-
My dream geared bike wouldn't be something I kept forever and probably wouldn't be steel.
Saying that, there are some STUNNING steel frames out there. Llewellyn is a personal favourite of mine. Probably Aus bias but this guy's products blew my mine when I first saw them.
Also some of the US builders have really interesting ideas that I've not seen much of over here. I couldn't really define any of them but they make you think "wow" when you spot them.
Look at the Hand Built Bikes expo thing on cyclingnews.com NAHBS or something..Oh yeah, screw Campag. :)
-
North American Handmade Bicycle Show - NAHBS:
nahbs - Google Search
http://www.handmadebicycleshow.com/index_01.htmHmm.. Pegoretti, do Scapin still make their light as fuck steel frames?
With money no object I'm sure VB would recommend the guys at cyclefit and a custom Serotta! One of those might even make me consider it a 'lifer' :)
-
I still reckon the idea of a dream bike for life is folly. Some bikes end up fulfilling that role, but I think it's more by luck than design.
Get a bike that suits you NOW. If you're still riding it in 30 years' time, that'll be just dandy. But it may break/get nicked/prove unsuitable/'grow out' of you/be discarded for a younger model before the next 10 years are out. These things happen.
And I'd guess you'll be a very different person by 'then'...
If it's purely an exercise in consumerism, however, knock yourself out ;)
-
Put yourself down for a Vanilla. He's still making bikes, the queue is more realistic than Mather's.
Five years, according to the site. What lovely bikes though. I though about ordering from the US but I think I'd rather support UK makers, and meet the bloke who builds mine.
I once waited five years for a watch. It wasn't too bad, actually - it was so long I'd forgotten I'd put my name down, so it was a nice surprise when I got the call that it had arrived.
-
vanilla or jonny cycles for me. love their bikes.
i dont think there's such a thing as a bike for life. your taste and purpose/use may yet change.
for me id be happy with a bike built from a £1k colnago frameset for sunday fair weather riding
-
This frame for life business is a total nonsense. Your tastes will change, you'll get bored of it, you'll crash it and it'll be beyond repair (who seriously gets frames repaired anyway? It is an ideal opportunity for an upgrade.)
Presumably you'll be putting modern parts on it, in which case I wouldn't get an old school steel frame, as I don't think they look right together. Old school frames might look cool and retro but you'll feel like a total tool when you take it on the continent and the old boys glide past you on carbon-encased Campag with humming carbon wheels.
So I'd get a full carbon racing machine with a Campy groupo. If you want something more old school, why not restore a classic Colnago? Or a Pinarello from the early 90s? That would be fun.
-
did it tell the time better than any other watch?
Marginally worse.
i dont think there's such a thing as a bike for life. your taste and purpose/use may yet change.
This frame for life business is a total nonsense. Your tastes will change, you'll get bored of it, you'll crash it and it'll be beyond repair.
Old school frames might look cool and retro but you'll feel like a total tool when you take it on the continent and the old boys glide past you on carbon-encased Campag with humming carbon wheels.
I've been riding and building bikes long enough to know all of that, particularly about tastes changing - I used to ride around London on a geared MTB with a fluorescent, tiger-striped plastic disc on the back wheel (in 1989, aged 15...).
My idea of the 'bike for life' is one that covers a broader range of rides that any other. The kind of rides you'll use it for don't change that much with time, and neither, frankly, does the spec. I need a steel-framed geared bike with calipers, mudguards and a rack, the kind of bike that has been built for at least the last fifty years. Sure, I might get into urban freeriding aged sixty,in which case I'll buy the right bike in addition to this one, but I'll still want to go for day-long rides in the country. And I really don't give a monkey's about being overtaken!
-
Look at NAHBS pictures from this year and last year as there were a lot of blinged out practical bikes (if that's not an oxymoron). It sounds like the kind of bike you want is one that's fairly popular in the US at the moment - look at the velo orange and rivendell sites to get an idea of some of the nice bits you could hang on it. If you want nice (but expensive) custom features then integrated racks, light mounts and internal wiring, custom stems etc are the kinds of things you'll see from NAHBS. I don't know how much touring you're planning, but if it's a reasonable amount then I'd consider using cantis rather than calipers which will also broaden the range of uses.
Of the builders that you mentioned the only one I wouldn't go to is Witcombe. Not because of the prices but because I've heard of a couple of cases of less than awesome workmanship. One guy on here bought a frame before the price hike and ended up not taking it cos the fork wasn't built right and a friend of mine bought one a couple of years ago and the fork crown has cracked. Mercian seem to have a lot of experience in the kind of bike you're looking for. I would also consider Argos and Dave Yates sounds who both have great reputations. I personally would choose Dave Yates as he seems prepared to try new things but is a solid northern engineer at heart so it'll all be well built. However, RM is the only UK builder I know who is doing the kind of custom touches popularised by the American builders.
-
Wouldn't titanium be better for a bike for life? Just putting it out there.
No.
there is steel, and there is carbon, then there are the wrong materials for you bike. Fact
-
2p
Here's my now-dream bike:
Go and see Dave Yates, on the old bike that fits you best, so he can see you on it. Measure for a Super Randonneur (perhaps in his standard 631 triangle, 525 rear, 531 fork?) Wait. Pay Dave Yates.
Get it home and set it up. Smile a lot. Tape bars etc.
Put things in your panniers. Ride to the seaside. Have a cup of tea, maybe some chips. Ride home.
(repeat to fade) -
What's wrong with British? Only one recommendation for a UK frame manufacturer? Colnago, Bianchi are all well and good, but are they really better than what the UK can offer? Here's a link to a list of Brit bike builders. From race-ready Dolan's to lo-pro from Arthur Caygill, or if you want to really stand out from the crowd......there is the find-it-nowhere-else Flying Gate by T.J.Cycles (which has history back to the Baines of 1937). Look here: http://www.londonfgss.com/thread6377.html
3 Attachments
-
-
i have to agree that the vanilla bikes look the absolute business but if i had one it'd probably be a fixed and spend it's life hanging on the livingroom wall.
For something which might arrive this year and take a lifetime of riding have a look at Lynskey Performance (look at the us site for the full range) - they were the family who originally owned litespeed and what they don't know about fabricating titanium probably isn't worth knowing. They've got a pretty extensive build programme, from house blends to full custom.
http://www.lynskeyperformance.com/a/
If i had pennies to spend on new bikes, they be building me something from their top drawer - i particularly like the idea of the helical tubes.
other than that the only other bike i'd part with money for at this moment is a Cat Cheetah.
-
For the kind of bike that you're looking at I would go for steel because of its classic looks, comfort, nice paint and price. Ti would be nice and everything, but I doubt the increase in ride quality is worth the increase in price and it looks a bit dull. Plus you can get a steel frame made in the UK, whereas I don't know of any Ti builders here (actually building here, there are plenty who outsource elsewhere).
-
from experience (ie having ridden a litespeed vortex for 7 years) a ti frame has a ride quality like steel - ie not dead like aluminium or carbon, can built at a lighter weight and with a brushed finish and etched graphics, it'll look as good in 10 years as it does when you first get it and it'll have the same ride quality years down the line too.
-
Mmm... I'd get someone to build up a Soma Speedster - you might have the only one in the UK
Example below
hippy
BringMeMyFix
DFP
Velocio
pj_(pj)
fatboyralph
illy
Momentum
deleted
dicki
chris_crash
Skülly
GA2G
plingboot
Shannonball
dogsballs-
Post a reply
About
Dream Geared bike (spend my money for me...)
Posted by
@fatbloke
So after Robin Mather broke my heart by selfishly deciding not to build any more frames for a while, I'm going to have to get someone else to build my dream bike. It will have gears. But as members of this forum seem to have taste and knowledge unmatched in the cycling world, I'd like your suggestions.
It's going to be the bike I'll keep for the rest of my life and use for everything except fg riding in London (and mountain biking, obviously) so I'm not hugely concerned about cost. It will be a steel-framed Audax/light touring bike, custom-made by Mercian, Roberts, Villiers-Velo or maybe even Witcomb (because the actual frame-builders are still good blokes, and local...) Experience with any of these, or other suggestions, gratefully received.
But what I really want to ask is - if you were building your dream geared bike, how would you spec it, and what kit would you put on? Do you have some mad idea for a custom feature? (I thought maybe a rack brazed directly onto the stays?) What do you consider to be the very best kit - should I have Campag throughout, or go off-piste with Phils, Pauls or even Rohloff?
Suggestions, please: the less sane the better.