Forever Bike?

C3PO

Early in the New Year I'm going to start assembling the parts for my "forever" bike! I want to build something that I can realistically expect to use regularly for the next 10-15 years. I have a very nice high-end carbon "sunny" day bike that I intend to keep so not looking for the nth degree of performance. Should be reasonably fast, light, comfortable and suitable for long days. I ride all year round so will need to be fairly robust.
I'm thinking a Kinesis Granfondo Ti Disc frame (http://www.kinesisbikes.co.uk/Catalogue/Models/Racelight/GF_Ti-DISC) and probably Ultegra groupset? In time I would hope to upgrade to DuraAce. Not bothered by Di2. Wheels maybe Hope hubs/Mavic Open Pro rims?
What do people think?

guym

The Granfondo looks nice and I think you'd find it hard to beat titanium for comfort, durability, etc. A nice Ti frame will still look as good in 10 years time if you look after it. I have an Enigma Etape and love it, got a good deal on the frame and bought as a winter bike but tend to go to it ahead of my bespoke Reynolds 953 which speaks volumes for Ti. Runs on Hope RS4 hubs with Ambrosio Nemesis rims from wheelsmith.co.uk, lovely smooth ride. I found Enigma very good communication wise, any queries I had were swiftly answered. They also offer a frame refurb service, so if you feel your frame needs a freshen up after a few years just send it off and it will come back looking like new (for a cost of course). Also, check out fatbirds.co.uk, they have a great selection of Ti frames and bikes. Happy hunting..

Cee-Jay-Cee

I've a BIG birthday coming up in two years and the Kinesis GF Ti is going to be my 'me to me' present for it. I have a Felt VR30 (105/Hydraulic brakes) which may have to be sacrificed in order to build it up or if I'm feeling very generous I might go for a full Ultegra build up but the GF frame is a certainty, even at this stage and will be a forever bike alongside my 2011 Felt F5 (only frame/fork are original at this stage)

magicbastarder

if you were considering an investment like that, would you consider a bespoke frame?

that said, it's hard to find out online precisely how much one would cost.

Weepsie

magicbastarder wrote: »

if you were considering an investment like that, would you consider a bespoke frame?

that said, it's hard to find out online precisely how much one would cost.

Festka in Prague do them and they look all kinds of lovely

http://www.festka.com/

magicbastarder

not cheap! €4k for steel, €6k for Ti.

C3PO

magicbastarder wrote: »

not cheap! €4k for steel, €6k for Ti.

Not unless I win the Lotto!

ford2600

C3PO wrote: »

Not unless I win the Lotto!

If you want bespoke no need to spend that kind of money; loads of experienced UK builders will start at £1k for steel.

If off the peg fits, and unless you have very specific requirements like dynamo cable routing and the like, not sure why you'd bother.

Very hard to predict the future as regards what will be the norm as regards braking, hub widths etc. There will be a ever present pressure to make equipment obselete, so whatever you do will be a small gamble as regards choice of replacement parts.

Frame with some concession for comfort(you'll be older!), nice handbuilt wheels, NOS 7800, sram red mechanical etc would be my choice

Enjoy the nice headache

Miklos

Hope hubs and Open Pros will be a great combo for many, many years of faithful service.

RobFowl

If I was getting a forever bike it'd be Titanium and hopefully Litespeed.
Ultegra and Wheels Ultegra and open 4 rims.
I'd go for disc and hydraulic too.

magicbastarder

yeah, a mercian frame in 853 is comfortable less than half the price of a festka steel frame. different tubes, mind.

benneca1

Enigma ti frame etape or evolve
handbuilt wheels DT swiss with archtype rims
sram red etap group
enve bars and stem


That would do

C3PO

Interesting that people are suggesting SRAM Red over Shimano ... why? Never had great experience with Avid (SRAM) brakes on the mountain bike so would prefer to stick with the reliability of Shimano ... no?

G rock

Steel frame, 853, disc brakes to allow for wide tyre clearance, and mudguards. If it's a forever type bike, you want it to be one you can ride year round.

G rock

Have you seen the new release of "Isen workshop" frames? A collaboration between Talbot frameworks and Hartley frameworks in UK.

They look cool. Terrific all rounder, and not too pricey

kayaksurfbum

I was in the cyfac factory in france for the custom frame fitting process.
http://cyfac.fr
Not for me unfortunately. I just tagged along for the experience. Its amazing the detail, pick all your colours, get every part of you measured, pick the steel tubes off the shelf and meet the welder and painters that are going to make it.

Its about a 6 month build. End result is amazing, the finish is top class. Definitely a bike for life.

The steel frame carbon fork with di2 turned out to be not much heavier then my Madone 5.9!

If I had the cash id order one right now. About 2.5k would get you a frame there, not including the trip over to get fitted.

Kaisr Sose

Weepsie wrote: »

Festka in Prague do them and they look all kinds of lovely

http://www.festka.com/

What about www.wittson.com?

€2,400 for a ti frame only. Lovely shaped tubes! I thought about it, and am still thinking about it!! Plus a Reilly

n+1 thinking and research is great therapy!

magicbastarder

are woodelo still in business?
maybe not a forever bike, cos of woodworm or dry rot.

C3PO

Kaisr Sose wrote: »

What about www.wittson.com?

€2,400 for a ti frame only. Lovely shaped tubes! I thought about it, and am still thinking about it!! Plus a Reilly

n+1 thinking and research is great therapy!

That's lovely! Meant to say in my op that I would be much happier with a threaded BB - not a great fan of press-fit!

C3PO

So Stage 1 is now complete and I took delivery of a Kinesis GF Disc frame at the weekend - it really is a thing of beauty, the finish is fantastic!! http://www.kinesisbikes.co.uk/Catalogue/Models/Racelight/GF_Ti-DISC

I now have to start flogging some of the many bikes and bits that are in my garage to fund the rest of the build.

guym

Well wear, can't beat a bit of Ti. Any thoughts on what you're going to build her up with?

C3PO

guym wrote: »

Well wear, can't beat a bit of Ti. Any thoughts on what you're going to build her up with?

Solid, long term performance is the target so ..
In an ideal world I would go for mechanical DA but realistically it will be Ultegra.
To satisfy the mountain-biker in me I will definitely use Hope hubs and was initially going for Open Pro rims which is a combination that I have used for years on my training bike. However my lbs is suggesting I consider carbon rims - any thoughts? One way or the other I will be going tubeless and going to try 28c.
Haven't really thought through the rest of the kit!

guym

C3PO wrote: »

Solid, long term performance is the target so ..
In an ideal world I would go for mechanical DA but realistically it will be Ultegra.
To satisfy the mountain-biker in me I will definitely use Hope hubs and was initially going for Open Pro rims which is a combination that I have used for years on my training bike. However my lbs is suggesting I consider carbon rims - any thoughts? One way or the other I will be going tubeless and going to try 28c.
Haven't really thought through the rest of the kit!

If solid long term performance is the goal carbon rims might be a bit fragile for our roads. I have a wheelset built up on Hope RS4 hubs and ambrosia nemesis rims, can't fault them and expect them to last a good while. Nothing wrong with Ultegra, the R8000 is supposed to be every bit as good as DA 9000. It's a great problem to have picking out nice gruppo's and wheelsets......enjoy the build and post up some pics when she's done.

Trekker09

magicbastarder wrote: »

are woodelo still in business?
maybe not a forever bike, cos of woodworm or dry rot.

It looks like the website is down. I met Liam a few times and sold him some ash when he was building the prototype. To see the frame in the flesh was amazing, a real work of art.

C3PO

Well I finally got it finished! First spin yesterday and I’m really delighted ... exactly what I’d hoped for! Got a bit of a fright when I did the sums though ......

saccades

Very nice, fitted an RS4 to my bike (with the five20 rim) and it just glides.

I'd love something similar, but I'd have Mtb discs, those roadie ones look wrong to me.

Enjoy it for the next 20 years!

8valve

Why not go on a weeklong framebuilding course, and build your own bespoke steel frame under supervision?

Can be done in the UK or Germany.

magicbastarder

ooh. any companies in particular/skillsets required, do you know?

Thud

magicbastarder wrote: »

ooh. any companies in particular/skillsets required, do you know?

Good write up on the Dave Yates one:
http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=331543&sid=a42eb817fd8fba86594889c9193c2337

magicbastarder

cheers - i found this; a couple of links are dead, but three seem active:
http://noviceframebuilder.co.uk/links/framebuilding-courses

8valve

magicbastarder wrote: »

ooh. any companies in particular/skillsets required, do you know?

Dave Yates was the one I was thinking of in the UK.


Big Forest frameworks in Potsdam, outside Berlin, also do one... Lugged or fillet brazed courses available.
That would interest me more, as you could make a nice holiday out of it...Germany is my favourite destination for short breaks.


https://bigforestframeworks.com/en/lugged-frame-building-course/


And....German Beer....need I say more?!