fitting you will get. Rourke are top class apparently. Enigma just won best finish at NAHBS.

"The frameset will need to be light weight"

Lightest steel frame is approx 1600gm or so? (real weight), 853 probably more. Easy to get a carbon frame at <1kg.

"the issue I have with a lot of ‘new’ builders charging £2-3k for a frame. Very fancy paint jobs but with very little rider input or a long history of building bikes for racers"

Personally I can't see how either of those would justify a high price.

I think quality wise both Donhou and Casati will be first class.

Pros of Casati
Made to measure
Any colour

Cons Casati
+ £400 for disc option- I wonder how much the frame has been designed with discs in mind.

Pros of Donhou
Disc specific
Very pretty
Great reviews

Cons Donhou
Overpriced in my opinion
Not made to measure

I dont want to put this in pros and cons as its personal and I might be wrong but the Donhou looks to have more clearance for tyres which is a plus for me.

EDIT: There is a medium Donhou DSS1 on ebay right now.

Cons Casati
+ £400 for disc option- I wonder how much the frame has been designed with discs in mind.

Ask them! (or get Comtat to ask them)

"What changes to the tubeset have been made to accomadate disk brakes?"

i don't think anyone on here can answer that for you 🙂

i do know they have a relationship with Columbus and will spec tubing to their needs, they are not the only builder doing this but it's worth noting.

Great input thanksCTk and Mr Smith (I don’t know how to quote).

At the moment my heart says Donhou and head says Casati.

Why is it that you feel the Donhou is over priced?

May one suggest a DeAnima De Fer? I have ridden one, albeit briefly as it was slightly too small, and it was lovely. I now have one of their De Fer gravel bikes which I am in the middle of building up as a test rig. The quality of the welds and the finish are exceptional. I gave them a tough brief and they delivered.

Gianni Pegoretti is the man behind the welders torch. He knows what he is doing. He has been building steel bikes for years and can build you anything you want. The detail touches like the replaceable cable adjuster mount, the custom paint job and the internal routing for the rear disc are highlights.

They built a prototype carbon gravel bike for me to try which I then gave feedback on. After a lot of research, I settled upon a design which they were happy to build after giving it a thorough going over and feeding back their suggestions.

They build using custom Deddaciai tubing, are fully custom and disc specific, if you want it.

They are also really easy to deal with and very few can touch their experience and pedigree.

Oh and they used to build frames for the likes of Indurain although, of course, their bikes were rebranded to keep the sponsors happy.

Hope this helps?😀

For an off-the-peg frame the Donhou is expensive. The made in UK Shand Stoater is £1100. A made in Taiwan Genesis 853 is around £1k.

A custom Casati seems better value at the same price as an off-the-peg Donhou.

BUT you've got to buy the one you want! I reckon you should have a look at both maybe even a test ride?

I'm sure you would be happy with either but when I look at the Donhou it's available in only 3 sizes? It may fit you but not me. I want a 565 ETT and a 130stem and depending on headset type 155-165 head tube, if I'm paying that much for a frame I want it to be my size and no compromises, and not loads of spacers! (i Ike how my bikes handle with a decent length stem and I use a short reach bar so tops/hoods/drops are relatively close together and I use all hand positions)

personally I would rather have something that fitted like like a glove than something that I would have to make fit because of huge gaps in sizes. My Pegoretti is a stock 56 but I'm on a -20° stem and would rather have a shorter (custom) head tube and a 10° stem.

i stupidly forgot to get it shortened when I sent it back for a repaint

None of these are disc and I'm not sure how much postage would be but Y180000 works out as £1200 and for a Cherubim that is cheap!

http://www.cherubim.jp/store/

Oh and they used to build frames for the likes of Indurain although, of course, their bikes were rebranded to keep the sponsors happy.

I'm sure Dario would have a different opinion on the word "they"!

The other brand not mentioned is Zullo, there is also Cicli Barco who build for a lot of other named brands.

i still think a carbon Sarto should be considered 🙂

Reilly cycles , have 2 custom geo one in life and on 853. Both really nice. Stainless for next one

Just been looking at the Mason Rosolution - appears good value and pretty progressive?

Yes I get where you’re coming from with the Donhou and price for off the peg. I’m planing on a trip over to Comtat soon to see the Casati.

Tricky business this bike buying eh. I’ve managed in the past to buy the wrong bike for me a few times now! I’m trying not to do it again, hence the OCD research and questions.

Start feeding your obsession by having a play on https://www.bikecad.ca you can see the knock on effects of geometry changes & feed your results onto your builder. Don't rush into anything.

If you're anywhere near Leeds, Woodrups is worth a look. Long tradition of custom frame building, some lovely looking bikes. Mate has just got one and loves it.

At the end of the day, you’re going to ride it, (hopefully for a looong time) it has to be the one you’re happy with.

if i was spending 2.5k on a frameset, id be wanting to use a builder who has decades of experience, and has built hundreds, if not thousands of them.

Someone who has only built a few dozen frames and can do custom if you want it? Nah, i think I’d swerve that.

I'm not pointing at any particular company here, it’s just my opinion, but there are some companies who seem to charge the earth for what really amounts to a stock frameset with a nice paint job.

“Don’t rush into anything “

absolutely this^^

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HDXX5NDKSg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4wAeTk4wAU

Good call on Woodrup, lovely looking frames there. If I were going custom again (Roberts Columbus sl road bikes for Mrs kilo and i) I'd go Rourkre or Woodrup, established pedigree and relatively rare. Also having had a protracted process with Mrs kilos second Roberts easy to keep in touch with the actual frame builders.

I saw this GCN video last year and thought "That is everything I want in a bike, except with narrower clearances (as mine is a summer/road only bike) and equipped for eTap". 

Tom Sturdy knows what he's doing and is/was a pleasure to deal with. He's the chief instructor at the Bicycle Academy, has made a lot of bikes, is an ex pro Triathlete, and with degrees in aeronautical engineering and sports biomechanics he likely knows a thing or two about making stuff plus the way the human body works.

Mine is arriving in a couple of weeks time...  CAN'T WAIT!!!!

If you're after off the shelf then Genesis do the Volare disc and Bowman to the Layams disc. Both UK brands.

Thanks very much for all the input on this.

I th8nk that as long as I go to an established builder / supplier then I’ll be happy with what I get. Comtat and Donhou tick the right boxes so for me I think it will be one of those bikes.

I'm considering selling my 56cm Mason Resolution if your interested. £2250. Email in profile for spec

Victoire in France. Or Julie Racing Design if you can't stomach the 2 year waiting list at Victoire....(although they are now doing more of a 'series' type line of frames so the waiting list on those is probably less.