Flying in the face of your complete dis-interest in my road related queries today:

What light, steel, off the peg racing frames have there been in recent years?

Waterford, Serotta, Gunnar to name a few!

WGAS.

😉

pegoretti

<drool>

</drool>

Thanks, but:

Waterford, Serotta, Pegoretti – Not looking for custom pricing x 3 thanks!
Gunnar – $800 for a 4.1lb frame? Are they ****ing us?

A few years ago Sintesi did a really nice light dedacciai frameset for £600 odd IIRC, anything like that around?

add condor, colnago,kona kapu,bob jackson,

Here's an old linky

http://urbanvelo.org/steel-road-bikes/

colnago master x-lite
enigma elite
also look at Brian Rouke, Mercian and Argos

4 lbs is not heavy for a road frame. A reasonable alu equivalent might be a lb lighter or so. Even at 4 lbs you'd only be looking at roughly 10% on the total bike weight for most real-world builds. Maybe the difference between having your water bottles full or empty – that kind of difference.

I have a Lemond Croix de Fer, but no longer made.

massi

Anything here?

So why do planet x not do them then?

another vote for condor "accacio"

geoffj – Member
So why do planet x not do them then?

Funny you should say that I have been in touch with Dave at planetx on the same subject with a steel version of there sportive Ti

his reply

mmmm , interesting , we have a good few bikes being planned , not specifically a steel sportive , which would be not too far from a kaffenback

Shame realy because I like my Kaff but I wanted something abit zippier

scapin, salsa, soma in diminishing price order

I'd buy an inbred-esque road frame or a Ragley Sportive?

geoffj

Try a Kaffenback (it is a geared version of the Il Pompino)I like mine and the pompino just want something abit zippier

i have a pegoretti but if i was looking for a cheaper lightweight race frame then a brian rourke would be my choice. he builds tigged frames with oversize deda tubing so no spindly lugged frame that rides like a wet noodle. if you look at his bikes the downtubes are often nearly the same width as the bb shell and the deda stays are triangular into round so good power transfer. a friend has one that replaced a cervelo, stiff and light enough to race on but comfortable enough to ride all day. you should be able to get one built (frame) for less than 1k.

the condor is nice too, but the rourke will be nicerer 🙂

Salsa Pistola

forgot about the enigma. columbus spirit tubing like the pegoretti's (apart from the custom heat treatment).
spirit is oversize and very thin .5 to .38 so the same wall thickness at the ends of the tubing as the middle of most lesser tubesets.

oversize steel is still relevant for race bikes, it's easy to get down to the UCI weight limit so the small weight penalty is worth the gains in ride quality imho

cervelo did the prodigy and super prodigy a few years ago. people tend to hang on to them though but they sometimes come up on ebay.

Wow alot more to go on there, thanks guys.

glenp – Member
4 lbs is not heavy for a road frame. A reasonable alu equivalent might be a lb lighter or so. Even at 4 lbs you'd only be looking at roughly 10% on the total bike weight for most real-world builds. Maybe the difference between having your water bottles full or empty – that kind of difference.

My current steel frame is <4lb and I want something better. It's not about overall weight but how the bike rides.

what is your budget?

A wee bit under 4 lbs is about right – very much lighter than that is going to cost!

Your comment about it not being about the weight, rather the ride quality, was precisely my point.

Yet another vote for a Condor "Accacio" (Italian for Steel!)

If you want a 58 in orange, I might sell you mine if you wish – my garage is fit to bursting at the mo!

I have a decathlon cobra 540 if you want 😉
Might be a tad small for you, but nothing a nice long stem can't fix 😉

Shame realy because I like my Kaff but I wanted something abit zippier

I would happily pay a premium for a Kaff with lighter tubing – 725?

Scapin Spirit – got my R8 a couple of years ago & it was worth the 6month wait.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190336539030&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

mascy I might be interested – hopefully Condor make better framsets than websites tho!

After many years deliberating I got a Roberts made to measure.

It's been excellent, I've riddden it all over the Alps and did La Marmotte this year. It climbs well and flies downhill. Superb frame.

IMHO what matters in order is:
Fit
Handling
*Cost*
Stiffness
Strength (particularly second impact…)
Weight
Aesthetics

kona_ona, can I be cheeky and ask what you paid for it?

go skip diving, plenty of hidden treasures in the small adds/gumtree too.

Why pay hundreds for a frame when you can get one for peanuts 🙂

Hmmm Rourke uses only Reynolds and dedacciai

Kona_ona – *Cost*, Stiffness, Strength (particularly second impact…) & Weight are all inter-related

Hmmm Rourke uses only Reynolds and dedacciai

why is that a problem? nothing wrong with eom (zero or whatever they call it now) or oversize 853.

Steelman Cycles

http://www.steelmancycles.com/frames.html

Yum!

EDIT – sorry, they're custom.