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11 comments
To add to the Allez Sprint, CAAD, and Bowman, I'd suggest the Standert Kreissage. The Emonda ALR might be a bit upright for some, but could work.
If you're thinking alu because of potential crashes, I might also look at second hand carbon; alu frames are not necessarily easy to repair.
Thanks for the inputs
What does everyone think of these brands? See snapshot
1. Trek
2. Merida
3. DARE
4. Canyon
Never heard of Dare
The stack of the Canyon if a fair bit higher than the more trad crit options and the longer wheelbase would give less nappy steering, hence why it's generally regarded as an endurance bike.
I've not ridden a Emonda ALR but they do look nice and would build up nicely.
No real opinion on the Merida.
A second hand CAAD 12 would be my shout. Owning both a 12 and 13, the 12 feels a bit stiffer to me which is what you want for crits.
I've seen plenty of Bowman Palace's raced but I'm in South East London so it is their backyard after all!
I'm actually looking to sell an Aithein Evo frameset (rim brake, red, xs) if you are interested?
I am looking for a Black - 50cm version
The Specialized Allez Sprint Comp Disc is aluminium and pretty aggressive, but comparable in cost to plenty of carbon race bikes.
Bowman Palace are highly rated for crits...and the standard answer people give is usually a CAAD frame - the latest being CAAD13
As a fast (ish), aggressive (occasionally) crit racer myself, I'd say that I've never seen a Bowman Palace frame being raced at any event I've competed in. However I have only ever good things about these frames.
I've seen a few CAAD's being raced, but generally the aluminium crit frame of choice appears to be the Specialized Allez sprint.
Oh yeah I forgot about the sprint - looks a great option, basically an alu venge.
A friend of a friend was part of a racing team that have been supplied with custom bowmans, he raved about it despite owning some high end bikes to compare it with