Building a new bike - what frame?

[Ugo51]

Re: Re:

You don't have to worry about sounding 'fussy' where I'm concerned.. as I've said before, I have studiously ignored every bicycle 'innovation' since the six-speed freewheel

hehe, glad to know we are on the same page

Yesterday afternoon I took an hour off work to go downtown to Condor Cycles to try their Acciaio.
I deal very badly with vendors, I often find their attitude insufferable, and yesterday did nothing to improve my relationship with them.
Anyway, after much talking, I managed to try the bike on the road. It was super light, responsive, smooth, effortless to ride, comfortable.
But I didn't like.

Two weeks ago I had a go at some other modern bikes, a Cannondale Optimo and a Specialized of similar price range. I thought I didn't like them because they had cheap specs - I would have thought plastic brake levers were only for sub £100 bikes - but probably there is more.
Maybe I just struggle to adapt to something different, but my Peugeot had a substantial feel to it, a tangible sense of solidity.
More practically, I prefer the old-school handlebars - I always ride with my hands on the dropouts - and I like to feel the steering "under" me, not so far away in front.
I guess geometry changed over time. Probably bikes got longer. I don't know.
Maybe the solution is as simple as going a size smaller.

Anyway, what I want to say is that if I will go for a modern bike it will be for practicality alone. Which is a valid point for a commuter, but something to be aware of. Because at this point I may as well look at the best value, setting aside the "grin factor".

 

[Ugo51]

Re: Re:

Wow, that's a beautiful frame.
You mean compared to a non-stainless steel frame?

Basically yes. Conventional steel frames really suffer from salt and wet roads. A couple of winters will kill a nice frame if you’re not careful! You don’t want anything too thin because a just small amount of corrosion in the wrong place will weaken it. Something like normal grade Reynolds 531 is pretty resilient though, the frame will be lighter and more lively than Carbolite too.

This is very very useful, thank you.
I hand't thought about this, and it definitely ties with my post above.
At this point, if I want to go modern, I may as well embrace the chaos and go for an alloy frame.

I will take a couple of days to ponder on this life or death matter

 

[hamster]

I'd disagree with this attitiude to steel frames - rustproof with Technitrol, Dynotrol or Framesaver, job done.

There are an amazing number of 40+ year old 531 frames kicking about from £20 upwards. My 531 Witcomb looks scruffy, was built in 1979 but has zero rust inside (and the frame was never treated). It rides very nicely, definitely not the super-stiff scalded cat feel of a modern carbon frame, but enjoyable for 100 miles over mixed country even with light touring loads.

 

[Ugo51]

Re:

£20!
I knew it was the matter of knowing what to buy.
As a novice, this is the kind of information I relish, and such frame is exactly what I am after: something nice, without being excessively sophisticated.

I'm actually very curious to put together the Peugeot HLE now, which should already be better than Carbolite. In the meantime I'll go give a look what the Witcomb 531 looks like

 

[glpinxit]

Kinesis Racelight- there is a very good reason why it has a reputation among many cyclists as the basis for an excellent winter bike. I have one and so does Mrs Glpinxit- both with carbon forks and Shimano 105.

 

[torqueless]

Re:

You could just work your way up through the mid '80s Peugeot range... let's face it you've already started. Move on through the 501 to 531?

One thing about these Peugeots is that even the Carbolites have proper racing geometry. The only way you'd get racing geometry in the '70s was by forking out for 531.

 

[Ugo51]

Kinesis Racelight- there is a very good reason why it has a reputation among many cyclists as the basis for an excellent winter bike. I have one and so does Mrs Glpinxit- both with carbon forks and Shimano 105.

Nice. The T3 is the most beautiful alloy frame I've seen so far

 

[Ugo51]

Re: Re:

You could just work your way up through the mid '80s Peugeot range... let's face it you've already started. Move on through the 501 to 531?

One thing about these Peugeots is that even the Carbolites have proper racing geometry. The only way you'd get racing geometry in the '70s was by forking out for 531.

I didn't know Peugeout made bikes out of 531!
Would that be the top of the range from their mid-80 bikes?

 

[hamster]

Re: Re:

I didn't know Peugeout made bikes out of 531!
Would that be the top of the range from their mid-80 bikes?

Peugeot has used Reynolds tubing, but in metric sizes. If you want a cheap 531 frame, try bike jumbles not ebay. Often there are nice ones but of unknown origin. Take a vernier to check frame tube dimensions and get to know common Reynolds sizes. If it's under 2kg its pretty much guaranteed to be a decent tube set.

And here's the Witcomb, the blue one. Built up with 1998 Chorus on a 5-day touring trip this summer to the Tour de France. The paint is scruffy and the decals cracked and flaking off as the lacquer aged.

 

[torqueless]

Re:

http://www.bikeboompeugeot.com/Brochure ... PGN10M.jpg

In addition to what Hamster said, recognise the difference between stamped dropouts and forged ones. If a frame has forged dropouts it's also almost guaranteed to be Reynolds tubes or similar. I don't know if that holds true for later decades- it was true in the '70s.