Carbon frameset advice - £2,500 to £3,250

Pretre

I managed to crash my gorgeous white 2010 De Rosa Merak about 3 weeks after getting it, fracturing my pelvis in 3 places at the same time :shock: , & have been told by the LBS that the frame is a write-off due to the high-speed nature of the crash

Insurance claim is going through at the moment but what does everyone think I should get:

a) another Merak, although the last one took 6 months to get - not sure I can go through that stress again!
b) something else - if so, what? I've been thinking about a Look 595, Times of various types, Colnago CX1, Willier Cento Uno, maybe stretch to a De Rosa King 3, etc.

Please note: I don't want a Ti or steel frame, just carbon - personal choice.

I'm 43, don't race & want to start doing some sportives - including La Marmotte next year, hopefully, as a reward to myself for not going crazy stuck at home hardly able to sit down for the 2 months after the crash.

Thanks

Anonymous

The new Colnago C59 looks rather splendid!

Karl2010

The Ribble Scuro RS looks good and weighs in at 0.9kg.
Campag S-Record Groupset, and pick some wheels. That'll be around 3500 quid.

Tell us about your crash. It sounds spectacular. Have you recoverd from it?
And what insurance did you have so i can get some.

Pretre

Karl2010 wrote:

The Ribble Scuro RS looks good and weighs in at 0.9kg.
Campag S-Record Groupset, and pick some wheels. That'll be around 3500 quid.

Tell us about your crash. It sounds spectacular. Have you recoverd from it?
And what insurance did you have so i can get some.

Ribble - thanks for the thought but I want something a bit more pro-level/exclusive (I know that's really shallow but it's my hard-earned cash. )
Crash - traffic lights at the bottom of a steep hill were green (witnesses agree to this) but other side of the junction was a pedestrian set of lights which weren't phased at the same time - I had no way of knowing this so thought the car at the lights would move but it didn't...
Police who turned up said they've asked the Counclil to take away the pedestrian lights a number of times due to the amount of accidents they've caused in the same way as mine.
In hospital for 9 days - no op required as the fractures were stable. Off work for 7 weeks - hardly able to sit down for about 5 of those weeks so not a good time, to say the least.
Only on one crutch now - might try to get on my old bike on the turbo in the next few weeks but as I still can't left my right leg up very high & it's really week I need to be damn sure I can get on & get off the bike!

Pretre

NapoleonD wrote:

The new Colnago C59 looks rather splendid!

Good thought - the BBox one's in the TdF look rather nice & the inside cover advert of ProCycling this month has a very nice black & white one. Any idea how much they are?

Pretre

Karl2010 wrote:

The Ribble Scuro RS looks good and weighs in at 0.9kg.
Campag S-Record Groupset, and pick some wheels. That'll be around 3500 quid.

Tell us about your crash. It sounds spectacular. Have you recoverd from it?
And what insurance did you have so i can get some.

Insurance - M&S. Only managed to get the bike to the LBS a few weeks so & only found out they reckon it's a write-off on Friday so Insurance going through as we speak. If I have any issues I'll be sure to post a rant or two!

Anonymous

Pretre wrote:

NapoleonD wrote:

The new Colnago C59 looks rather splendid!

Good thought - the BBox one's in the TdF look rather nice & the inside cover advert of ProCycling this month has a very nice black & white one. Any idea how much they are?

Highly likely to be around the 3000 mark at a guess...

neeb

Ribble - thanks for the thought but I want something a bit more pro-level/exclusive (I know that's really shallow but it's my hard-earned cash. Very Happy)

How about this then - same frame!

Frank the tank

A Kuota KOM a fantastic frame/fork/seat pin at a good price.

Simple as that.

I purchased mine a couple of years ago and it was £1,650 and Agritubel were riding the exact same frame sets in the tour (and won a stage) so the quality can't be questioned Pinarello's were about a grand more but I would doubt they're any better, It's the name you're paying for.

simmo0916

Have you thought about the BMC Team Machine? Very few of those around, and it's an amazing ride. You can pick the frame up for around £3k. Having ridden one (and being a BMC owner myself) i wont ride anything else now. I'm just saving my pennies for the team machine frame.
At the very least you should have a look at BMC, you wont be dissapointed.

Alex

cougie

Its very much diminishing returns at that kind of money. a 3k frame isnt 3 times as good as a 1k frame. Get something decent and spend the rest on a training camp or coach that would make a difference.

Monty Dog

If you can't quite stretch to the C59, then the EPS is still reckoned to be one of the best handling and riding bikes around, bar none. Try Maestro for best UK prices - he gets them via the Netherlands and so can offer a multitude of custom finishes too - not just the limited range of stock finishes available from the UK importer - £500 cheaper too.

Anonymous

Monty Dog wrote:

If you can't quite stretch to the C59, then the EPS is still reckoned to be one of the best handling and riding bikes around, bar none. Try Maestro for best UK prices - he gets them via the Netherlands and so can offer a multitude of custom finishes too - not just the limited range of stock finishes available from the UK importer - £500 cheaper too.

Monty, have prices come out for the C59? I thought for some strange reason it would be priced similar to the outgoing C50.

I'd also go maestro, not least you can choose from any paint scheme using this website!

http://colnago-frames.com/

Monty Dog

Haven't seen a confirmed price fo a C59, but can't see you getting much change from £3k - 10 years ago, £1500 would have got you the best frame available, a C40. I dunno about inflation / cost of living but my wages haven't doubled in that time and yet top-range frames are now north of £3k

Anonymous

Monty Dog wrote:

Haven't seen a confirmed price fo a C59, but can't see you getting much change from £3k - 10 years ago, £1500 would have got you the best frame available, a C40. I dunno about inflation / cost of living but my wages haven't doubled in that time and yet top-range frames are now north of £3k

Scary isn't it?!?

EPS is 3kish, is the C59 replacing it or the C50 or both?

stuaff

Viner Maxima. Custom sized. Custom front triangle to suit your weight and riding preferences. Look fantastic, ride beautifully (ask lost_in_thought or Chip \'oyler, both owners). Bang on budget at £3200.

Pretre

cougie wrote:

Its very much diminishing returns at that kind of money. a 3k frame isnt 3 times as good as a 1k frame. Get something decent and spend the rest on a training camp or coach that would make a difference.

Thanks for the comments but I have the money & wish to spend it

Pretre

NapoleonD wrote:

Monty Dog wrote:

If you can't quite stretch to the C59, then the EPS is still reckoned to be one of the best handling and riding bikes around, bar none. Try Maestro for best UK prices - he gets them via the Netherlands and so can offer a multitude of custom finishes too - not just the limited range of stock finishes available from the UK importer - £500 cheaper too.

Monty, have prices come out for the C59? I thought for some strange reason it would be priced similar to the outgoing C50.

I'd also go maestro, not least you can choose from any paint scheme using this website!

http://colnago-frames.com/

Nice site - too much choice!

Saw a Colnago (no idea which model) about a year ago that was painted with a Leonardo Da Vinci portrait - not something I'd want but stunning to look at.

Pretre

StuAff wrote:

Viner Maxima. Custom sized. Custom front triangle to suit your weight and riding preferences. Look fantastic, ride beautifully (ask lost_in_thought or Chip \'oyler, both owners). Bang on budget at £3200.

Good thought - I'll look into this.
Any idea who in the South of England (not Epic - much too far to go) sells Viner?

redddraggon

NapoleonD wrote:

The new Colnago C59 looks rather splendid!

FTW

or an EPS.

Karl2010

Pretre.

Good to here your on the mend mate. Hope the insurance covers you.

Mccaria

Parlee Z5. 3K with a fitting thrown in. Get them through bespoke cycling in Central London. Light frame, comfortable ride, good for long hilly sportives.

www.bespokecycling.com

cal_stewart

canyons new aero frame comes out at the end of the year.

stuaff

Pretre wrote:

StuAff wrote:

Viner Maxima. Custom sized. Custom front triangle to suit your weight and riding preferences. Look fantastic, ride beautifully (ask lost_in_thought or Chip \'oyler, both owners). Bang on budget at £3200.

Good thought - I'll look into this.
Any idea who in the South of England (not Epic - much too far to go) sells Viner?

Yes (very keen Viner owner!) Epic are no longer dealers. In the smoke, Le Beau Velo- by appointment only at the moment I believe, though their website says a showroom's opening soon. And down here in Pompey, the lovely guys and gals at my LBS of choice, Velocity Bikes. They're rebuilding my Magnifica on Tuesday.

Monty Dog

OP - I wasn't criticising your choice of bike, more the alarming rate of inflation of top-end frame prices, particularly now that a significant proportion are outsourced to the far east - raw material prices haven't gone up that much either, so someone's making a nice, healthy profit.

Regarding the original question, custom Viner or Parlee would be great choices too

softlad

Pretre wrote:

Thanks for the comments but I have the money & wish to spend it

so you're automatically excluding framsets below £2.5k simply because you want to spend above that figure..?

May I suggest buying an S-Works Tarmac SL3 frame and giving the rest to me...?

neeb

If money isn't an object maybe wait until more of the new 2011 bikes have been released and evaluated? (except I guess you need a bike now...) The new Bianchi Oltre looks lovely...

http://road.cc/content/news/18218-bianc ... -bike-2011

Pretre

softlad wrote:

Pretre wrote:

Thanks for the comments but I have the money & wish to spend it

so you're automatically excluding framsets below £2.5k simply because you want to spend above that figure..?

May I suggest buying an S-Works Tarmac SL3 frame and giving the rest to me...?

1. Yes

2. Not a chance - you can work hard for 25 years to get your own bike!

Pretre

neeb wrote:

If money isn't an object maybe wait until more of the new 2011 bikes have been released and evaluated? (except I guess you need a bike now...) The new Bianchi Oltre looks lovely...

http://road.cc/content/news/18218-bianc ... -bike-2011

I wouldn't say money is no object - you can but a lot more expensive frames than the budged I've set

I don't actually need a bike now - still won't be able to get on one (indoors) for at least a few weeks up to a month or so & then outside - who knows?

Chip \'oyler

Pretre wrote:

softlad wrote:

Pretre wrote:

Thanks for the comments but I have the money & wish to spend it

so you're automatically excluding framsets below £2.5k simply because you want to spend above that figure..?

May I suggest buying an S-Works Tarmac SL3 frame and giving the rest to me...?

1. Yes

2. Not a chance - you can work hard for 25 years to get your own bike!

As a Viner Maxima owner I would say that you can't go wrong with choosing one. They are made to measure and the front triangle's carbon tubes are made to your riding requirements. They are perfectly balanced and handle superbly

Read Marcel Wusts glowing report here http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... a-08-28906

Pretre

I spoke to the owner of Le Beau Velo at the Earls Court Bike Show last year & I am very tempted - only issue is that pretty much the only thing that got damaged in the crash was the frame so I have a groupset & finishing kit at the LBS. The man from Le Beau Velo was VERY reluctant to talk about me buying a frame without the components he was selling....