Atlas95

Thinking of a possible future project. Buy a Wabi frame (love their bikes) and spread it to accommodate 105 components - dream roadbike.

Also...can anyone recommend some quality, modern, steel road bike manufacturers?

Hondo6

I assume you're talking this manufacturer when you say "Wabi frame" above:

https://wabicycles.com/

If so, you might want to reconsider. Photos on that site show all their frames having track forks vice rear dropouts. Moreover, none have an integral RD hanger or, best I can tell, any provisions for installing a removable one. This alone is going to complicate any multi-speed conversion.

Waterford still makes great steel frames. If I recall correctly, Battaglin in Italy also now concentrates on high-end steel frames. Just be prepared for sticker shock with either.

I'm sure there are also many other quality steel frame makers out there, both commercial and custom. Just can't think of any off the top of my head.

You might also want to consider a good vintage steel frame. Plenty of those still around made with all varieties of steel tubing. A number of those were made with 130mm spacing.

Best of luck.

Atlas95

Yep that's the manufacturer, Hondo. Thanks for your tip about the rear dropout. Unfortunately hadn't thought of that and that alone is enough to deter me. Dang.

I will most likely go with a vintage frame for this project then. I wonder if it would be difficult to find a vintage frame that isn't too heavy. Those wabis are 5-5.9 lbs. Quite light.

More research needed !

Kontact 

I have a mid-line old Fuji that weighs 4 pounds for a 52cm frame. I don't think it is going to be that hard to find a frame that isn't too heavy. 531 and Ishiwata #1 frames will tend to be lighter than SL If you want to keep the price reasonable, look for '80s Japanese frames - Centurion, Fuji, Nishiki, Bridgestone, Specialized, Miyata. Trek, Raleigh and Giant as well. Premium prices for old stuff usually is for Italian brands, but the quality is there in all those brands.

drlogik 

Wabi used to make a multi-geared bike but they discontinued that a few years ago. Their current frame lineup doesn't have any frames that can take a derailleur or a derailleur hanger. You might call them to see if they have any new old stock frames for their multi-geared bike though. I called them a couple of years ago asking about them and they still had a few frames left.




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icemilkcoffee 

Aliexpress steel frame?

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2251832546821426.html

Atlas95

Since you mentioned Miyata...My girlfriend has an old Miyata 310 that I recently restored. I don't know how much it weighs and have no way of finding that out....Do you happen to know anything about the 310? Was it a good bike? It's certainly served us well since last summer.

79pmooney

I rode a 610 into the ground. (Three hard crashes.) That frame? Really well built. Zero issues other than the operator steering into another bike, a concrete and steel bridge wall and finally a chainlink fence. Fork suffered and was replaced each crash. Frame survived nicely the first two then bent TT and DT with no cracking, no issues at the lugs. Probably repairable but it had served me 27,000 miles of year 'round commuting,

It didn't fit me all that well and the new bike is a much better ride because of the fit improvement despite being poorer tubing. But for metal quality, design and workmanship, that bike was first class in its price and model range. I don't know the 310 but I"ll guess it's a step heavier with Hi-Ten steel, not Cro-Mr for the main tubes. Not quite as lively feeling. But I bet that attention to detail and workmanship is there. If the ride is too, and it sounds like it is, it's a keeper. Enjoy it!

Hondo6

Can't speak for every year it was produced, but at least the 1985 Miyata 310 had a CroMo main triangle with manganese steel forks/stays.

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...ata-310-a.html

It was a bit heavier than some other bikes of the era due to (1) triple-butted, but relatively thick (1.2/0.9/1.0) main tubes, and (2) fairly weighty wheels and tires (totaling 8+ pounds between front and rear). The review says Miyata made their own tubing because they couldn't find a tubing supplier with tubes that made a stiff enough frame to suit their desires.

alcjphil

One thing to look out for in older frames is tire clearance. Bikes from the early 70's can have enough clearance for good size tires whereas in the later eighties and 90's you would struggle to find decent room for anything bigger than 700 x 23. One reason for that was that there were very few real high performance tires back then in sizes wider than 700 x 23. I own a mid 1980's Limongi that has enough room for 700 x 25 tires, but maybe not much more. My 1973 Raleigh Professional had much more tire clearance, even with mudguards. I have seen lots of bikes from the late 80's and 90's with realy tight tire clearance

squirtdad

you could go for and IGH (internal gear hub)

but overall it would be cheaper to buy a bike than to build from parts

but getting a nice vintage frame is fun

dedhed

​​​​​​https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...ergos-327.html

Kontact 

That seems to be a very nice frameset with triple butted chromoly tubing. Probably similar to my Fuji Taira, they sometimes used triple butted tubing to have thick enough ends for brass brazing but really getting it thin in the middle. So that 310 is probably pretty light overall. Some forks hi-ten, later ones chromoly equivalent.

https://cargocollective.com/BRAZENBICYCLES/Miyata-310
https://classicjapanesebicycles.com/miyata/

smd4

I always recommend a Cinelli Supercorsa. It is so choice. If you have the means I highly recommend picking one up.

veganbikes

Tons of options for steel road bikes. What do you want from it? Soma, Surly, Ritchey, All-City...are all more mass produced options but good stuff but you can go with tons of other options from smaller producers to full custom stuff. Figure out what you want from it and we can help direct you around.

tFUnK

I picked up one of these to try to turn my fgss frame into a 1x. Am sort of confident it will work (either with clamp on cable stops or run full housing with cable ties), but never got around to trying it. I'd say if you already have a fgss frame that you like, it's worth a try. If it's a steel frame it can be spread to 130mm, I wouldn't worry about it. But if you haven't picked up the frame yet, then I'd just start with something that's already built for running gears.

Hondo6

Never seen that item before - very interesting. I didn't know they existed.

Thanks for posting the link.

himespau 

Those are surprisingly pretty (in the pictures) if you don't need something bigger than a 54 and will trust what little info is on the page.

oldbobcat

Why would you want to put Shimano 105 on a frame that doesn't have a derailleur hanger?

New steel frames are kind of a boutique item these days. Maybe these folks have a used one for you. https://steel-vintage.com/collection...-frames?page=1