Hi all,
I am back in the UK after summer holidays. Here is the lowdown.
Gios Compact pro is my primary choice. But, the importer is actually a bike shop and not a company. Hence, smaller than normal backup, and, possible difficulty to get it locally where i live (i got no car by the way).
The closest place that the frame is sold, is 70$ with the train...and 3.5hrs. Which basically means, optimally 70$ on top, coz if i need to go there 2 times (1 to try and order and 2nd time to actually get it built etc...) this means 14hrs on the train and 150$ excess cost, plus the hassle to haul the bike on the train.
Further options?
Orbea UltraFoco Steel frame with carbon seatstays... roughly 100$ more expensive than the Gios. I know jacksh1t about Orbea...are they good high end stuff? I can get them through my LBS easily. Any opinions on Orbea will be greatly appreciated, and how it compares to Gios for durability and longetivity. Are the CF stays bad news? Lifetime warranty on the frame...
Lemond Alpe dHuez 2002 frame , 853 main triangle, 525 stays. for 900$ complete bike with 105 gruppo and CPX21 rims. (for +200$) i could upgrade to Centaur gruppo. Maybe a better geometry? long TT short ST. Lifetime warranty offered by Trek UK.
Ciocc, Basso, Colnago (no more Steel in the UK), and other brands are UBER Difficult to get...
So, classic handmade heritage: Gios
modern handmade heritage : Orbea
cheap (made in Taiwan) but honest 853: Lemond.
Any advice will be greatly appreciated. I am in a bit of a hurry coz i want to get this bike very soon to log on some September miles and to celebrate my bday.
Yannis
I am back in the UK after summer holidays. Here is the lowdown.
Gios Compact pro is my primary choice. But, the importer is actually a bike shop and not a company. Hence, smaller than normal backup, and, possible difficulty to get it locally where i live (i got no car by the way).
The closest place that the frame is sold, is 70$ with the train...and 3.5hrs. Which basically means, optimally 70$ on top, coz if i need to go there 2 times (1 to try and order and 2nd time to actually get it built etc...) this means 14hrs on the train and 150$ excess cost, plus the hassle to haul the bike on the train.
Further options?
Orbea UltraFoco Steel frame with carbon seatstays... roughly 100$ more expensive than the Gios. I know jacksh1t about Orbea...are they good high end stuff? I can get them through my LBS easily. Any opinions on Orbea will be greatly appreciated, and how it compares to Gios for durability and longetivity. Are the CF stays bad news? Lifetime warranty on the frame...
Lemond Alpe dHuez 2002 frame , 853 main triangle, 525 stays. for 900$ complete bike with 105 gruppo and CPX21 rims. (for +200$) i could upgrade to Centaur gruppo. Maybe a better geometry? long TT short ST. Lifetime warranty offered by Trek UK.
Ciocc, Basso, Colnago (no more Steel in the UK), and other brands are UBER Difficult to get...
So, classic handmade heritage: Gios
modern handmade heritage : Orbea
cheap (made in Taiwan) but honest 853: Lemond.
Any advice will be greatly appreciated. I am in a bit of a hurry coz i want to get this bike very soon to log on some September miles and to celebrate my bday.
Yannis