Bike Upgrade Dilemma

General Pub
1

been wrestling with this for the past couple of days, and being unable to decide on a particular outcome, thought I’d throw it out to the masses for their valuable (?) input.
so here goes.

my fixed gear bike is a build up that started with a crappy, heavy, ss, steel frame set. over time I have changed out just about everything except the frame/forks. (bet you can see where this is going already…)

option 1:
leave the crap steel frame; replace forks with a set of easton ec70 carbon one; replace alloy seatpost with carbon one. cost of this is about $200. saves some considerable weight, probably improve ride comfort and handling (slightly less rake on the ec70 forks).

option 2:
leave same frame/forks; buy carbon fiber seatpost (help ride comfort); upgrade to new frame and forks later on. Thats always been the long term plan, but due to other financial factors, purchasing of frameset will now probably not happen for at least 12months. (or maybe longer if I’m happy with the set up of option 1).

so I could go with option 2 which would save some money toward option 1. or go with option 1 which would probably give the bike an immediate and significant improvement. not that I’m unhappy with the bike at the moment, but (as I’m sure most people here will know) you can always make it better.
this is not a question on steel versus carbon. or which frame to buy, cause I am not close to making a decision about that yet.

thoughts / comments?

2

neither. sounds like the frame/fork is the issue so you should be saving your pennies to upgrade this. if you already have components then a decent 2nd hand frame isn’t going to cost much more than the $200 you’re willing to spend on unnecessary crabon components.
there are several frames on FOA atm that are all sub-$400.

in the meantime some fatter tyres will probably do more for your comfort than an expensive seatpost.

my2¢

3

Yep, both options aren’t going to do much.

Save pennies, get a nice frame for 300 then, if your must, buy crabon parts.

4

Depends on what you want and how much coin you want to spend…

Esp if weight is your thing (for cheap)…

I’m one of the dudes you met riding to Mandurah and I had the blue/black frameset. It’s just a cheapy VISP Aluminium frame off ebay, cost about $250 landed to my door with headset and seatpost included.

It’s cheap, the welds are ugly, but i havent broken it yet and i abuse the shit out of it. Frame is just under 2 kilo’s i believe. I would love a carbon fork for it though. On top of that, i’m rocking a bladed carbon post with plastic cinelli unicanitor saddle and i find it really comfy… that being said, it could really be rough and jittery, but my car is set up the same… i guess i just like it like that lol

That all being said, if you want to upgrade to something much nicer (framewise), then the sky is the limit. Pending on the quality of the rest of your bits, I would be looking at a frameset (option 2 - dont even bother with the carbon post). From as little as 250 for a frame right up to the $1k for a Cinelli Mash… or more if you wanted NJS!

EDIT: These guys are right, cheap 2nd hand frames on here, fatter tyres!

5

I got a Frame for you.

http://www.fixed.org.au/forums/t17410/

6

That’s the go… or buy a new bike.

7

+1 on save for a decent frame

+1 on good frames for about $300-$350 around here, keep your eyes peeled. Or get a VISP like HLC for about $200 landed these days, cheap and cheerful.

+1 on depends on the parts you got. Pic of your bike?

you a perth boy? what size frame you after? =D maaay have a 54/55 in the works =)

8

If you don’t dig the visp look, gear brisbane have eighthinch frames for cheap as chips, and it’s hard to fault them (for the price). I’ve been riding mine 5+ hours a day for the last 5ish months and it’s just as nice as the day I got it (a lot dirtier though)…

9

excellent. thanks for the input guys. I think the majority might be right - replace frameset later on.

@ jaseyjase: yep, perth. 52-54cm frames would probably be my size.

@ dubrat: yeah I saw that for sale. like I said, not ready to buy a frame quite yet and I think 56cm might be wrong size.

@ nexus: nah, happy with most of my components, so not after a whole bike. just thinking $300-400 for a frame set next year.

@HLC: a VISP is on the short list of future possibilities already, along with keeping eyes out for second hand deal here. if budget wasn’t an issue, I would already be riding a cinelli mash!
after the purchase of the bianchi, I think my missus might kick me out if I came home with another frame, regardless of cost. Probably that old N = S - 1 formula…

mind you, if I got a white VISP delivered to another address and moved all my parts over, she might not a able to tell the difference (she’s not much of a bike person). maybe that could be option 3. :smiley:

10

wow i love that frame!!! if i wasnt looking for something lo-pro id be all over this!

11

newsflash:

“fixed.org to noob: buy a new bike!”

12

Wha?

13

haha, oooh boy. Dunno what i was doing there. Edited for sake of dignity.

14

hmmm, pretty sure I covered this. I have “good” parts/components. only the FRAME AND FORKS are shit.
Why would I buy an entire bike?

because I’ve only got 4 posts on these forums, I’m a noob?
I don’t think someone’s post count is an accurate reflection of how long they have been riding for.

15

correct me if I am wrong but isn’t it a bit noobish putting “good” parts/components on a “shit” frame and forks?

My advice is get a new frame from the for sale section here, eBay or gumtree and ride:)

16

[QUOTE=oettinger;324894my fixed gear bike is a build up that started with a crappy, heavy, ss, steel frame set. [/QUOTE]

dude if you are wailing on your frame then you have answered your own question.

17

relax guys… all gotta start somewhere… oettinger actually ran into myself and a few other guys riding one day and he rocks a very nice roadie, so cut some slack.

I know my first bike was a bucket of shit, not saying my second isnt, but its a LOT better HA HA

besides, what’s worse… A good frame with shit components, or a shit frame with good components?

18

just to clarify things - when I decided I wanted to experiment with the whole fixed thing, there was obviously a number of different ways I could have gone about it. I decided to buy a cheap SS and simply convert the rear wheel to fixed. that way at the very worst if I hated the fixed thing, I would be left with a crappy SS that I could still use (winter commuter, pub bike, chase the kids, etc). I did not see the point in buying a frame and building it up over time, then when I finally got to ride it discover that fixed gear wasn’t really for me.
as it turned out though, I really enjoyed riding fixed. So the plan was always to eventually upgrade the frame, and I spent a great deal of time drooling over steel track bikes on the internet. but unfortunately I am not made of money, so I decided that I would accumulate parts over time (the shit frame with good components path).

now my fixed gear bike might not be very good, but I still enjoy it and ride it heaps. I’m not all caught up in riding the best gear and so on. I just ride cause I love riding whether it be mountain, road, or fixed. I like my velocity wheels, bullhorn bars, charge saddle, easton stem, sugino crankset, mks pedals, and cadence straps. yes I could get better spec components, but again, that all comes down to coin.

the purpose of this particular thread was to try and help me decided when to put the brakes on buying new parts, leave the bike as is, and start focusing on frame/fork upgrade plan (including the financial aspect).
I really think I was getting a bit bogged down in the whole “I can make it better” approach, and some of the comments here (along with discussions with friends) have helped me see that.

So yeah, I’ll leave her as she is now and look forward to a new frame, whatever it may be, some time down the track (no pun intended).

As a side note, I was all set to buy a cinelli vigorelli frame set earlier this year, but put the funds into buying a better road bike instead.

thanks for taking the time to read.

19

it does make you a forum noob, yes.

as does the whooshing sound of the “buy a new bike” joke going over your head.

y’see, back in the day (ie. five minutes ago) whenever someone posted a bike on the forums, someone would inevitably tell them that their minor problem was unfixable (no pun intended) and that they should buy a new bike. it got to be such a catchphrase that when fixed.org sponsored a race at the brunswick track open, the race was called the “b grade ‘buy a new bike’ 10 lap scratch’”. blakey could probably provide pics at your request.

this forum is known for its flaming. welcome.

20

True, buy brendan a beer and all will be well…