Not that I needed a lot of extra motivation to ride a nice metal frame, but the way carbon frame pricing is going it makes a quality production AL frame or even a custom steel frame seem like a great deal. I almost always buy a frame and then hang parts from it so I am not seduced by the XTR turd burger ploy. A quality frame from a company with proven ride quality/performance and customer service is worth a lot.
Ignoring the latest bling doesn't cost you much if anything, but can save you a lot of $$. Although there is a lot of Kray Kray going on in the MTB industry at the moment there are also lots of great bikes and parts to be had if you can shift through the marketing spew and you don't need to impress anyone at the trailhead.
Thanks for pointing out some great tips on the min-maxing side of things Andrew. It's very satisfying to put together a machine that runs really well at a fraction of the cost of some of the top end bikes being dropped these days.
April 24, 2022, 9:23 p.m. - Vik Banerjee
Not that I needed a lot of extra motivation to ride a nice metal frame, but the way carbon frame pricing is going it makes a quality production AL frame or even a custom steel frame seem like a great deal. I almost always buy a frame and then hang parts from it so I am not seduced by the XTR turd burger ploy. A quality frame from a company with proven ride quality/performance and customer service is worth a lot. Ignoring the latest bling doesn't cost you much if anything, but can save you a lot of $$. Although there is a lot of Kray Kray going on in the MTB industry at the moment there are also lots of great bikes and parts to be had if you can shift through the marketing spew and you don't need to impress anyone at the trailhead. Thanks for pointing out some great tips on the min-maxing side of things Andrew. It's very satisfying to put together a machine that runs really well at a fraction of the cost of some of the top end bikes being dropped these days.