Best Frame For Your Buck.....

mattsaw

I have an old n+1 bike with a fairly new(ish) Ultegra gs which unfortunately died by means of a cracked frame last year.

I'm thinking of starting a summer project, partly so I have a spare bike again, and partly to learn more about bike maintenance.

I've been on the lookout for a decent s/h frame on eBay, but most of the the good ones seem to sell in the same ballpark as a new one. So I'll probably end-up buying new.

So, if you had up to £1k to spend on a frame, what would you get any why?

Benjamin Hall

You not tempted by some ebay carbon? Give yourself some more cash to play with....

mattsaw

Benjamin Hall wrote:

You not tempted by some ebay carbon? Give yourself some more cash to play with....

You mean the Chinese ones?

Lillywhite

Mattsaw wrote:

I've been on the lookout for a decent s/h frame on eBay, but most of the the good ones seem to sell in the same ball park as a new one.

Not always true. About 18 months I brought a mint condition second hand Trek Series 5 frame on eBay for a very good price. You just have to be careful and patient. Obviously at this time of the year with a summer not far off there might be more competition. Have you tried the classified ads in Cycling Weekly?

mattsaw

Lillywhite wrote:

Mattsaw wrote:

I've been on the lookout for a decent s/h frame on eBay, but most of the the good ones seem to sell in the same ball park as a new one.

Not always true. About 18 months I brought a mint condition second hand Trek Series 5 frame on eBay for a very good price. You just have to be careful and patient. Obviously at this time of the year with a summer not far off there might be more competition. Have you tried the classified ads in Cycling Weekly?

Yep, I know there are some bargains on there, I picked-up my carbon Bianchi back in January for £900, so I suspect it's more to do with the time of the year.

Most of the frames recently I've had my eye on have ended within 10-15% of what I can find it at retail for. For that kind of difference I'd rather buy new, especially for a frame.

Benjamin Hall

yeah, chinese is what i was thinking.

mattsaw

Benjamin Hall wrote:

yeah, chinese is what i was thinking.

Maybe, I don't know enough about them though. Can anyone recommened a good one or tell me a bit about them?

nochekmate

Mattsaw wrote:

Benjamin Hall wrote:

yeah, chinese is what i was thinking.

Maybe, I don't know enough about them though. Can anyone recommened a good one or tell me a bit about them?

There are previous threads listing other buyers experiences with Chinese eBay framesets

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... y++chinese

colsoop

If your prepared to get a slightly older frame around the 2008 / 09 range you can get some reasonable deals on brand new frames.

Total fitness bath have a few specialized on sale. http://www.totalfitnessbath.co.uk/catal ... 104-1.html

Might be room for negotiations on those prices too.

mattsaw

colsoop wrote:

If your prepared to get a slightly older frame around the 2008 / 09 range you can get some reasonable deals on brand new frames.

Total fitness bath have a few specialized on sale. http://www.totalfitnessbath.co.uk/catal ... 104-1.html

Might be room for negotiations on those prices too.

Thanks that's exactly the sort of thing I was looking for

alistaird

I got a great Sintesi Blade from JE James that was 2008/2009 stock at a great discount and fitted a number of parts of my old Cannondale.

Alistair