LupinIII

wat? another frame thread? in my bfssfg?



srsly though, sorry for another thread about a heavily trodden topic, but i seek your guidance. both of these frames are basically the same price.

the first is the steel leader frame. nobody has ridden it yet obviously, but it looks pretty quality. I have a 1 1/8" fork in the mail since this is the frame i was originally planning to buy. in case you're unsure what i'm talking about, here's a link: https://www.leaderbikestore.com/pd-72...rack-frame.cfm


the other frame i'm now looking at is some home built one. I'll have to see if it's straight in person, but from the pics the build quality seems pretty fine. the size is right, and it comes with the ritchey breakaway system so i can break it down for travel. built with dedacci tubing (which line wasn't listed), 75degrees front and rear. the wheelbase looks longer than i would have liked, but on the plus side i can probably throw larger tires on it (though i like the lighter weight of smaller tires). the mismatch paint looks a bit funky, but nothing a little stripping won't fix. here's some pics






so, yeah. help?

Raiden

If we were comparing touring bikes, I'd be all over the second frame, but consider this- if you travel with that bike, where, exactly, are you going to carry all of your stuff? It has no eyelets for racks, so you're going to be carrying everything on your back- or calling your friend to come pick them up in their car... then what's the point?

LupinIII

^^not touring, i mean like i can take it on the plane with me since the two triangles split apart. it would be a terrible touring bike with those steep angles i would think

LupinIII

any more opinions?

guess it's a bit difficult since the frame is a one off. they're both priced $250...

soul05

i'd get the second bike...the leader bike is 4130 chromoly....i'd just get one of those eighthinch scramblers for 150 if youre going with 4130

Raiden

I understand that you're not touring, but think of exactly how you would ride away from a bus stop or airport with any more luggage than a backpack.

Also, if you're going to bring a fg along on a trip, theyre already easy enough to break down. The couplers are a little redundant.

psirue

who's the frame builder? I think that would help determine the quality of the 2nd frame. A poor builder will produce poor frames. I wouldnt bother with a frame builder unless they've made at least a few hundred. I'd trust a Twainese frame builder more than some newbie frame builder, personally.

that said, I really dont like leader for reasons I'd rather not get into.

surely, there are more options..?

Overwhelming

If your reason for getting the second one is because you can take it on the airplane, then get the first.

Regardless you would have to put your bike in a bike-box, broken down or not.

Nightdiver

There are cases out there for traveling with break-away bikes (also work for full-suspension MTBs), like this one. These usually make it onto the plane without any extra charge. I own a Ritchey Break-Away and have taken it with me when traveling. It sure is nice to have your own bike when you want to go explore a new place.

LupinIII

I thought most tubings in this price segment (ie, not reynolds 853) were all of the 4130 steel alloy. what differs say a frame from r531 from straight gauge 4130 is that the 531 is internally butted and can make an equally strong frame with less material. they're both 4130, just one is treated differently. I may be totally wrong here.


I'm going to drop by the guy's shop sometime this weekend and take a look at it. I travel to hawaii twice a year or so, and was considering buying a bike just to leave there. it would be nice to have a bike i could take with me. I'm not planning on riding to the airport and breaking it down there. I'm not super anti-car.

i guess as it sits now, the Leader is nice because it comes from a place making many frames, presumably has a better warranty, and is 1 1/8th so i can use this wound up fork I have.

this mystery bike is nice because I can take it with me on trips, more less common than the Leader (well, not so much a pro as a point, unimportant), and looks like it may be able to take larger tires? (though with 75 deg front and rear may not matter)

material imo can be more or less equal, don't know what level of dedacciai it is, and the leader stuff seems like more high zoot 4130.

anyways, i'll have to wait til i see how the geo feels. that's probably the most important point.

psirue

be sure to read reviews of that new leader frame before you buy. you wouldnt want to have the same problem that others did with an earlier frame of theirs (shoddy geometry, basically).

seedubs1

Yeah.....Those fork track ends were a huge fail.

LupinIII

well, ended up getting neither of these lol. ended up getting this: https://www.chariandconyc.com/peroton...llicblack.aspx

may be a touch small, but we'll see. final price shipped ended up being about the same as a new leader frame with a shimano sealed bb, fork, and headset. with this frame i got hatta hs and sugino 75 bb. and if it doesn't work i'm sure i could sell it for at least what i paid here in the sf bay area

psirue

good choice.

that frame should be way more quality than anything leader or a newbie frame builder could ever produce.

what tubing?

LupinIII

they think it's kaisei tubing, but aren't sure about that. seems to be in line with what most NJS frames are made of.