new frame needed

[trackcar]

Ok .. i've hinted on another thread that i'm an old fogey .. and this is never more apparent than when i try to stretch my lardy aching body across my old faithful Ribble road bike .. and getting down over my aero bars is just never likely to happen again .. so ..

I need to think of a smaller frame but i'm well out of touch with what's what these days.

my current bike was a mail-order build from Ribble about 10-12 years ago and to be honest although they got good reviews at the time for alignment and standard of workmanship their customer service was pants and i'd rather not go for another Ribble based on that alone

.. I have an ageing campagnolo veloce groupset on there which still feels as smooth as it ever did so other than changing a wearing 53 chainwheel i'd like to keep all that along with the mavics which are still straight and true .. but i really need a good value smaller frame if i'm really to get back into enjoying road cycling again.

Does anyone have any good suggestions? is ebay a sensible place to look for end of line / secondhand frames and if so what would the collective recommend? When i say good value i'm thinking under 400 pounds for a frame and forks.

any help gratefully appreciated, thanks

[wildoliver]

What size do you need I have a nice road/tourer frame sat in the back of my garage that you can have for peanuts, but unless your current frame is big this one will be too big too, its a 23"

[Roman]

ebay is good if you know what you are looking for. I guess you would consider either 1" or more modern 1&1/8th" steerer?

I really like Fondriests myself esp. this: www.ciclosuno.com/node/469

Some other great bargains here too:

www.ciclosuno.com/node/272

www.buyabikedirect.co.uk/products.php?action=prodlist&cat=35&mfr=

www.hewittcycles.co.uk/_bikefittingsite_new/home/clearance/clearance_frames%20.htm