Originally Posted by
th0m
I was mostly wondering if anyone has had any first hand experience with any of these or similar frames and could make a comparison of overall build quality. Most of them use basic SL tubing anyway with some exceptions, like the Faggin Doge mentioned. I realise a high end custom builder like Saffron, Feather etc could build me something more or less flawless to whatever specs I want, but I was curious about the offerings from the more "classic" brands and if any of them stand out in terms of the level of craftsmanship compared to the others. Not something you can really tell from looking at the makers' own catalogue photos.
I have a 2017 Colnago Arabesque and it was flawless out of the box. Paint and decals were (past tense, dammit!) perfect, no metal spurs or rough edges anywhere. It's easily the most high performance bike I have. Best comparison I can make is with my 85 Tommasini Super Prestige with SLX/SPX tubing, as they are the same size with the same carbon fork. The Arabesque is noticeably stiffer with sharp steering but not tiring. It wants to go forward. I know that sounds cheesy and I've chuckled at others that say things like that about their bikes, but here I am saying the same thing. Although I've been fine on 80+ mile rides, I would probably choose the slightly softer Tommasini for a century.
