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I went through pretty similar issue couple of years ago. My assumption of light = fun was wrong.
She was most happy on a custom bike that fitted her well and had a singular(ish) purpose. She was also faster on this heavier bike than a lighter one I got her (a 48cm CAAD10). Shame that Talbot ended its life under a mini-cab.
If you are still set on building one yourself. 8kg with disc brakes is hard on a budget.
amey-
Such a shame that happened, it was a really nice build.
I agree on comfort over weight for enjoyment but it still needs to have the potential to feel a bit lively. The Condor is super comfortable but just doesn't really make her want to jump on the bike for fun. Speaking with Sigma they don't think there's much difference in weight between the ali and carbon Diverge frame. Full bikes can be had for around £600 with vouchers so that would leave change for some weenie bits. The stock low end build is 10kg so maybe 9kg is more realistic with her kit but it's still significantly lighter then the current build. She's gonna try the geo on the Sigma jig and we'll go from there.
jono84
Right, this is going here...
A couple year back my girlfriend wanted an upgrade from her basic but lightweight and fun Felt road bike. In the end we settled on a custom painted Condor Fratello disc which bit by bit has been upgraded to a decent spec. Most recently we went all out (for us) and swapped the TRP/5800 brakes/shifters to the latest 105 R7025 compact hydraulic setup. So now she has a nice looking bike that shifts and stops very nicely, has handbuilt wheels and has full mudguards and a rear rack. The problem? I can tell she doesn't love riding it as much as she should for the money that's gone into it.
For reference she's 5ft 2" and in the low 50kg bracket, the bike is a 46 (stack 51.6, reach 37.4) and weighs in at about 10.6kg with guards and rack but without panniers. She doesn't have great endurance (neither do i) but has quite a lot of power for her size and is more than competent on a road bike. She likes the idea of joining a club and doing sportier weekend rides but realistically this will also be used for fair weather commuting and should be able to deal with a bumpy canal path etc.
So... I'd like to find or build something around the 8kg mark that has a sporty feel but could also take a bigger tyre and if possible have rack mounts. There's a couple ways of getting there, first is to buy a bike that is exactly as above, probably easiest but not sure if budget will stretch (plus it would really piss me off to loose money selling all the nice bit we've bought). Second option is to find a frameset (not many options seen so far). And the the third is to buy a low spec bike with a good frame and then swap all the kit over (we're gonna keep the Condor but thinking flatbar 1x setup with the guards and rack). Options 2 and 3 are preferable so we can use all the nice bits we have, the risk is buying another dull bike hoping it'll get better with different kit.
The Canyon in the link looks great but i suspect the lack of mounts and small tyres rules it out. Other things i've seen so far include
48cm CAAD 12 Disc frameset, can get a decent deal on this C2W but suspect as the Canyon is too limited and maybe a little fragile?
Synapse Carbon Tiagra full bike, has mounts, is a lightweight frame that'll take 32's, would swap groupset, wheels, finishing kit etc, have heard good things about ride
Synapse Carbon SE full bike, as above, more clearance, probably out of budget.
Synapse ali, same as above, bit heavier, a shit load cheaper if i got the Sora version, worried it won't be that fun to ride.
Diverge E5 ali, the ali version has mounts etc and i've heard these are nice on the road. off all the options it takes the biggest tyres. Basic option is cheap, might be heavy even with all the nice kit on.
I only really know the obvious few, had a quick scan of Ribble/PX where there seem to be some great deals but nothing in her size that i can see. Maybe decathlon but they're a bit agricultural looking.
Any tips much appreciated.