On 25/09/2011 3:18 PM, Blue Heeler wrote:
Geoff Lock wrote:

On 24/09/2011 5:12 PM, Alan Erskine wrote:
On 24/09/2011 4:22 PM, Geoff Lock wrote:
Fellow offered me a brand new (well, it looked brand new) full
carbon frame + carbon forks + stem for $700?


As a starting point unless you trust the guy to tell you that it has
had no accidents I'd pass.

Hm, like I told Alan Erskine, I have known the guy for quite a few years
so I am reasonably certain he is not gonna sell me a pig in a poke.

Price wise, it is at the high end for what is basically an
uncredentialled Taiwanese frame that cost about $60US out the factory
door in lots of 500. Obviously you pay a bit more given thhat it is (a)
here and (b) you are only buying 1 of them,

Bloody hell!!! US$60!!! Now I am assuming that is just for the frame and
even if he was throwing in the forks and the stem, AUD$700 IS high.

Have a look at the "no-name" carbon frames on Flea bay and you get the
idea. BTW there are "Hasa" frames there at present for around $250 +
$50 post, I mentioon this because the Hasa and Cell frames I've looked
at previously were identical.

Thks for the tip, Bluey

I hasten to point out that I have nothing against a frame from Taiwan,
after all 99% of all bicycles on the road have a frame made in Taiwan,
including most of the so-called "superior" marques.

Please don't ask me how I know but I do know that some of the "superior"
marques you alluded to, were looking at China, although there appeared
to be the usual problems with mould setups for full carbon frames, not
to mention intellectual property issues _ahem_.

The other thing you might look for is "end of model" stuff - a couple
of months back you could buy 2011 model Apollo Giro frames (both carbon
and alloy versions) for $150 + post as they made a few to many and sold
them off cheaply to dealers, who then stripped the 105 groupset and
other good gear and then punted the bare frames.

Hm, good point about the "end of model". The frame which I saw looked
funky with that slightly curved top tube, so I am thinking it is
reasonably current (1-2 years old?)

The frame looks kinda like this

http://www.lookcycle.com/en/us/route...ium-frame.html

I seriously doubt if the frame I saw is an OEM LOOK frame but, come on,
the design is funky, eh? Also the stem on the no-name is nothing like
the one in the LOOK pic Plus no crankset and no seat post, of cos.