Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 57 total)
  • New Steel Road Bike
  • four
    Free Member

    I’m looking to get a new posh / summer road bike in steel with carbon forks – I like steel in good quality tubes such as Reynolds 853 and Columbus Spirit (not sure about the rigidity and extra expense of stainless).

    The frameset will need to be light weight and disc compatible. Basically looking at something to do club rides on – I’m 50 so nothing too extreme in terms of rider position and rides of up to 100 miles although 60 are more the norm.

    Contenders at the moment are:

    Casati made to measure from Comtat – store is very close to me.

    Donhou DSS1 signature series.

    Rourke.

    Not decided on components yet but likely to be either Ultegra Di2 or Dura Ace mechanical – both with discs.

    Any thoughts on frames / frame builders – budget is circa £2500 for frame and forks.

    Thanks.

    TiRed
    Full Member

    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.

    four
    Free Member

    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.

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    CraigW
    Free Member

    I’d look at Shand or Mason.

    qwerty
    Free Member

    2.5k is a lot on frame & fork, you are aware of http://www.bespoked.cc aren’t you?

    rOcKeTdOg
    Full Member

    Oddity cycles for off the wall designs but to your geometry

    Enigma steel

    joshvegas
    Free Member

    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.

    gonetothehills
    Free Member

    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.

    ackie
    Free Member

    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

    dickie
    Free Member

    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.

    https://vimeo.com/125164547

    whereisthurso
    Free Member

    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 .

    Watty
    Full Member

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

    Picto
    Free Member

    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.

    bonzodog
    Free Member

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

    BIGMAN
    Free Member

    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.

    root-n-5th
    Free Member

    Fairlight strael looks good.

    Strael

    cheers_drive
    Full Member

    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.

    2017-05-25_05-51-13 by [/url] – Flickr2BBcode LITE

    four
    Free Member

    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.

    moorsey72
    Free Member

    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……..

    dirtyrider
    Free Member

    Field Cycles in Sheffield?

    http://www.fieldcycles.com/gallery

    rumbledethumps
    Free Member

    Breadwinner Lolo!

    MrSmith
    Free Member

    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 🙂

    tall_martin
    Full Member

    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.

    trailwagger
    Free Member

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

    preseli
    Free Member

    100%

    preseli
    Free Member

    100% Field cycles

    scud
    Free Member

    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.

    servo
    Free Member

    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

    Home

    slowster
    Free Member

    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.

    bob_summers
    Full Member

    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/

    MrSmith
    Free Member

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

    <iframe width=”560″ height=”340″ src=”//www.dorftv.at/embed/26825″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>

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

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

    moff
    Full Member

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

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

    four
    Free Member

    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?

    ctk
    Free Member

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

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    “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.

    ctk
    Free Member

    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.

    MrSmith
    Free Member

    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.

    four
    Free Member

    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?

    Sanny
    Free Member

    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?😀

    ctk
    Free Member

    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?

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 57 total)

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