If you could chose only one...

[SoCalSteve]

bike from each material...

Ti
Carbon
Steel
Al
Mixed Material

What would you chose?

I would choose:

Ti: Seven Axiom
Carbon: Fondriest Carbon Lex
Steel: Serotta CSI
Al: Pegoretti Fina Estampa
Mixed: Serotta Ottrott with ST rear

I own the Seven, CSI and have a Fondriest Carbon Lex on order (they are discounting them $800.00 from new on the '04 model, couldnt pass it up)
One day I will special order a Fina Estampa and, if my ship ever comes in, an Ottrott ST....Paying $5k for a bike frame seems WAY outragoues to me. And, I'm no so sure if the mixed material frames are all that they are cracked up to be.

Looking forward to hearing what everyone else chooses.

Remember, only one per material.

Steve

[Andreu]

this is tough because I only have experience of European steel.
But for various heart/head rational:

Ti: IF (on my steel list too these guys deserve a chance...look good too!)
Carbon: Colnago (tried and tested and they look good...this forum is the only place I have ever heard bad things about them? I still can't fathom that out?)
Steel: Vanilla (these bikes look beautiful) or IF (nice looking frames)
Al: Pegoretti Fina Estampa (slowly swinging towards Aluminium)
Mixed: Serotta Ottrott without ST rear

[Sandy]

1.Do the following search- frame materials
2.Click on -If you could..what would you buy?

The above answers the same question. That would give you additional answers to those that you will receive on this thread.

My answers:

Ti- Serotta Legend Ti
Carbon- Calfee Tetra Pro
Steel- Serotta CSi
Al- Klein Quantum Pro
Mixed- Ottrott ST

[Sandy]

Spectrum Ti or steel, Parlee or Colnago carbon, Kirk, Sachs, or Pegoretti steel


Sandman

[Serotta PETE]

If I could only have one, I would just do a "long term" borrow on one of Sandy's (Although he probably borrowed from Spokes or Kevin)

Pete

[DWF]

bike from each material...

Ti
Carbon
Steel
Al
Mixed Material

What would you chose?

I would choose:

Ti - I'd get one of Curt Goodrich's new Ti offerings: beautifully crafted and the tubes are seamlessly joined together. It looks like all those years of fillet brazing steel bikes has really helped Curt get a jump on his competitors with the new Cadweld process for joining Ti. Gorgeous!!!

Carbon - The new Rivendell "Quenya" (named after Tolkein's "High Elvish" language). Rivendell will have some real surprises for everyone at this year's Interbike with their full line of CF bikes. It's a semi-modular design utilizing the active mold manipulation developed by the J.B. Devcon group of companies that can be used to easily build true custom CF frames to Grant's high standards.

Steel - Unfortunately, the choice is painfully clear. With the '05 release of Klein's new steel lineup, a lot of the old standard steel builders are going to be hurting. Klien's applied that same molded look of their aluminum bikes to steel and the result is spectacular! Still not sure how they did it!

Aluminum - Teknoir. These custom Al builders from Germany use a proprietary Aluminum/Lithium/Vanalen alloy which is then hydraformed into tubing to build reliable, rock solid sub-1Kg frames that even Magnus could get a full season out of.

Mixed Material - You'd never believe who has combined the new McClean Composites "wet" Kevlar reinforced tubes with some new Pacenti designed compact super OS lugs! That's right, our own eRichie Sachs. Early photos look amazing and a 57cm is only 2.3 pounds!!!!!!!

[Jeff N.]

Ti: Moots Vamoots, Serotta Legend Ti, Seven Axion Ti. Its a toss. Kinda partial to my Moots though. Very trick. Hope I don't offend anyone...and I'm a Legend Ti owner as well....but if Serotta had the attention to detail that Moots has, all other Ti builders would have to fold their tents!
Carbon: Parlee for certain.
Steel: Seven Axiom Steel
Aluminum: 'Dale CAAD-4
Mixed: Titus Exo-Grid Road. Beyond belief! To see one is to want one. Jeff N.

[dbrk]

Ti: HaMMoots. Moots by Hampsten or is that Hampsten by Moots? Either way, this is the real deal...
Carbon: Parlee for Hampsten and Hampsten for Parlee
Steel: Sachs, Goodrich, Mariposa, Cooper, IF, CSi, Riv, Dario: these all count as one
Aluminum: Dario's Fina
Mixed: I've not owned an Ottrott but that would answer nicely; Carrera's Giove is a pretty groovy ride.

New Category:
Non-Race Bike Style Road Bike (including audax, commuters, etc.):
Mariposa, Singer, Herse

Lusting Still Category:
Vanilla, Kirk, Spectrum 25th

Incoming!!!
Luigino, BigLegEmma, Nagasawa, Mariposa lightweight and P-RCampag changer, Riv Saluki, Sachs (by the time my next one comes it will likely have that carbon rear option...:-)

Best Answer to this Question: DWF, by a long shot...

dbrk

[slowgoing]

Ti - Have a Hors and am perfectly happy with it. I might want a Merckx Majestic if a deal comes up in my size.

Steel - Sachs or CSI, but don't know how much different it would be from my Atlanta that I love.

Carbon: Colnago. No others are close.

Al - Merckx Team SC.

Mixed: Haven't even given it a thought until I read above about what E-Richie is doing.

[Carlo]

Ti - Seven
Carbon - Colnago
Steel - Sachs, Baylis, Serotta CSI
Al - Coors
Mixed Material - Pamela Anderson

[Dekonick]

Ti - Serotta Hors Categorie
Steel - Kirk Terraplane, or Serotta CSI - perhaps a Sachs?
Al - No thanks; Ill pass and take a Seven Axiom or Serotta Legend instead...
Carbon - I dont know as I havent tried any in awhile - but Calfe gets high marks from those I trust.
Combo - Hmmm - again I have nothing to compare but from what others say, I would try an ottrott or perhaps that nifty Sachs if it becomes reality

If I can only have one, I already own it! Hors Cat. except I wish mine was custom...close enough to make me happy (lesson learned: Dont wait too long and lust or you may not be able to get what you want. I waited and DKS is no longer so I had to settle for stock.)

[bostondrunk]

Ti - Spectrum
Carbon - Calfee (or maybe Parlee)
Steel - Colnago Master Xlite
Al - Pinarello Dogma (droool)
Mixed Material - Maybe a BMC Team in Swiss colors.......maybe a Colnago CT2.............but I agree that Pamela would be a nice ride too... :beer: :beer: :bike:

[SoCalSteve]

Thanks everyone for your responses so far.

I'm just curious why no one has chosen Fondriest for their Al or Carbon frames?

I dont have much experience with Fondriest, but from what I do know, the have a great reputation, their frames are nothing short of gorgeous and handmade in Italy (I think thats harder to find these days).

Any comments, experiences and opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Steve

[bostondrunk]

A buddy has a fondriest madonna (sp?) and I'm not all that impressed, heavy, big welds, etc.
However, it is one of their cheapest frames.
The carbons look really nice, but not much feedback on them, and pricey. :beer:

[zap]

Ti - Probably Serotta CycoX w/DKS. Then I get to ditch my current Ti frame :banana:

Carbon - Possibly Parlee, but I have a Look Monoblade that I'm very happy with.

Steel - No. Well, if I wanted a nice looking lugged bike to doodle on, I'd look at Columbine or Erickson.

Al - Klien Q Pro Carbon

Mixed - See above Klein.

BD-isn't the Dogma a Mag. alloy?

[bostondrunk]

True....so for AL, I guess a Prince SL...



Ti - Probably Serotta CycoX w/DKS. Then I get to ditch my current Ti frame :banana:

Carbon - Possibly Parlee, but I have a Look Monoblade that I'm very happy with.

Steel - No. Well, if I wanted a nice looking lugged bike to doodle on, I'd look at Columbine or Erickson.

Al - Klien Q Pro Carbon

Mixed - See above Klein.

BD-isn't the Dogma a Mag. alloy?

[Elefantino]

ti: Hors or a Legend. Because Serotta makes the best bikes in the world.
carbon: C50, because a buddy just got one and it looks gorgeous.
steel: already owning a CSI, I'd take another one, because Serotta makes the best bikes in the world. If not, a Dave Kirk. Or a Sachs, if I really wanted to go high-zoot.
alu: I got rid of my prized S-Works because I couldn't ride it anymore. No more alu for me.
mixed: Ottrott. Because ... well, maybe Ben reads these posts and decides it's give-a-bike-to-a-suck-up day. :banana:

[shinomaster]

Ti Moots
Steel Vanilla or maybe a custom Italian job
carbon ..custom Parlee??
Mix.. Cannondog 6-13 or a Derosa.. Before the silly tubing came to be.

Ok this question was way too hard..

[Litespeeder]

Ti: Moots Vamoots SL 6/4 compact. I own one and it's as good as ti frames get.
Carbon: Parlee Z1
Steel: Vanilla or Colnago MXL
Al: Litespeed Avior
Mix: Seven Elium

:argue:

[amg]

First off I want to give props to DWF for giving us such a cool insight as to what's going on in the bike industry. Should be an interesting and exciting year with all these new bikes coming out! Can't wait to see!

Here are my choices:

Ti: I gotta go with a Serotta Legend Ti on this one.

Carbon: Some may argue, but I like the Colnago C-50 a lot

Steel: Richard Sachs. Cool guy. Way cool bikes.

Al: Dario, Dario, Dario. Fina Estampa all the way.

Mixed: Pinarello Prince.

Magnesium: That's easy, Pinarello Dogma.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

Antonio

[Sandy]

I see that some have mentioned the C-50. I had to be faithful to Calfee Kevan. Besides, Calfee bikes are considered by many as being as good as they get. However, I have seen an absolutely gorgeous blue C-50. A really spectacular looking bike. The cyclist, who has several superior bikes, likes his Colnago the best, including climbing, responsiveness, and handling, I believe. I realize that the Parlees have been very impressive also. But that C-50 is a real beauty!!

Another real beauty,

Sandy

[jerk]

steel: a tough call....the jerk is really loving his mx leader but some day soon the crazy bronze emma is going to show and who knows which one the jerk would pick.

aluminum: all aluminum? no carbon bits? (well maybe on the fork) fina estampa.

carbon: the new colnago c50 the jerk is not allowed to talk about.

mixed: that new dogma with the new bottom bracket....custom low and long sprinter bike....

oh, and one of each of those bikes dwf mentioned.

-jerk

[Matt Barkley]

Steel - Scapin S8 Thermocrom V-Plus or Eisentraut Orange,Blue,White and some sweet chrome (Sorry for 2)

Aluminum - Pegoretti CCK or Fina

Titanium - Custom Tom Kellog with his shuweet paint job
Carbon - Colnago C-40 (C-45HP, Maybe C-50 or whatever form: 57cm)

Mixed - If not what Carlo already stated (P. Anderson) I am really... really, really! JONESING (jonesin') for my own Serotta OTTROT

[vaxn8r]

This is bikes we dont' already own right?

Steel: Single: Vanilla, Tandem: Co-Motion Supremo

Aluminum: Co-Motion Ristretto

Carbon: Hampsten/Parlee

Ti: Spectrum

[shinomaster]

When your Big, Bronze Enima shows up, I'd run the other way if I were you!

sincerely,

Shino

P.S. good luck! :banana: :banana:

[Vanilla Gorilla]

Ti...I have always wanted a Merlin. Even if they are Lightspeed now.

Steel...Vanilla! What else for the Vanilla Gorilla?

Carbon....Fondriest, or Cervello, or colnago, or Derosa, or Merckx, or a Trek...anything but a Calfee!

Mix? ... How about a a .a Casati? Or a Mondonico, steel Carbon?

[Jeff N.]

A buddy has a fondriest madonna (sp?) and I'm not all that impressed, heavy, big welds, etc.
However, it is one of their cheapest frames.
The carbons look really nice, but not much feedback on them, and pricey. :beer:Right! Those big toothpaste welds. But we're not supposed to care about the welds, right? Not unless we own a Moots..... Jeff N.

[Climb01742]

steel: hard to beat either my mxl or csi...but maybe a e-richie or something freaky by anvil.

ti: my IF CJ or something freaky by anvil.

al: my team sc.

carbon: the parlee/hampsten on the way

mixed: this is toughest...a very very light ottrott...or the mix IF is working on...or that e-richie secret project DWF mentioned.

[christian]

Steel: Mariposa audax
This would be a tough choice, but since I can get a race bike in other materials, I'd have to use steel to get the audax/touring bike. This might turn into a 650b cyclocamping bike, too, if I get my mixed materials bike.

Aluminum: Pegoretti CCKMP
I haven't ridden aluminum since the Vitus 979, so this would be fun to try!

Carbon: Hampsten/Parlee custom (on dbrk's recommendation.)
The last carbon bike I rode was a 198? Alan... so I have no idea. But sure, that Hampsten/Parlee looks cool. Can it fit a 28c tire?

Ti: Matt Chester fixed/ss cyclocross rig.
Cool do-everything commuter/cross racer. And Matt's a friend.

Mixed material: Custom Rivendell road with stainless dropouts.
Well, stainless and tubing alloys are different. Different enough for me, at least.

[davids]

Here''s the answer (as of today):

Ti: Seven Axiom, or maybe a Seven Alta. Or maybe a Moots Vamoots. Or maybe a Spectrum Ti... Nah, I'll stick with the Axiom.

Carbon: I saw my first Parlee yesterday. So probably that. But the Trek Madone SL looks pretty amazing, too.

Steel: Easy - Richard Sachs, please.

Al: Also easy - Pegoretti CCKMP, custom painted like dbrk's.

Mixed Material: Serotta Ottrot or Seven Elium Ti. I'd be very interested in comparing these two design philosophies head-to-head.