Only Burley and Rodriguez?

[KnottedYet]

Hmmmm, yet another made in the US steel bike! Woohoo! I've hit the jackpot!

You guys are too awesome!

I spent an interesting half hour or so at R+E (home of Rodriguez) talking to Smiley about bikes. Made right here in Seattle! So, the Rodriguez Adventure ($2,200 with Campy Mirage) sounds like my Rodriguez. Right down to the bottle opener on the chain stay. (gotta be able to open those Red Hook ESB's!)

That was the first stop of the afternoon. Second stop was the bank, ain't enough money in my "bike acct" for wheels, let alone a bike yet. But it will get there. I deposited another $100 today.

Third stop was the dentist. Oh, crud. I need a root canal and a crown. Preliminary estimate: $3,600. First words out of my mouth: "That's more than a Rodriguez with full Campy Veloce!" (aka $2,800) My dentist is a biker, so he understood. And he sympathized.

The tooth is structually pretty ok with a stable big crack down the root, it's just the pain. How long can I stand the pain? I haven't chewed on that side in about 3 years. What's another year or two anyway? A couple beers (Red Hook ESB, of course) and the pain eases up. Will my dental insurance pay for a Rodriguez since I can use the bottle opener chain stay to get to the beer which dulls the pain of the cracked tooth?

[mimitabby]

Knotted,
I am glad you talked to Smiley, I like him. He fitted us to our tandem. Never missed a step.
After drooling over the Rivendell Ramboulet for years DH decided to get a locally made bike instead (Sunday) so he put in an order for a Davidson; steel of course.. That's down at Elliott Bay Bikes.

Keep saving your money... And I hope your dental insurance pays for most of that tooth!

[SalsaMTB]

For some reason, I think I read in a magazine recently that Lemond steel frames are built in the US, but not positive.

If you can save up for your local builder, definitely go for that! I ride a quiring right now and love it. Supporting a local building makes spending the money a lot easiers I have found!

[jeannierides]

Knotted, my SO found my Gunnar frame on EBay - for $450 - then built it up himself with Campy, Thomson, Chris King - and the handmade pink wheels! It probably rounds up to around 2 grand, but there are other components that are good, that aren't as pricey as some of those.... just a thought... (Of course, if I lived in a place where someone actually built beautiful bikes - I'd probably save my money and go there too!)

[KnottedYet]

I can't seem to make a link directly to the Rodriguez Adventure, but here's the website. At the moment, the Adventure is the first bike to pop up when you hit the link for "Touring Bikes" on the left of the page.

www.rodcycle.com

And they are made a mere 3/4 mile from where I used to live! (about 10 miles from where I am now.)

[mimitabby]

I found a few more steel bike makers on that Paint website
here's one:

http://www.desalvocycles.com/

[Eden]

Another place that makes really sweet steel bikes (and is also right here in Seattle) is Hampsten Cycles - yes as in Andy Hampsten. They make a lovely super light steel bike.

www.hampsten.com