[Closed] What steel roadbike frame

[i]Did you know that a £250 Enve carbon seat post in whatever diameter you care to compare (and bear in mind they are all the same length, i.e. 400mm) is heavier than a standard £70 Thomson Elite if you go for the 250mm version (and assuming you can get away with the shorter version).

[/i]

If you only needed a 250mm post you could cut the Enve one down, shirley?

9kg road bike? Sod that, it's not the 1950's....

Bikes weighing that much won the TdF as recently as 1997.

http://felixwong.com/2010/11/tour-de-france-bicycles-historical-bike-weights/

Is that 7.3kg without pedals? I could just about buy that.

With. Spec's above, fill yer boots. The zipp crank is sub 600g with cups, SRAM red is a few hundred grams lighter than di2. Seems realistic to me, my pego builds to 7.5kg with some silly light tubs.

Love the amendments on Lance 😆

I'd query Ullrich's bike weighing as much as 9kg when he was running Lightweights on it.

I don't think the 9kg quote for Ullrich's 1997 Pina is with the LWs. Think it's with Bora's

It's obviously a personal set-up, those bars look HUGE.

It's a hoptical illusion, the bars are in fact very shallow RHM jobbies.

Oldgit tubs or clinchers?

Veloflex carbon tubs.

If we are talking aesthetics, I'm much more offended by the grey cable outers than the wheels on the Volare.

I like the neutral of the grey, the frame is actually a dark grey. I can't stand colour coded cables.

Pretty impressive Bob. Wheels make such a difference and who wouldn't want to have Pegoretti in the garage.

IHN - Member
Hang on, did you but the Ritchey? Is jealous

Can I have first dibs on it? Timings perfect, it's my birthday next month?

Oi! Get in line. I baggsied it before he'd ordered the bloody thing!
(Why do you think I used reverse psychology to suggest it to him in the first place) 😉

If you only needed a 250mm post you could cut the Enve one down, shirley?

Of course you could, but having held and fitted one, it's a brave and unfeeling mechanic that takes a hack saw to that exquisite finish!

I think the subject of very high end steel frames is interesting. It's a case in point that form can still win over function and that material value is not the same thing as actual value.

By any objective measure, steel frames, no matter who makes them, can generate numbers that are competitive with Carbon and yet people, myself included, still want to own them because what is not to love?

I mean look at Anderson Custom Bikes:

[url= https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8591/16286948702_5e1ef8934c_o.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8591/16286948702_5e1ef8934c_o.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/qPdSqo ]IMG_0618[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/9179304@N07/ ]Anderson Custom Bicycles[/url], on Flickr

Who wouldn't want that in their garage?

Sure I would always want a race bike for, you know, racing, but if I could only have one bike it would be the Anderson.

geetee1972 my mate has one. Not at all precious with it, all day rides, trail rides, Audax the lot. t is really stunning.
[img] [/img]
This is his, light and fast as well.

My Kona Paddy Wagon with the same Ritchey WCS forks, Ultegra brakeset, decent handbuilt wheels and tubs, Ritchey finishing kit and no gears comes in at nine kilos, more with clinchers. I'll go with that; 9.1 kg.

Plenty of scope for lightness, but now from the Planet X parts box.

Who cares how much it weighs? You don't buy a steel frame for lightness but because they look ace and ride really nicely*

*obviously a rubbish steel frame won't but we're talking about nice ones 🙂

geetee1972 my mate has one. Not at all precious with it, all day rides, trail rides, Audax the lot. t is really stunning.

I already know that frame and have seen the pictures of it built on the owner's Flickr site (he is also the owner of a Leica so clearly a man with money and exquisite taste).

That frame is actually the first example of Anderson Custom Bikes I ever saw and is the one taht caused me to fall in love with Daver Anderson's artistry. Cool that you know the owner personally. Please pass on my compliments.

I now want an Anderson frame. Time to start saving.

I already know that frame and have seen the pictures of it built on the owner's Flickr site (he is also the owner of a Leica so clearly a man with money and exquisite taste).

That frame is actually the first example of Anderson Custom Bikes I ever saw and is the one taht caused me to fall in love with Daver Anderson's artistry. Cool that you know the owner personally. Please pass on my compliments.

And the past owner of my super wheels 😀

Gotta say, this is lovely....

http://www.kinokostore.com/saffron-x-death-spray-custom-road-frame.html

And the past owner of my super wheels

Don't you just love how the world turns...in ever decreasing circles!

You don't buy a steel frame for lightness but because they look ace and ride really nicely

But my 60cm steel framed bike does all of that and weighs less than 7kg fully built with sensible parts.

There are an awful lot of bikes in this thread with fancy tube stickers, which upon further investigation are just 1 or 2 tubes, the rest being scaffold pipe 😮

TheDoctor, hope mine plays nice. First road race of the season on the 8th March, and a dire road course. Hope I don't go home with egg on my face.
The Lightweights are only being used for crits.

oldgit - Member

TheDoctor, hope mine plays nice. First road race of the season on the 8th March

it will be sweet, the Genesis race team did alright on them 😀

From your last email hora:

Will drop you an email later

But my 60cm steel framed bike does all of that and weighs less than 7kg fully built with sensible parts.

So lighter than 50% of the bikes that the Pro Tour peleton are riding then? Really? Sub 7kg for a steel framed bike with 'sensible' parts? There's something missing from the picture.

geetee1972 - Member

So lighter than 50% of the bikes that the Pro Tour peleton are riding then? Really? Sub 7kg for a steel framed bike with 'sensible' parts? There's something missing from the picture.

Weeeeel

I dont bolt lead weights on it for a start, like most of the "pro peleton" has to! It really isnt difficult to build a bike below 7kg.

Depends on your definition of sensible, Super Record, Ritchey parts and nice Tubs, job done, could be even lighter with SRAM,carbon bars and better wheels. 😛

Who wouldn't want that in their garage?

Must weigh mine. All the parts are from my previous race bike a Giant TCR Advanced Pro, now that was light with sub 1400 wheels.
I've moved to steel so waaaay heavier, but I've lightened some components and the wheels customised are sub 1000g.
The massive 11/8" internal to 1.5" external headset nearly made me weep it's so heavy.

Sub 1400 g wheels are more mtb territory now a light road wheel can be 1200 for clincher easily or even 750g fur tub wheels

Got any pointers there orangeboy?

orangeboy - Member
Sub 1400 g wheels are more mtb territory now a light road wheel can be 1200 for clincher easily

Speccing/choosing wheels and Clicking "buy" is easy of course.

It may also be cheap or good value.

The wheels may be durable with readily available spares

Achieving all 3 may not be easy!

Question- would it be worthwhile upgrading my PlanetX bars if I was only spending circa 40-50 max? I'd want wide (better for stability?) and a lower depth to the drops. light too? Anything alu thats widely recognised as 'great'/big bang for your buck?

The Salsa Cowbell looks nice but its CX/prob not suitable? 🙂

Why not go for Ritchey WCS, very ligh and fairly well priced.

Stans race gold 29er wheels just under 1400g and mine are now a about three years old Id guess and been fine
Road wheels extralite in Italy
A second hand bike I got came with some old hyper climb and they have last very well also ,

Neither of the above are cheap but have lasted well and have mostly good spares back up

Not sure id go the tub route though

hora, re: bars, it's worth finding out* what width/drop/etc. you prefer before getting some 'nice' ones.

(*hundreds of kilometers, not a spin around the block).

i've got some planet X bars on my commuter, they cost about £15, they weigh 340g.

i've got those Ritchey bars on my 'nice' bike, they cost ......, they weigh 280g. but, if anything, they're a bit 'fat', so my hands ache ater a few hours. And, i now think they're a bit too wide (44cm), But i'm reluctant to change them, because they're 'nice' (i'm a berk).

Hora, Zipp Alloys for £24 and 44cm on eBay..

[url= http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_odkw=enve+handlebars&LH_PrefLoc=2&_from=R40&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR3.TRC1.A0.H0.Xzipp+handlebars.TRS0&_nkw=zipp+handlebars&_sacat=0 ]Zipp Alloy Bars linky[/url]

Edit, weight 195g (or thereabouts)

Deep drop bars may not be the best choice unless you're quite flexible.

They make it harder to ride on "along" bits in the drops IME, which can be frustrating.

http://www.merlincycles.com/ritchey-wcs-logic-ii-road-bike-handlebar-72413.html my favourite, and they match your frame. 42cm the 44's come up pretty big.

My money's on Ritchey Evocurve bars. They're stiff enough to be confident decending, but just enough flex to take the sting out of the road on the hoods/drops, and the drops seem well sized to give enough room for big hands but still have clerance for wrists. There's not a huge number of bits I'd buy again without reservation but they're on the list, light too, especialy with the matching 260 stem.

I dont bolt lead weights on it for a start, like most of the "pro peleton" has to! It really isnt difficult to build a bike below 7kg.

Agreed, my CAAD4 is 7.3kg, and that's been built on the cheep!

[img] [/img]

cynic-al - Member

Speccing/choosing wheels and Clicking "buy" is easy of course.

It may also be cheap or good value.

The wheels may be durable with readily available spares

Achieving all 3 may not be easy!

The wheels on that bike are 1275g (without QR's), the spokes are conventional J-bend's, the rims are Stans, the hubs are cartrige bearings (and so far, reliable), they're also stiff enough not to rub, comfortable, wide, slightly aero, what more could you ask for? And they cost <£300.

What are those wheels then? Apologies if it is buried in the thread somewhere

Those Logic 2s are my favourite bar shape too.

I run these on my cx bike ... Was a bit tentative at first with light weight but rattled them hard for nearly a year and all good ..

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=291113388742

I'd want wide (better for stability?)

buy bars that fit. if you don't know how to measure ask in the LBS.

I like ritchey logic II shape: not a huge fan of compact drops.

What are those wheels then? Apologies if it is buried in the thread somewhere

Assuming you're talking to me;

Sokin (novatech) hubs of ebay, also sold as Mr Ride and unbranded versions, often refered to as "288g hubs" I think there's a 260something.g version now too. 24/28 DT Rev spokes radial front and I think 2x rear, Stans alpha 340 rims.

Took a few goes to egt them built right and they're not stiff so if not doing it yourself with a lot of paitience and a tension meter then get someone who's really good at road wheels to do them. The first couple of attempts resulted in straight but not stiff wheels, 3rd time the spoke tension is perfectly even and they're as stiff as anything else I've used (and I'm 100kg).

The neg and neutral feedback on some of the last sales of that carbon bar purveyor...

Think I'd buy Easton if carbon. I wouldn't put Chinese auction hobbies on my mountain bike let alone road!

Pro's tend to use aluminium bars and I can't see any reason to use carbon, as there is little weight difference between them.

Try and find a Deda 215 in a shallow drop, they are ace bars. Shame EU standards mean they don't make them anymore.

Found em- will measure my shoulders too.

BTW/FYI the 6800 Ultegra BB arrived. The after market BB comes with a fitting adaptor included in the box so no need to buy anything additional.