Debate Time: Custom AL?

[Dr. Doofus]

Dear Serottans:

Would you, or wouldn't you? As your Doofed one has perused site after site looking for the perfect low-budget 74 seat, virtual 59 top, 73.5 head and 43mm rake compact race machine for next year, he has noticed many a builder who will weld some Easton beer cans together, in any way one wants, usually for around 800.00. Your ferric friend prefers heavier, stouter frames, but simply for the sake of discussion, will ask this question:

Custom AL : Ideal, or idiotic?


Your Humble Servant,

Dr. D. Doofus, Esq.

[Smiley]

Dear Doc Doof , why buy a Aluminum Custom to race it on , it can't be fixed so buy yourself a Shino Special a C-DALE and run with the bulls and race that puppy without fear of your investment going south with a crash .

[Dr. Doofus]

Dear Smiling One:

Your Doofus agrees. Why, oh why,would one get a custom AL frame, even for 700-800?


Your Humble Servant, Dr. D. Doofus, Esq.

[bcm119]

How about the Gios A-90 from Excel? It has a 74 sta. Too short for you I assume?
Gios A-90 (http://www.excelsports.com/new.asp?page=8&description=A%2D90+Integrated+Frame&vendorCode=GIOS&major=1&minor=1)

[Dr. Doofus]

Dear Italophile:

Your Ferric Friend would prefer a sloping/compact, for the same reasons that our dear Climb chose that format for his fillet-brazed CSi -- the "feel" out of the saddle that the lower frame gives. At this juncture, the leading candidates are a Zona Marinoni (custom for less than 700, including fork), a Zona Ionic (custom for 1000 with fork, but made by Dean), an OX Platinum Curtlo (900 with fork, but a long wait), and a Zona Orbea (still getting the perks at the LBS...but Orbeas are ugly, toothpaste-weld bikes).


We shall see...who knows, maybe the LBS will make a bit of a deal and your Doofed one will expend more than his budget on a CIII.


Your Steely Servant,

Dr. D. Doofus, Esq.

[Climb01742]

dear doc, i admire your focus and persistence. go, doc, go.

[zap]

Did you check out Titus?

[Dekonick]

Custom AL? Hmmmm...

I'll pass.

[va rider]

$800k for a custom raceable tin can. Why the heck not? Buy it, use it, abuse it, and if you crash it, furget about it.

go doofus go!

[M_A_Martin]

Seriously compact? You mean people *want* their road bikes to feel like a full rigid mountain bike?

To each his own.

Back to the question at hand. Where I love my Bianchi EV2 for its direct drive feel, that gets old after a while...so...Custom Aluminum...um...

I vote No.

[Michael Katz]

C'dale has actually had a custom frame program available for several years. Anyone ever order one or know someone who did?

[jerk]

doofus-
why not? modern aluminums are going to be lighter stiffer and just as comfortable than the sewer pipe lead noodles you are looking at as an alternative. this is a race bike right? you want to spend $800 bucks.....hmmm let me work on this one for a while....i know the guy who builds the team bikes for a couple of the bozo teams that ride flandrias....you want a flandria? i think they'll make compact even if you are too big for compact which the jerk thinks you are.....last i checked he was using sc61.10 and time forks lemme look into it.

jerk

[zap]

Jerk, isn't it amazing how many people dismiss al bikes...

[jerk]

yes it is. i like'em and so do most of the people who spend the most amount of time on their bike. there's an interesting quote by magnus backstedt in this month's cycle sport. "i've had some bad experiences with carbon in the past, and titanium you can feel the vibrations still coming through. aluminum's so stiff, though, it really makes a difference. really, no bike frame can be stiff enough for me." (with his new aluminum bike whicjh replaced his titanium bike) "the first climb we tackled, it felt like i had 300 watts more power."

magnus is a big boy but its interesting to note how a ti frame made stiff enough for him felt uncomfortable over the bumps. the jerk likes aluminum bikes, it's a great material to make a bicycle out of.

[Andreu]

Does this mean that bigger riders (I am not, for one minute, suggesting that either messers Doofus, Jerk or Backstedt have eaten too many pies) can get away with riding an aluminium frame or has everybody been lying to me about the harshness of aluminium frames. What is the low down on aluminium? I have been avoiding it for nearly 20 years because I was once told that its like riding a set of step ladders.
A :beer:

[vaxn8r]

Andreu, it used to be like riding a board and many have never, and will never, give AL another chance.

I have a very inexpensive but hi-tech Caad 7. I can ride it all day, I find it more comfortable than my steel Atlanta. Don't get me wrong, I love the Atlanta. But AL today is real good.

[shinomaster]

Aluminum bikes are great. I Love my Caad 4 Yes xxoo love LOve!

I really want the new caad 8 optimo frame as it would be more of a plush ride, and is even lighter than my rig from 1999.

Have you seen this co motion?http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=2321

[vaxn8r]

That Ristretto Co-Motion is very popular among the racers around here...at least the ones who can afford it. The others tend to race their C-Dales.

I've never ridden the Co but would like to. :)

[Bill Bove]

Orbea can do custom sizing for a small upfee. They make some nice bikes out of several of the new aluminums and have their own heat treating facility. I am thinking about a Columbus Lobular frame with Columbus Muscle chain/seat stays and fork. Retail may be a bit more than $800 though.

[gabbard]

Why not? I have a custom aluminum Rock Lobster cross frame arriving tomorrow. When I talked to Paul Sadoff (a builder known for steel frames originally), I told him I wanted a race bike, that I was not going to tour across the Andes, I wanted light and stiff, and he said that he would recommend Al (Easton Ultralite, in this case). For him, his Al and Scandium frames are more like tools - bikes to be raced, that should be pretty, but mainly meant for one thing - going fast. He said that in theory, it would not last as long as steel, but in practice, his pro riders get new frames before they ever break one, and he has not had an aluminum frame fail for normal reasons yet. (hitting a tree doesn't count)

I'll wait and see how it rides. Price with a custom steel fork was $1100, shipping included, full custom - custom powder coat, braze-ons, sizing, anything you want. It doesn't get more reasonable than this. My road bike is steel, but I only have one. If I had space for multiple road bikes, I would probably have 2 - an Aluminum (maybe with carbon rear) for the light/stiff option, and a steel or CF or Ti for the more comfortable option.

Steve