Reviews

In article <[email hidden]>,

Brian Broderick said:

Hey all. I'm looking for some reviews from anyone who's ridden any of
the following bikes. I'm considering a purchase, and I need to narrow
the field down a bit before I go test riding. I'll also be on
assorted road bike review sites.

Giant TCR C1
Cannondale CAAD9 5
Kestrel RT700
LeMond Zurich
Serotta Fierte Steel
Seven Cycles Axiom Steel
Specialized Roubaix Pro or Tarmac Pro Compact
Rivendale Bike Works Legolas or Rambouillet
Independent Fabrication Crown Jewel Steel
Heron Rally
Litespeed Ardennes or Siena
Ridley Damocles or Noah

If you've ridden something close to one of these, I'd love to hear
about it also! Just include some details, like year, and variation
(e.g., Giant TCR C3, or 2006 Specialized Roubaix Expert) Thanks for
the extremely valuable information in advance.

Brian

They're all really good.

--
Ryan Cousineau [email hidden] http://www.wiredcola.com/
"My scenarios may give the impression I could be an excellent crook.
Not true - I am a talented lawyer." - Sandy in rec.bicycles.racing

Brian Broderick said:

Rivendale Bike Works Legolas or Rambouillet

It's Rivendell

Geraard Spergen said:

Brian Broderick said:

Rivendale Bike Works Legolas or Rambouillet

It's Rivendell

The IF's absolutely rock. Fantastic bikes. You're looking in that
range give Richie Sachs a look, and call too.
http://www.richardsachs.com/rsachs2.html

Love Richie and his bikes. You'd be hard pressed to find a more stand-
up guy, who's always in the middle of riding and racing too.
Bill C

Bill C said:

Love Richie and his bikes. You'd be hard pressed to find a more stand-
up guy, who's always in the middle of riding and racing too.
Bill C

You forgot the ATMO.

Mark

Brian Broderick said:

Quoted message said:

Hey all. I'm looking for some reviews from anyone who's ridden any of
the following bikes. I'm considering a purchase, and I need to narrow
the field down a bit before I go test riding. I'll also be on assorted
road bike review sites.

Ryan Cousineau said:

They're all really good.

But Bianchi have a better warranty.

Donald Munro said:

Brian Broderick said:

Quoted message said:

Hey all. I'm looking for some reviews from anyone who's ridden any of
the following bikes. I'm considering a purchase, and I need to narrow
the field down a bit before I go test riding. I'll also be on assorted
road bike review sites.

Ryan Cousineau said:

They're all really good.

But Bianchi have a better warranty.

Unfortunately they need them. Of the half dozen Bianchi's I've worked
on, most of them broke their frames. Other than that only one Vitus
came apart on me.

Quoted message said:

Donald Munro said:

Brian Broderick said:

> Hey all. I'm looking for some reviews from anyone who's ridden any of
> the following bikes. I'm considering a purchase, and I need to narrow
> the field down a bit before I go test riding. I'll also be on assorted
> road bike review sites.

Ryan Cousineau said:

They're all really good.

Quoted message said:

But Bianchi have a better warranty.

Unfortunately they need them. Of the half dozen Bianchi's I've worked
on, most of them broke their frames. Other than that only one Vitus
came apart on me.

Thanks for the rec's, everyone. I knew Rivendale sounded wrong, but
unfortunately I had already hit send! I've considered Bianchi, but
I've found most of their work at this level to be in carbon or
aluminum, while I'm targeting steel, titanium, and a limited amount of
mix between them. Carbon is really out of my performance range,
although the Specialized are just so gorgeous I couldn't help myself.
I'm a club & rando rider, so I'm not racing against anything but lunch
time. I also want to keep this bike around for a while, and I'm
nervous about Aluminum fatiguing after 5 years, as well as collecting
little dings, dents, and scratches, until it's a mess. I stuck the
Cannondale (Crack'n'fail?) and Giant on there simply because I've
heard amazing things about them, and they're within my lowish level
price bracket. I have yet to test ride any but the LeMond Zurich and
both of the Specialized.

Checking out Richard Sachs now... He looks like one of the few East
Coast master frame-builders!

Please, if anyone has any other thoughts to contribute, continue!

Brian

Donald Munro said:

Quoted message said:

But Bianchi have a better warranty.

cyclintom said:

Unfortunately they need them. Of the half dozen Bianchi's I've worked on,
most of them broke their frames. Other than that only one Vitus came apart
on me.

AKA Justin 2.

Brian Broderick said:

I've considered Bianchi, but I've found most of their work at this level

to be in carbon or aluminum, while I'm targeting steel, titanium,

Ah but steel Bianchi's have an unmatched reputation in rbr.

Quoted message said:

Bill C said:

Love Richie and his bikes. You'd be hard pressed to find a more stand-
up guy, who's always in the middle of riding and racing too.
Bill C

You forgot the ATMO.

Mark

How about Cervelo?

Brian Broderick said:

Hey all. I'm looking for some reviews from anyone who's ridden any of
the following bikes. I'm considering a purchase, and I need to narrow
the field down a bit before I go test riding. I'll also be on
assorted road bike review sites.

Giant TCR C1
Cannondale CAAD9 5
Kestrel RT700
LeMond Zurich
Serotta Fierte Steel
Seven Cycles Axiom Steel
Specialized Roubaix Pro or Tarmac Pro Compact
Rivendale Bike Works Legolas or Rambouillet
Independent Fabrication Crown Jewel Steel
Heron Rally
Litespeed Ardennes or Siena
Ridley Damocles or Noah

If you've ridden something close to one of these, I'd love to hear
about it also! Just include some details, like year, and variation
(e.g., Giant TCR C3, or 2006 Specialized Roubaix Expert) Thanks for
the extremely valuable information in advance.

All of those are fairly high end bikes. The problem with asking
opinions on these sorts of things is that they're so individual. All
of those bikes listed would make someone happy or unhappy for very
slight differences. I suggest you test ride any of them you're
interested in and if you intend to order one without a test ride you
can't go wrong with any of them.

Brian Broderick said:

Checking out Richard Sachs now... He looks like one of the few East
Coast master frame-builders!

Sachs is probably the best present day American frame builder if
you're looking for traditional construction methods. Every bike he
builds is as near perfect as humanly possible. I'd buy a frame from
him in a second if I didn't have to wait two years to get it. The next
best guy might be a tie between Ed Litton and Roland Della Santa.,
Ed's in Richmond, CA and Roland lives in Reno, NV.

Brian Broderick said:

Carbon is really out of my performance range

Not sure how you are using the term "performance" as good carbon can
be done for similar pricing as some of the metal frames you listed.

Quoted message said:

Checking out Richard Sachs now...

Richard is one of the premier custom builders on the planet and his
frames are very nice. At least I like mine and it's almost 30 years
old. He also has a waiting list of several years and you may not want
to wait that long. ATMO

If you like steel, and there is a lot to like about steel, there are a
large number of builders to choose from. For some helpful background
check out Carl Strong's website and read the section on how to find
and choose a framebuilder.

http://www.strongframes.com/choose_builder/

Quoted message said:

Please, if anyone has any other thoughts to contribute, continue!

I agree with another poster who mentioned that one persons opinion on
a frameset may not pertain to you. You need to decide what you are
looking for and make some educated guesses to work toward a new bike.
It's normal to do some test riding but short test rides really won't
tell you how a bike will work out long term. Also, several of the
bikes you listed won't be readily available for testing.

Fit is far more important than frame material or parts choice so find
someone local that is a good fitter to work with. There are a lot of
very good bikes out there of various materials. I happen to like steel
but also ride carbon fiber. I wouldn't be any faster, slower, more or
less comfortable on well done Ti or aluminium.

Since you are doing some research, here are a few things worth looking
at (far from inclusive):

Carbon fiber: Calfee, Crumpton, Ruegamer, Parlee
Steel: Sachs, Weigle, Landshark, Kirk, Vanilla, Della Santa, Co-Motion
Ti: Moots, Habanero, Lynskey, Strong, Dean

Lots of framebuilder links at this site: http://www.classicrendezvous.com/USA/USA.htm

Good luck, ride lots!

Mark

Quoted message said:

Brian Broderick said:

Checking out Richard Sachs now... He looks like one of the few East
Coast master frame-builders!

Sachs is probably the best present day American frame builder if
you're looking for traditional construction methods. Every bike he
builds is as near perfect as humanly possible. I'd buy a frame from
him in a second if I didn't have to wait two years to get it. The next
best guy might be a tie between Ed Litton and Roland Della Santa.,
Ed's in Richmond, CA and Roland lives in Reno, NV.

I received my Della Santa 3 weeks from ordering. I don't get why you
need to wait 2+ years to get a frame that's essentially the same in
terms of joining methods or pay that kind of money. The bike won't
ride better if it's "perfect." Unless you mean "perfect" as a
reflection of the way it rides, which is all that matters.

Brian Broderick said:

Quoted message said:

On Nov 12, 11:18 pm, Donald Munro <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Brian Broderick wrote:
>> Hey all. I'm looking for some reviews from anyone who's ridden any of
>> the following bikes. I'm considering a purchase, and I need to narrow
>> the field down a bit before I go test riding. I'll also be on assorted
>> road bike review sites.
Ryan Cousineau wrote:
> They're all really good.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

But Bianchi have a better warranty.

Quoted message said:

Unfortunately they need them. Of the half dozen Bianchi's I've worked
on, most of them broke their frames. Other than that only one Vitus
came apart on me.

Thanks for the rec's, everyone. I knew Rivendale sounded wrong, but
unfortunately I had already hit send! I've considered Bianchi, but
I've found most of their work at this level to be in carbon or
aluminum, while I'm targeting steel, titanium, and a limited amount of
mix between them. Carbon is really out of my performance range,
although the Specialized are just so gorgeous I couldn't help myself.
I'm a club & rando rider, so I'm not racing against anything but lunch
time. I also want to keep this bike around for a while, and I'm
nervous about Aluminum fatiguing after 5 years, as well as collecting
little dings, dents, and scratches, until it's a mess. I stuck the
Cannondale (Crack'n'fail?) and Giant on there simply because I've
heard amazing things about them, and they're within my lowish level
price bracket. I have yet to test ride any but the LeMond Zurich and
both of the Specialized.

Checking out Richard Sachs now... He looks like one of the few East
Coast master frame-builders!

Please, if anyone has any other thoughts to contribute, continue!

Brian

If carbon is out of your price range, so is Sachs unless you find a
used one.

If you're looking for steel, find a Lemond Sarthe in your size and
forget about the search. The Lemond frames built from the True Temper
OX Platinum tubeset are as good as you'll find for under $1.5k for a
frame, and the complete bike will be less than that.

Brian Broderick said:

Carbon is really out of my performance range,
although the Specialized are just so gorgeous I couldn't help myself.

You wanna see gorgeous, look at a Crumpton:

http://www.crumptoncycles.com/flahute_carbon_frames.html

A buddy has a red one, which is actually somewhat subtle in effect. A
modern counterpart, if I may, to the classic one color plus alternate
color panels paint schemes.

Quoted message said:

I'm a club & rando rider, so I'm not racing against anything but lunch
time.

Pride of ownership comes first <g>.

Quoted message said:

I also want to keep this bike around for a while, and I'm
nervous about Aluminum fatiguing after 5 years, as well as collecting
little dings, dents, and scratches, until it's a mess.

(Going to the personal dept.): My wife started riding again. She got a
custom Guru, plain Ti. Six weeks to deliver. The only "finish" issues
with this bike should be decals.

Very worth the custom expense, she is comfortable on her bike for the
first time. All Centaur, not "cheap" but not as high as other choices.

IOW, "get one that fits" first and foremost. --D-y

tom luttrell said:

I received my Della Santa 3 weeks from ordering. I don't get why you
need to wait 2+ years to get a frame that's essentially the same in
terms of joining methods or pay that kind of money. The bike won't
ride better if it's "perfect." Unless you mean "perfect" as a
reflection of the way it rides, which is all that matters.

Someone from rbr will be by your place in the morning to collect all of
your master fatty cycling [censored]. You clearly aren't down with the program.

You might be able to redeem yourself by showing up at the next 10 club
rides in full Euro team wear riding something as least as expensive as a
Seven Axiom. If that doesn't work, remember I said "might."

--
Bill Asher

Quoted message said:

You wanna see gorgeous, look at a Crumpton:

http://www.crumptoncycles.com/flahute_carbon_frames.html

A buddy has a red one, which is actually somewhat subtle in effect. A
modern counterpart, if I may, to the classic one color plus alternate
color panels paint schemes.

Can they make one that will mount panniers and a child's seat?

--
Bill Asher

William Asher said:

Quoted message said:

You wanna see gorgeous, look at a Crumpton:

Quoted message said:

http://www.crumptoncycles.com/flahute_carbon_frames.html

Quoted message said:

A buddy has a red one, which is actually somewhat subtle in effect. A
modern counterpart, if I may, to the classic one color plus alternate
color panels paint schemes.

Can they make one that will mount panniers and a child's seat?

He.

http://www.crumptoncycles.com/contact.html

--D-y