In Australia, buy a Curve and it’ll last you a lifetime of happiness. Stunning bikes.
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+1 to not being afraid of building from a frame, and if you have a decent shop nearby I wouldn’t worry about avoiding a frame where you need to install the headset (just pay the shop to do that part). Provided you do your research about compatibility and follow installation instructions for components, it’s probably not too much of a jump, and a great way to learn.
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+1 Ritchey Montebello
Btw, a headset installation is not THAT difficult. Used to have it done by a local bike shop, until I tried it myself. The tool is not that expensive. And with a good guide and patience there is not much to fear if you have a good quality frame.
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To go off the beaten path here, you might take a look at HTech. I had a Renovo here in the US for many years, and nothing I have ever ridden could compare with the ride that a well-made wooden frame had. They are in Perth, so you would be able to get them.
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+1 for Fairlight range. Had a Strael v1 and was great bike. Latest Strael has a lower weight limit so check before purchasing.
+1 for Mason range. Have a Resolution (steel) and Bokeh (aluminium). Again great bikes.
Enigma have a good reputation.
Now for the curved ball. Van Rysel EDR CF Ultra range. Yes it is carbon, frame is lighter (800g), reach and stack is very endurance (more so Fairlight and Mason), tyre clearance is 38mm and can fit mudguards.
I do like that Ritchey Montebello..
Note that you can often find nice sales on the Litespeed website. But mind that you will then be importing. And not all of their recent frames are that comfortable, according to reviews. Sometimes it seems that some new models are more showcases of frame tube shaping.
Another vote for the Strael. I built a 3.0 up from a frameset, which came with headset installed. Been a fantastic bike for all-year round cycling. Have used on many long rides up to 300km and has been a pleasure to ride.
With external cable routing it was very easy to build. Initial build was 11s mechanical, and upgraded to 12s Di2 last year. Ironically, the Di2 build was more fiddly due to the need to route the Di2 cables internally to the mechs. Would be very easy with SRAM wireless system.
Thanks for some excellent and fascinating recommendations. It’s becoming clear to me that I should have started this process at least six months ago - I had naively thought it would be a relatively simple matter to get a bike and get some decent miles in before a cycle trip in late August (e.g. the Strael looks great, but August is the earliest any of them would even ship from the factory).
As I’ve drooled over some beautiful bikes from far away I’ve also realised I’m just a bit nervous about dropping that sort of cash on something I haven’t had a chance to ride first (and just how many cool things it’s hard to get in Australia).
I love the idea of a custom frame but always just assumed it’d be too expensive. Cost aside, I’m only in Australia infrequently and never for very long, so an Aussie framebuilder would be difficut and my quick look hasn’t turned up anything here in Jakarta.
JP and Elizabeth I appreciate your confidence in me building it myself, but I remain unconvinced (years ago I started restoring my dad’s old 70s steel frame racer and it’s still sitting in pieces in a storage locker somewhere).
Those HTech bikes are beautiful, but a little beyond what I was budgeting - I do actually have a wooden bike, although a much lower end example made from steel and bamboo: https://www.spedagi.com/dalanrata
I’ll be in Melbourne in a few weeks so have requested a test ride with Curve and will hit up some of the other local shops and see if any of them stock any of the other recommendations.
And follow up question - should I be worried about 12 speed mechanical? It’s an option on a bunch of these - I have a sense it’s finicky and delicate and super easy to knock out of alignment but have never actually used it.
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I wouldn’t worry about mechanical shifting, despite all the pro-electronic propaganda. If you have a clue (and some do not, especially with FDs) it’s not hard to adjust, and is much less likely to fail catastrophically or be irreparable.
Installing headsets is not rocket science either, and any halfway decent shop should have the necessary tools, and be able to do this pretty quickly with no trouble. Given this is usually a “one time per bike” process IMO it’s not worth buying the (expensive) proper tools, or improvising things out of threaded rod. There are cheaper alternatives on Aliexpress (i.e., from ZTTO), but I haven’t seen or used them; they look okay from pics, and I say this as a former pro mechanic.
The number one thing about the frameset that matters is fit, closely followed by handling and comfort. Although the Strael gets good press, I think the front centres are short enough to practically guarantee toe overlap, and the BBs are relatively high; I’d buy a Secan or a Holt way before a Strael; YMMV.
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When the hanger is in alignment, it’s pretty great. So be as careful as you can be with preventing the bike from falling over, etc. I purchased a hanger alignment tool and probably use it once or twice a year to make small adjustments. My experience is with Campagnolo Record 12 and I am often loading and unloading my bike from a car.
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There are a lot of mountain bikes using mechanical 1x12. If it was fragile and finicky I think we’d be hearing more complaints.
It could be a matter of expectations. Road cyclists may be more sensitive to slight misalignments that result in noise.
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I recently built myself a new gravel bike with 2x12 GRX 820 mechanical. I have bikes with 105 mech, Ultegra mech and Ultegra DI2 and the GRX is the lightest and quickest shifting of the lot. I’ve been seriously impressed by how good it is, and it was as easy to tune as any other mech group set. My wife has had 2x12 105 mechanical on her bike for the last year and it has been rock solid.
Enjoy your test ride. The crew at Curve are very friendly, helpful and knowledgeable and their new digs are great.
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Sounds as if you would do better to keep the bike you’ve got. Not carbon, excellent groupset and brakes.
I’m not sure if Litespeed titanium bikes are available in your area but I couldn’t be happier with the service and selection of there company.
I bought an Arenberg model which had a stack and reach I couldn’t find in Carbon bikes, (M-L) , and the options for spec. Plus the assistance of Justin were exceptional.
The Strael is a victim of it’s own success. One of the British mags named it overall bike of the year, and in my riding group of ~8 who make up the ‘fast’ group in our club, 4 have Straels in their collections.