Back to Reynolds bike frames, and some feedback requested from Liam and Josh, if possible....
I happened upon what seems like a pretty good deal on a brand new frameset of a Jamis Dragon 29er, 2009 model, and am tempted to buy it. Price is ~$425, which is about 1/3 of list. Full lifetime warranty on the frame. Online reviews of this bike are good, at least of the ride quality. Complaints seem to be only about components, but then I would be buying only the frame, so this is not relevant.
Question is.....is this a good bike? A good brand? Jamis is little known up here in Canada, so I don't know their reputation. You just don't see them around much, except their lower end stuff in the big box sports stores.
The specs look OK on the frame: Reynolds 853 steel main tubes; chromoly stays; 72 deg. HTA (steeper than my present bike, which is OK, but maybe too twitchy?); 74 deg. STA; 17.72"/450mm chainstay (not bad, could be shorter; still a good climber?).
If I buy this frame, I am thinking of either stripping and moving over all the parts off my Paragon and selling that frame, or just slowly acquiring new parts for the Jamis when they come on sale and building up the frame from scratch, then selling the complete Paragon. The advantage of the latter is that I can add what I want -- UST wheels, 2x10 drivetrain, etc.. Disadvantage of this is the cost -- adding everything up may equal the cost of a complete bike -- cranks, wheels, shifters, etc. are all expensive aftermarket parts.
Edit: I just looked at Niner frames, and their pricing is better than I thought. About $850 for an MCR9 frameset. Not bad... How does the Jamis quality compare to Niner?
Any thoughts, guys? Thanks!