Originally Posted by
TiHabanero
I have had two Habanero frames and communications with Mark, the owner, was excellent. The frames are excellent and reasonably priced. Check them out at habcycles.com.
The first Habby frame I got was the classic road model. Very quick bike, and a lively sprinter.
The current Habby is being raced by my son in crits and cyclocross since his aluminum frames he all cracked. The frame is the cyclocross model, but is working out in crits, just not a perfect sprinter. No worries, he is getting a crit frame soon.
Glad to hear this, I've just been talking with them and supposedly they'll get getting in some smaller frames in the next month or two as I would like an affordable Ti frame for my kid's next cross/road bike. Right now they don't seem to make anything for anyone smaller than 5'4".
Originally Posted by
Ironfish653
I ask, because you mention budget, and building a bike from new or nearly-new components (to OE spec) typically comes out 30%-50% more expensive than buying the complete bike "off the rack"
While it's not hard to find deals on major items like wheels and drive components, the little things likeBB, headset, seatpost, cables, and all the little pieces of finishing kit can add hundreds of dollars on to the build cost, especially if you're buying new, at retail.
Not really all that true in the current environment and especially not true depending on the rider. A 47cm Crockett is one of the other frames I'm looking at, 2400 for a bike or 1200 for a frameset. With the factory bike the handlebars are wider than preferred, the crank is too long and the gearing is not optimal. The tires are probably heavy as is typical to a bike this price. Rival isn't bad but for the same price I can have a similar quality wheelset, better frame color options, better tires, and run it 12sp campy. Also won't have to wait till july as the framesets are available but the bike isn't according to the local trek shop.