Steel Is Real(ly) Affordable: Handmade ‘Stinner Select’ Carrizo All-Road Bike Review

A Stinner Custom Carrizo all-road bike frame starts at an MSRP of $3,599, well within the realm of made-to-order custom bike frames. You can get a complete Stinner Select Carrizo bicycle for shy of $300 more — yes, the bike is ready to ride. This includes wireless electronic shifting and hydraulic disc brakes.

For many cyclists, a custom-fabricated frame is the epitome, maybe the last bike they will ever buy and ride. These frames have specific tube sets, lengths, frame geometry, and paint to best match the customer’s needs and desires. But they necessarily come with a high price, as assembly-line production isn’t feasible.

But Stinner Frameworks’ Select line promises some of the intangibles that a small group of fabricators instill in a bicycle without the full-fledged cost, wait, and logistics of a truly custom ride. And, in the sea of carbon bikes, hand-welded steel frames offer ride quality and aesthetics that have largely been forgotten.

In short: The Stinner Frameworks Carrizo Select all-road bike delivers the ride quality that only high-end steel tube sets deliver, combined with the workmanship and connection that come with small cottage-industry frame fabricators. All for a price that, until now, has been unheard of from a custom frame shop.

Details: Steel is Real

Artisans weld and finish all Select Carizzo frames in Stinner’s Santa Barbara, Calif., facility. The crew uses Columbus Zona tubing and TIG-welds them into six sizes, ranging from 50 to 60 cm. Stinner powder coats the frame in mint or desert tan. The frame has clearance for 40cm wide tires and has fender mounts and three water bottle cage mounting points.

The build kit consists of an SRAM Apex AXS 12-speed wireless drivetrain, DT Swiss aluminum wheels, and an Easton aluminum cockpit.

The complete bike comes with an externally routed rear hydraulic brake hose, and the front hose runs inside the carbon fork. But Stinner future-proofs the frame, so it has ports for front and rear derailleur wiring.

My 56cm sample weighs a verified 21.3 pounds without pedals or bottle cages. The mint paint is stunning, reminding me of Bianchi’s famous celeste color. The frame also has quirky and fun graphics and statements that reminded me that a small group of people built this bike.

The kicker: The entire bike retails for $3,895, and a frame goes for $1,695. These prices are relatively affordable for a bike handmade in the USA from a small custom frame shop, especially for a fully built all-road bike.

Stinner Select Carizzo Review

In my opinion, many have forgotten the particular ride quality that a high-quality steel bicycle frame delivers. Carbon has inundated bicycles in the last few decades, showing up at low prices that seemed unreasonable a short while ago.

So, in the eyes of many, there is no reason to buy a “low-tech” steel frame when you can get a “high-tech” carbon frame for the same price if you look hard enough.

All the Steel Feels

But regardless of price, I find a steel frame made of high-end, thin-wall steel tubing irreplaceable. This is partly due to my age, as I grew up racing steel frames. There was no carbon, and aluminum was a few years away.

Steel tubing resonates at a frequency that differs drastically from carbon and aluminum. I notice this the most on not-so-smooth pavement, like chip seal. It quells high-frequency vibrations without making the bike feel “numb.” There is just enough feedback to give the rider the information required to assess road conditions and traction. It responds to inputs in a “lively” manner instead of a “dead” manner, a characteristic that many carbon frames elicit.

High torque efforts caused more lateral movement of the bottom bracket than carbon. However, I felt like I was working with this movement, and it felt natural. This could be from a long history of riding steel road bikes.

When I stomp on an efficient carbon frame, the high amount of lateral and torsional rigidity feels unnatural to me. But I realize that it’s all in the name of watts to the rear wheel. When I rode the Carizzo Select, I was decidedly not concerned about watts or workload.

The more forgiving characteristic of the Columbus Zonal tubing carried over to the front end. On rougher gravel, picking a line between embedded rocks required more planning as I quickly realized that I couldn’t muscle the front end at the last possible moment.

There was some torsional give that delayed the response of the front wheel. But, concurrently, this also produced a forgiving ride. Glancing off the sides of the same embedded rocks was less jarring and disturbing to the intended line.

I thought Stinner’s carbon fiber fork was a good choice. Carbon forks are stiffer than steel ones, and this kept the front end from being overly forgiving against torsional and lateral forces.

The most significant “feel” to me, though, was the way the frame doused the low-amplitude, high-frequency vibrations without the sensory detachment. Steel has always been that way for me, and it was the same on the Stinner Select Carizzo. The longer I stayed out on these roads, the more I appreciated this quality of high-performance steel tubing.

Component Performance

The SRAM Apex groupset obviously keeps the price moderate, but it still has wireless electronic shifting and hydraulic disc brakes.

I had zero complaints about the shifting performance. The shifting was reliable and accurate, and the chain never once got caught between cogs or rode up on the cog without engaging the chain correctly. No, it didn’t shift as crisply as Red, but it costs a fraction of the premier SRAM groupset.

The ergonomics of the brake hoods, shift levers, and brake levers all fit my medium-sized hands well. If I were wearing winter gloves, I would probably want more room on the hoods, but that wasn’t an issue during the testing period.

The SRAM Rival braking performance left me a little wanting. The initial bite felt vague, and so did the progression of the braking force. The feedback was also limited compared to Red or Shimano units. But I got used to it, and for the price, it was an acceptable tradeoff.

The DT Swiss wheels felt solid and never needed any care. They remained true even with haphazard riding on the rough and rocky dirt roads in my area. The same is true for the cockpit components. Everything felt solid; there was nothing extraordinary to report, but there was nothing to complain about either.

Conclusions: Stinner Select Carizzo All-Road Bicycle

For cyclists who appreciate the ride quality of steel frames made in the USA by artisans, but aren’t in a position to go full custom, the Stinner Select Carizzo is a great option.

You get the ride of Columbus tubing, the knowledge that a small group of cycling diehards welded your frame, and wireless electronic shifting at a great price. The paint and graphics also contribute to the “cottage industry” vibe. It’s obvious to those who know the industry that the Carizzo frame is not a “factory frame” sourced from Asia.

The Stinner Select Carizzo is also one of those bikes that beg to be upgraded as you become immersed in cycling. It can accept a 2x drivetrain and internal wire routing. The standard seat post and head tube dimensions and lack of full integration allow the owner to use a wide array of components from any brand.

For me, the bike caused nostalgia for cycling in the ’80s and ’90s, delivered incredible comfort and excellent feedback, and represented domestic artisan bike fabrication. All with modern electronic shifting and hydraulic brakes. Regardless of frame material. the Stinner Frameworks Select Carizzo is a unique all-road bicycle option at a great price.