Which frame?

in message <[email hidden]>, Niv

(') said:

OK, I have come into a bit of money & find I can afford my "dream bike"
(well, uo to a point).

I currently ride a 10 yr old Roberts columbus EL frame with 8 spd
Campag gruppo.
This is nice, but a bit harsh & tiring over long(ish) (40+ miles)
rides. I would like a "pretty light" bike (no, I don't mean with fairy
lights) say around 17lbs or better, all up,
and to absorb the road "buzz" etc.
So, do I go custom Ti or Carbon (don't think custom carbon is an
option?)

I bought a carbon monocoque (a Dolan LoPro, similar to this years'
Pallotola model) a year ago and I love it. Carbon is definitely more
comfy than steel by a good margin, while still being plenty stiff enough
for as much power as I am capable of producing. It also looks wonderful.
I've built it up with a Centaur groupset, and although it's designed to
be a time trial frame I've used it for a hundred mile audax, and many
100Km+ rides. It's just a lovely bike.

If you want something that's light, fast and comfortable, definitely go
full carbon monocoque. I don't know about the longevity and it won't
survive a serious crash, but apart from that it's the perfect frame
material.

There are monocoques in most big ranges now; I like my Dolan but there
are lots of other makers.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
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You don't say how big a dream :-)

I test rode a Giant TCR-2 Composite on Saturday. Ultegra 10spd triple
and carbon frame. 1650 all in, seems to be the bargain. Rode
beautifully. Looks fairly dull untill the sun shines, then it's Carbon
weave glowing under gel coat. Omega Matrix at 1450 is also a great
deal.

Personally, I'm looking at titanium, Airborne if small dream, Omega if
medium dream and Litespeed Tuscany if out of this world dream. Groupset
would be campy veloce/centaur, as I'd prefer to spend more on the
frame.

If you are of the larger proportion, Omega have a true thoroughbred
Record Alchemy (Ti/carbon) made up for Marcel Wurst of Procycling, at
about 2400 (1000 saving). Too large for me (58 cm top tube).

regards,
Daren

You don't say how big a dream :-)

I test rode a Giant TCR-2 Composite on Saturday. Ultegra 10spd triple
and carbon frame. 1650 all in, seems to be the bargain. Rode
beautifully. Looks fairly dull untill the sun shines, then it's Carbon
weave glowing under gel coat. Omega Matrix at 1450 is also a great
deal.

Personally, I'm looking at titanium, Airborne if small dream, Omega if
medium dream and Litespeed Tuscany if out of this world dream. Groupset
would be campy veloce/centaur, as I'd prefer to spend more on the
frame.

If you are of the larger proportion, Omega have a true thoroughbred
Record Alchemy (Ti/carbon) made up for Marcel Wurst of Procycling, at
about 2400 (1000 saving). Too large for me (58 cm top tube).

regards,
Daren

Simon Brooke said:

in message <[email hidden]>, Niv

(') said:

OK, I have come into a bit of money & find I can afford my "dream bike"
(well, uo to a point).

I currently ride a 10 yr old Roberts columbus EL frame with 8 spd
Campag gruppo.
This is nice, but a bit harsh & tiring over long(ish) (40+ miles)
rides. I would like a "pretty light" bike (no, I don't mean with fairy
lights) say around 17lbs or better, all up,
and to absorb the road "buzz" etc.
So, do I go custom Ti or Carbon (don't think custom carbon is an
option?)

I bought a carbon monocoque (a Dolan LoPro, similar to this years'
Pallotola model) a year ago and I love it. Carbon is definitely more
comfy than steel by a good margin

Just change the tyres, It is a cheap way to get less buzz.

Alternatively, just get a monster. Light and lots of fun.

...d

Niv said:

OK, I have come into a bit of money & find I can afford my "dream bike"
(well, uo to a point).

I've been on the horns of a similar dilemma for a couple of months.

Now I've decided I'm a "cyclist" I've decided to splash out on a nice
roadbike. I want something to have a laugh on for a couple of hours, do
shorter (under 100km) charity/audax/fun rides and possibly have a bash
at some club 10's next year. I want something as light and responsive as
my fixed, comfy-ish but with a good spread of gears (prolly triple) for
climbing HUGE hills eg Holm Moss etc.

It goes without saying that the new bike must also be drop-dead
georgeous and sexy.. up to a point anyway (the point in question being
around £1800 tops).

There is a Fuji Team SL that looks great, but I've never actually seen
one and it's an ally race bike with a double chainset, maybe a bit too
hard core for my old bod. A bit old fashioned too.

Then I sort of decided I wanted a carbon frame and the Specialised
Roubaix looked favorite, or maybe a Dolan. Then C+ reviewed the Pedal
Force frame and that looks good too BUT: I want a bike I can ride for
years to come and I can't see carbon frames lasting thirty years like my
old Raleigh 531 fixie.

Now I'm favouring a ti bike, in particular the Airborne Zeppelin or
Komet. Lifetime warranty, hmm... that's confidence, even if they are not
around in twenty years.

Once I get chance I'll pop up to see Paul Hewitt in Leyland for a chat..
however I fear that may be like going to the dog's home "to see if there
are any nice ones" and no doubt the chat will be expensive. Ultegra
for me though...

hth,

Tony B

Tony B said:

Now I'm favouring a ti bike, in particular the Airborne Zeppelin or
Komet. Lifetime warranty, hmm... that's confidence, even if they are not
around in twenty years.

I've got a Zeppelin and it's nice. Airborne customer service have been
good to me as well.

It's also a sufficiently good frame that you can get the Ultegra version
now and upgrade bits as they wear out.

--
Arthur Clune PGP/GPG Key: http://www.clune.org/pubkey.txt
The struggle of people against power is the struggle
of memory against forgetting - Milan Kundera

Arthur Clune said:

Tony B said:

Now I'm favouring a ti bike, in particular the Airborne Zeppelin or
Komet. Lifetime warranty, hmm... that's confidence, even if they are not
around in twenty years.

I've got a Zeppelin and it's nice. Airborne customer service have been
good to me as well.

It's also a sufficiently good frame that you can get the Ultegra version
now and upgrade bits as they wear out.

12th commandment. Thou shalt not be passed by an Airborne

in message <[email hidden]>, MSeries

(') said:

Arthur Clune said:

Tony B said:

Now I'm favouring a ti bike, in particular the Airborne Zeppelin or
Komet. Lifetime warranty, hmm... that's confidence, even if they are
not around in twenty years.

I've got a Zeppelin and it's nice. Airborne customer service have been
good to me as well.

It's also a sufficiently good frame that you can get the Ultegra
version now and upgrade bits as they wear out.

12th commandment. Thou shalt not be passed by an Airborne

Oh, it happens, you know. They're common as muck on audaxes hereabouts.
Don't fancy them myself.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

:: Wisdom is better than weapons of war ::
:: Ecclesiastes 9:18 ::

Simon Brooke <[email hidden]> wrote:

: Oh, it happens, you know. They're common as muck on audaxes hereabouts.
: Don't fancy them myself.

Yeah. Over the last couple of years my bike has gone from being obscure to
being hard to find at a cafe stop amongst all the other Airbornes!

--
Arthur Clune PGP/GPG Key: http://www.clune.org/pubkey.txt
The struggle of people against power is the struggle
of memory against forgetting - Milan Kundera