alltime best road frames
I have personally owned, as in paid some sum$ in exchange for possession of, 23 road frames, actually have a list of them here. Had probably a couple dozen others for "extended testing" which means I rode them for a while, sometimes a real long while, before returning them to their rightful owners. And I've test-ridden at least 2-300 other road bikes, as I used to do bike tests.
The two very very best road bikes in any of these categories were built by the late Dave Tesch. What made them special was his front-end geometry, which paired a steeper than normal head tube angle with a fork rake with less than normal offset, a combination that provides more than normal trail. Toe clip overlap, you betcha. Never had a problem with that, indeed, in my size, 55cm, I consider it a sign that the bike is gonna handle great. Had a lugged Tesch 101 and a fillet-brazed Tesch OTTL (oversized top tube lugless). While very agile thru the turns, they both had the kind of stability, thanks to the generous trail, that would let you descend at 50 mph with one hand on the stem and the other behind your back for more aero benefit. You can do that with any good road bike, but it feels scary. With my Tesch bikes, it felt fine.
Others I've owned that I seriously miss include a sweet SL/SP Paramount, the custom heavy super rigid mostly Columbus SP Marinoni crit bike I owned when I was young and could really turn the pedals -- rode a triple century once on that stiff mother, and the 531 Crescent with Campy Record -- the original Record, before Nuovo and Super Record, let alone today's Record, that I bought in college, the bike that got me started racing when I started showing up for the local club's training rides and routinely spanked their best guys. Also the bike on which I rolled a front sewup in a crit and took out like 1/3 of the field and got suspended for awhile. Tip: Tubasti glue sucks.
The rest of them are pretty much a blur in my mind, other than a couple of lugged carbon ones on which the glue failed while riding.
Oh, I know another standout: Rigi, Italian. Super short chainstays, so short, instead of a seat tube, it had two small seat tubes side by side, kinda like the original AMP frame did for the down tube. The rear wheel fit between the two seat tubes. A Manly bike to ride. Great if you were smooth. Would try to do a U turn in its own length if you weren't. Great climber.
I had a swiss Mondia cyclocross bike in the 70s that was pretty hot; I invented mountain biking on it..
More down to earth, never rode a Bridgestone RB-1 I didn't like.
On the quirky side, owned a 17" wheel Alex Moulton, a hot road bike that could beat anybody in a stoplight to stoplight sprint, thanks to the 17" wheels.
whoops, had to use edit to come back and add another one I owned that was super special: 3(San)Rensho Katana, nicest jap bike I ever owned, or rode.
