Custom - is it worth it?

[messiah]

One day I will get a custom frame built... always wanted too but I'm such a miser that if a I have perfectly functional bike why change it?

I tend to change my bikes only when I break them, and when that happens I want/need a new bike ASAP so buy whatever I can.

My Nicolai is custom in that I had a little input to it - but it's not like a custom handbuilt hardtail which is what I would like to order.

My Lloyd is an okay size but it was not designed for me - original owner was a little taller :cry:

One day I will :roll:

 

[P20]

I do fancy replaing the Bonty in the longterm with a custom SS frame. Ideally it'll have an extended seat-tube ala Tom Ritcheys own frame

 

[letmetalktomark]

I'd like the whole frame in 853 including the stays.

I've always fancied this ( ridiculous ) colour but no bike company would touch it.

http://www.curtisbikes.co.uk/xc-reynolds.html

It comes with a lighter and more responsive Reynolds 853 tubing throughout.

And all the colors of the rainbow

 

[stevet1]

It is an interesting experience and halfway through you will be fed up wondering whether to lengthen the toptube by 5mm to accommodate the .5 degree change in seattube angle you requested ... but at the end it is a great feeling knowing you have 'designed' your own frame.

 

[tintin40]

I see no point in going custom. Save your £££ and custom it with stem, bar, seat pin. Buying a longer/shorter stem will 'customize' it to fit you.

 

[mtbfix]

My eternal fear would be dropping a grand on a custom frame only to discover that I didn't like the ride as much as my factory bikes. However the finish touches on the likes of Robin Mather's bikes are a wonder to behold.

 

[stevet1]

I see no point in going custom. Save your £££ and custom it with stem, bar, seat pin. Buying a longer/shorter stem will 'customize' it to fit you.

Oh tintin you make me larf.
Edit - to explian my p.o.v. - you may be able to get the bike to fit you a little better by altering these things but it will be at the expense of handling. And handling for me is key to enjoying rides.

 

[Agency_Scum]

@letmetalktomark,


Touching back on what " cannondale king " was talking about; the best skill a custom builder can have is being a listener. My friend went to a builder who quite literally made the bike plan in 2 minutes on the back of a postcard and ( can't emphasise this enough )...DID NOT LISTEN TO HIM. The frame was a bloody disaster and a handling nightmare to boot.
Then he went to Robin Mather and only 563 emails later everything was quite lovely.

 

[ededwards]

Really good responses, not considering getting one myself but have wondered on several occasions if it's worth it.

Particularly want to comment on:

1) What do you do if you've spent the best part of £1,000 or more, get it and don't like it? Quite difficult to explain to yourself that it isn't perfect and a huge finacial hit in trying to move it on, particularly tricky if 'very' custom.

2) A couple of friends in Hereford have bought custom recently (one due to size and not being able to source bikes small enough easily, the other wanting a very specfic Rohloff compatible frame) with two the the custom builders mentioned. I think it's fair to say that neither experience was very satisfactory - in the first case the builder took a sizeable deposit then returned it after 18 months of follow up saying that he was building no more frames. The second case took nine months and delivered a frame with paint as tenacious as tar (i.e. it falls off) but more importantly with a different head angle than the one requested.

I realise that the above examples don't exactly give a definitive picture but would make me cautious.

 

[Anthony]

Considering how much your wife would think it reasonable to spend on a new kitchen, £1,000+ for a Groovy or a Strong or a Caletti doesn’t seem a lot.

You have to go by recommendation though and I’m not impressed with what I hear about any of the British builders.