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Hey Schu,
I'm not a big fan of 853 for a couple of reasons. For one, I want my "nice bike" to be enjoyable to stare down at for hours, so I want a lugged frame (sorry, that's just my preference). As such, I'll look for a bike with lugs I like first, & joining methods I prefer second. (Silver brazing is best, since it uses lower heat than brass brazing.) 853 was designed for lugless construction (i.e., TIG welding) to save weight & reduce manufacturing costs without compromising tube strength at the weld-zone. So any builder paying extra for an 853 tubeset won't defeat it's design intent & use it with lugs. In a typical TIG weld-zone, the metal gets weaker (at what happens to be the highest-stress location) due to the high heat required to melt two tubes together. 853 actually gets harder at the weld zones, but one frame builder described it to me as "brittle as glass," which doesn't sound very comfortable to me.
I'll be the first to admit that I'm a steel fan. For that reason, I won't recommend aluminum, CF or Ti. I think each material has its own advantages, but I prefer steel for bikes.
I'm not familiar with Scattante, so I can't recommend it. However, I did come across this tidbit in another forum:
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"... you're being a little misled. A Scattante is not made by Kestrel, the salesman is twisting the truth a little - Scattante, EPX, BP Stealth, PedalForce AND Kestrel frames are made by Martec, a Taiwanese manufacturer. They use several different but similar moulds so you will, for example, see a slightly different tube pattern in a Scattante as opposed to a PedalForce Aeroblade. I can't objectively comment on specific differences which Martec may build into different frames according to the end price point - the cynic in me says they're basically the same type of material and construction and the price differences are down to different warranty standards etc ? There is a Martec website where you can see a very small part of their range -
http://www.asiatrademart.com/work/b...BI&cate=BI20001
The RL02 shown is a PedalForce while the 'Talon' is shown complete with Kestrel logos ! If you're keen enough you can dig through other Taiwanese business directories and find other Martec references which show some other 'badge' models including the alloy/carbon Scattantes. ..."
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And also this:
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"From what I can tell [you're] right. The frame is made by Martec as the RL02
http://www.asiatrademart.com/work/b...001&industry=BI
It is resold by epx as the 303
http://www.epxbikes.com/epx/products/road.asp
by Pedal Force as the ZX
http://www.pedalforce.com/zx.html
by BP stealth as the BP-4,
http://www.bikeparts.net/products/b...cing_frame.html
and by Supergo as the Scattante CFR.
http://www.supergo.com/hotdeals.asp...64&itemid=19083
If you look at the specs of each bike, you'll see that they are offered in exactly the same sizes with exactly the same geometry down to the millimeter on each size. The pictures confirm that this is the same frame."
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The links to "asiatrademart" don't work (they were truncated in the original forum), & I didn't bother trying the others. My 3Rensho was one of Japan's finest examples of an Italian-style bike. The difference is, 3Rensho didn't try to "pass itself off" as an Italian-MADE bike. It was proudly Japanese, &, with its build quality & attention to detail, rightly so. However, it appears as though Scattante's an Asian bike masquerading as an Italian bike in name only, in an effort to increase sales.
Of course, there's always super-premium custom builders, like Sachs in CT ...
posted by 32.102.170...
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