AAA - All Road / Audax / Adventure Time

I went for a Rodeo Labs Flaanimal - not exactly cheap, and difficult to justify ; but ticked all the boxes, so I thought why not.
I think it'll suit your needs, too.

Have been looking for similar, but I've given up. One that stuck in my head was this:

But the BB looks too high on the larger sizes. You can get them in whatever RAL colour you want though.....

I'm going to end up building my own at this rate ffs

8bar have a new frame / bike that looks like fun. Similar to the flaanimal concept.

https://8bar-bikes.com/shop/bikes/mitte-v1-3in1-adventure-pro

Quit being a pussy and pony up for a Moots.
It's what credit cards were invented for.

This is basically what my CAADX does, surprisingly going for the lowest end frame has meant that it's got all the braze ons and that I'll ever need and can be built to ride as quick as a proper road bike. The only real downside is some extra weight.

Get one of the newer RLT models.

Thats exactly what you need! Looks so good, minus the horrible seat post.

Macho Kings look a bit shit in 49, don't they? Proper kids bike vs bean-can headtube.

Yeah looks shit. Custom pls.

If you can get me a substantial payrise then I'll consider it.

This?

Otherwise, a steel Niner RLT (not beautiful but certainly has a functional appeal) or a Shand are probably top of the list.

That's nice!

Would you consider an Orlowski, in all seriousness? Same price as/cheaper than a Macho Man?

Unsure if it's been suggested. Even something out of zona is gonna be just as good as the Macho Man.

Edit: just seen you would get a locally built frame.

Any thoughts on the Strael? What was the outcome of your visit?
Cheers

I would consider an Orlowski, all the custom jobs I've seen have been brilliant. It would be exactly what I'm after, plus paint etc etc. My interest in British builders would mainly be to use Cycle to Work, rather than any misplaced national pride.

Unfortunately, it wouldn't be cheaper. Macho King (in 853) plus a Whiskey carbon fork is ~620 on trade.

Why no Orlo? Understand you dont want to go with Rychtarski, but if you know all the specs you want then Orlo can build you exactly that. Aside from not getting to meet the builder I don't get what the issue would be. People like Talbot would have scherrit fit you and draw up geo anyway

If I did go custom, it would almost certainly be an Orlowski or a Rychtarski. No problems with their work at all. It's just more money than I would like to pay at the minute.

If nothing fits the bill within my price range, then I would have to reconsider my price range...

How much actually is a steel Niner or a Shand? Are shand not custom?

They looked really nice - very well thought out bikes. I'll probably pop back some time and give both the Strael and the Faran a test ride. The woman I spoke to at Swift was very knowledgable and happy to help. Tyres limited to 32 though, which is a bit of a pain for what I'm after. The Faran fits larger tyres, but is a bit of a lump.

@PhilDAS The top level Inflite is the perfect fit, almost perfect spec, looks gnarly with Reynolds wheels on it, but doesn't have mudguard mounts. Would definitely consider it for a pure cross bike, but that is not what this is :(

Fairlight Faran?

The Faran fits larger tyres, but is a bit of a lump.

631 and a honky steel fork. I could put a wound up on it, which would cut a bit of weight (and look rowdy), but it's just not as nice as the Strael. It's got a big reenforced gusset on the down tube which makes it look rather cheap, which it isn't.

Both around ~1500 RRP, although I could get the Niner on trade and the Shade on C2W iirc.

Shand is semi custom. Stock sizes and paint, but you can spec a few changes.

Depending on tubeset, Orlo is around 700-800. That leaves 700 for a decent fork and other upgrades. Unless shand/niner are 1500 for full bike in which case ignore me