Where's all the Winter frames gone?

jpj84

I'm having a look around for a cheap frameset for the Winter hack - first ports of call were Dolan, Ribble, Planet X - but it seems none of them want to sell framesets any more. I have all the bits and pieces to throw on the frame (and I'm awkward and prefer Campag), so I've no interest in buying a full bike (also, it's a winter bike - it's supposed to be a load of ol' shite).

Any suggestions for other places to shop? Ta in advance...

pblakeney

Why not buy a decent one instead of some ol'shite?
Buy once, get it right. I've been using my Condor Fratello for 9 years.

fenix

Buy this bike and sell what you don't want ?

https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXLREVAP1M/planet-x-london-road-evo-sram-apex-1-disc-road-bike

itboffin

Go secondhand mind you i've been downgrading bikes for 11 years so my winter options are awesome, i know no help too you soz!

N0bodyOfTheGoat

https://www.merlincycles.com/merlin-malt-g2x-gravel-frameset-197832.html

jpj84

Thanks for the input all - I'd quite happily go second hand, but there's not much about at the moment it seems: where does everyone look, other than eBay? The Buy & Sell on here has been censored since the forum redesign...
I'd rather not go through the faff of buying a bike, and having to sell all the bits I don't want - I'd be getting rid of just about everything off that PX, though it does look quite a decent frame

dannbodge

I picked up my previous off Facebook marketplace.
It's full of dreamers and shutters but you occasionally get a decent bargain (got my Allez frame for £50 then sold the old bits for £25)

alwaystimetotorque

I'm not sure where exactly you're looking but all of the places you mention sell a winter type frame i.e. with guard mounts - they perhaps no longer make the cheaper alu frames they used to but they still have some great offerings but maybe more than you want to pay?

Kinesis is likely your best bet. A lot of manufacturers now appear to be dropping rim brake though which is what I assume you're looking for.

If that's what you want then maybe try and pick up a Kinesis Racelight TK3/4s/T2 - all great frames and there are plenty on ebay.

Depending on what you want to pay and whether you're ok to switch to disc (Campag disc is superb by the way) then you could look at Genesis Mason/Bowman Weald (disc only) etc or go for an older steel frame with guard mounts.

If you offer up your budget for f+f and whether you're wanting rim then could maybe help with some other options.

darrell1967

They’re about but you’ve got to be patient. I got the L ‘Etape for £157 and the Preffesio for £92 off eBay in the last 3 weeks.

ugo.santalucia

Yeah, Ribble and Dolan have dropped their popular winter frames... looks like everyone is after your thousands rather than your hundreds...
Depressing

jpj84

^^ yeah, that's what disappointed me - e.g. the new Dolan winter bike looks pretty much up my street, but is only available as a full bike: I like to run dynamo lights in winter, so would be putting my own wheels on immediately (I've got a disc and rim set of dynamo wheels, so am agnostic on that front), and have enough groupset bits to build a couple of bikes if I wanted - it just seems wasteful to buy them all again, only to immediately strip the bike and have to sell the bits - at a loss - and then rebuild. I'm open to most things really, whether new or second hand; I actually have a Kinesis T2 frameset currently, but I would like bigger tyres for the winter (it's much better in that regard than the Ribble 7005/alloy Defy I've run previously).

Ideally, my musts are:
- clearance for mudguards and 30mm tyres - I acknowledge this makes disc more likely
- fork mount for dynamo light (starting to become rarer)
nice-to-haves:
- rack mount
- alloy frame, full carbon fork - I have two steel bikes, probably don't want another
- geometry somewhere around sportive/audax-ish
- moon on stick

fortyone

I have the Dolan Titanium ADX (non disc) for the winter and is very good, but expensive. I see it as a good investment which will last many many years. My view is that the winter kills aluminium and steel frames, but the titanium is unmarked after 3 years (which is what I would expect).

i.bhamra

jpj84 said:

Ideally, my musts are:
- clearance for mudguards and 30mm tyres - I acknowledge this makes disc more likely
- fork mount for dynamo light (starting to become rarer)
nice-to-haves:
- rack mount
- alloy frame, full carbon fork - I have two steel bikes, probably don't want another
- geometry somewhere around sportive/audax-ish
- moon on stick

Kinesis 4s disc ticks all your boxes as far as I can see?

https://merlincycles.com/kinesis-racelight-4s-disc-frameset-2019-126533.html

ugo.santalucia

I use my Dual year round... at the end of October, after the Hill Climb season, I will fit guards, remove the crank power meter, remove the battery from it, remove the expensive Ultegra chainset altogether and fit a cheap old CX50 one, fit some cheaper and more robust tyres and happy days. Will probably need a new bottom bearing in the headset in spring, despite the guards, which I have in stock already.
A few freehub services throughout the winter will be required too and probably new brake pads... maybe new gear cables in spring, maybe not.

All of the above is quite fun to do and saves me a lot of money not having to buy a dedicated winter bike. It's also more space to move around

arlowood

Have truffled out this option which ticks most of the OP's boxes. Has clearance for 47mm tyres on 700C or 50mm on 650B wheels so I'm guessing it will take 30mm tyres with mudguards.

https://www.paulmilnescycles.com/milnes-all-road-gravel-road-frame-fork-frameset-700c-650b-mudguard-eyes-blue-6006-p.asp

There's also a Ridley X-Bow frame on offer if that floats anyone's boat

https://www.paulmilnescycles.com/ridley-x-bow-disc-cyclocross--gravel-alloy-frame-carbon-fork-qr-silver-blue-pmc-5730-p.asp

Paul Milnes advertises a lot through Ebay but it is a genuine bike shop. I've sourced a frame from him in the past and the service was great

jpj84

I was seriously considering that Milnes frame Arlo (it's £50 more on eBay where I saw it!), but then found that Merlin are again selling their own brand gravel frame for £350, so I've picked one of those up.

In case anyone's interested, I'm actually going to use the Merlin as a gravel bike, and use my current gravel bike (old steel Norco Search) as my Winter bike. It weights around 4 tonnes, so will serve as good resistance training

ddraver

Winter bikes are called Gravel bikes now arent they..?