I would love to have a bespoke road bike made for “the rest-of-my-life”. I don’t do massive mileage, can’t imagine entering any races but do live in the Peaks so my rides are generally pretty hilly. I hardly ever get on the drops, preferring to ride on the hoods most of the time. Is this a waste of money? I’m a fairly “normal” shape so should I just stick to off-the-peg stuff?

If you want one, get one.

Otherwise get a flat bar hybrid if you want to be really sensible 🙂

The very fact you are thinking about having a bespoke bike made for you means that deep down you know you really want one! You may well ride more if you are on a bike you really like.

If you can afford it, do it. If you are going to regret something, regret doing it rather than not doing it!

What price do they start and who do you recommend? I definitely don’t want a hybrid. I always used to ride on the drops but I think the only reason I don’t now is that the current bike doesn’t really fit very well

Besides, I need to spend the savings before my wife thinks of another home improvement project 😆

I do about 100 miles a week on a second hand £100 decathlon. But I’m pretty sure I’d do more with a nicer bike.

Try just getting on the drops during descents, it makes you go faster and gives you better control over the handling and brakes. Usually more comfortable too.

You could look into Principia. Theyre a small Danish company, and apparently they can all tell which of their employees made your bike just from looking at the welds.

brian rourke
nice frames.

Brian Rourke are only down the road so might take a first look there. The staff seem friendly too

Get something titanium, with Hope wheels and a shimano groupset. The rest is upto you, dependant on sizing requirements.

Others will have other ideas but that kind of set up will last for ages and servicing is a breeze.

decide on the material or builder first because one will guide the other.

Titanium Frame, Campagnolo Group, Deda Finishing, Handbuilt Wheels, Garmin GPS,

Heaven. Do not deviate from the above or you will just regret it.

some cliff bikesGo for it and contact Cliff Shrubb. Less expensive than Brian Rourke and is considered to be the best.

a 953 frame with carbon fork will be under a grand. 853 quite a bit less

Thanks for all the advice, particularly MTT 🙂
The fact no one has mentioned moolah worries me somewhat. Are we talking £3000 plus here?

Thanks leggyblonde. I don’t follow the bike industry so no idea of £ for parts. How much (ish) for a full build. The roadie equivalent of SLX/XT groupset is fine as an upgradeable starting point.

If it is one bike for life then I would support what MTT says above other than I am a Shimano user/fan. I would also recommend classic shaped tubing for long term classic appeal.

Having said that I do seem to prefer the ride of a carbon frame but they lack the timeless quality of Ti. Perhaps it is down to the slightly different geometries but I ride my carbon bike far more than my Ti one.

Rourke 953 once you see on you’ll be smitten. Deal with Brian, he has years knowledge. Go for it you know you want to. As for money £3000 could go easily choose your spec wisely and you’ll have a brilliant bike. All of this probably applies to Cliff Shrubb or Bob Jackson.

Probabaly around £3000. Will pay back over the years though, look after it and you’ll only need new cables, brake blocks and tyres every few thousand miles. Depending on usage of course.

If you allow £800 for an nice frame and forks, £400 for a campag veloce or shimano 105 groupset, £200 for some handbuilt wheels and £300 for finishing kit you would end up with a really nice bike.

The roadie equivalent of SLX/XT groupset is fine as an upgradeable starting point.

You mean 105? A very capable groupset if you don’t have a huge budget to pay for. Although I would probably want something a bit more flash if I was having a custom frame built.

Do I mean 105??? Don’t know. Genuinely I have NO IDEA of road bits. I am an avid follower of the MTB scene and all the accompanying bling, but I just “ride” a road bike. I have heard of Red and Durace or whatever it is called but where it all fits together in the grand scheme I am clueless. In a way I don’t want to get into it, ‘cos that’s when the “dream bike” becomes the “project that needs updating” – I’d rather stay oblivious and just have a great bike

Groupsets:
SRAM have Rival < Force < Red
Shimano have Tiagra < 105 < Ultegra < Dura Ace (for 2009 there was Ultegra and Ultegra SL, for 2010 it reverts back to just the one “Ultegra”)

No idea re Campagnolo but you don’t want that rubbish anyway… 😉

A thought for the mix. If I wasn’t racing, and wanted a bike I didn’t have to worry about, I’d definitely go for down-tube shifters. Then your levers aren’t as vulnerable, or as expensive to replace. It is surprising how little it matters not having the STIs. I have downtube shifters on my winter bike and it really is impossible to care.

🙂

Mmm, not sure I like that idea. I always had downtube shifters as a kid but my current bike has STIs and I like a lot. I can’t imagine honking up some of the hills around here and then having to let go with one hand to change gear, whilst unweighting so not to crunch the gears. NOt sure how I managed before STIs to be frank

my 10speed veloce ergos have lasted 5 years of cross no problem, they’ve been crashed many times and subjected to worse mud than most MTB components!

You could also try Ribble Cycles they do custom builds and are reasonably priced. Titanium, Carbon or Steel frame is a must if you are looking more at general riding/touring as they are much comfier to ride, they give a little unlike aluminium which lets you know every little bumps in the road 🙁 Which ever material you decide upon a carbon fork will give you even more comfort 😛
Try to buy the best groupset you can afford as they are definately worth the extra expence.

I hardly ever get on the drops, preferring to ride on the hoods most of the time

Most roadies ride on the hoods, I only ever use the drops if I am racing (hardly ever) or going down a very steep hill 😕

I’d agree about Brian rourke , well worth the money, Jason is a very nice guy to deal with, as for groupsets if your going to get a proper road bike get a proper road groupset – campagnolo, forget about anything else, really, they either don’t have the quality or the pedigree.

If you want “the best” then spaff £3K

I’ve got a nice oldish steel frame and mid/low range bits – way better value for money!

nothing wrong with shimano or sram. get the one that has hoods that suit your hands and with shifting that suits you. (i couldn’t get on with the thumb lever of campag so went shimano)
“quality or pedigree” what a load of rubbish. real racers seem to manage with new stuff (sram) and the stuff made in the east with no history* (shimano)

*in 1921 Shozaburo Shimano established Shimano Iron Works. and began production of bicycle freewheels.

I ride on the drops when I’m going fast personally!

leggyblonde – glad to hear that, I worry constantly about mine. Maybe I should just relax… 🙂

Mr Smith nothing wrong with Sram or Shimano road groupsets just campag is better, end of.

if it’s better why haven’t they put shimano out of business and allowed a new competitor to take some of the market share?
it can’t be just price driven.
i’m not a fanboy trying to reinforce my own purchasing choice by dismissing other products. i just don’t understand why campag is the only groupset manufacturer worth considering?

Mostly because you are now being reeled in.
I’d get properly measured and get some idea of frame geomoetry/sizes before going much further and then taking a look.
I have a nearly 12 year old 853 road bike which I use almost everyday. Designed specifically for me for what I wanted it to do, be fast enough handling, but also versatile enough to be able to take mudguards and now onto its 2nd groupset (originally 9spd Daytona, now 10spd Centaur carbon) and an American 6/4 road bike with Record/Chorus 10spd. Both do different jobs but I ride both and intedn to do so for some few years to come.

Oh please don’t let this degenerate into a Campag vs Shimano debate!!

OP: decide on frame material and if you want true custom build or if an off-the-peg frame will do. No one material is “better” than another – pretty much anything (even carbon) will last a decade or more although titanium probably wins if you want it to look like new forever.
Decide on groupset and finishing kit. Whereas MTB is generally a mix-and-match of components and parts (eg XTR rear mech, XT bits and say a Truvativ or Race Face chainset) road bikes usually have just one groupset (eg Ultegra).
Wheels can be groupset hubs built up onto your choice of rim or a factory set like Mavic, Shimano, Campag, Zipp, etc etc.
Whether you like it or not though you’re going to have to look into it a lot in order to work out what you want and, assuming you’re going to be building a pride-and-joy, last forever bike I’d guess you won’t be getting much change out of £3000.

biting otr not it doesn’t help the answer the O.P. though does it.
ask them in Rourke cycles what they think. tell them somebody on the internet told you that campag is the best and see what they say.
🙂

Groupset doesn’t matter, what the OP has asked about is frame.
Lots of people have replied with thoughts about frame, but you appear to have got caught up in groupset which is 6-9 months away as a custom frame will take “frame builder unreality co-efficient” time to arrive after being ordered.
My 853 frame took 11 months from being ordered and my Ti frame took 6 months to arrive.

Not that I have one (wouldn’t mind one though), but a complete custom bike from £1800.

http://www.robertscycles.com/

Away from the Campag/Shimano playground squabling….

I suspect, stilltortoise, you’re probably not really looking for an ultimate bike, just a much nocer one than you have. Heading into something where you (by admission) have minimal knowledge suggests that you may not be confident of making the right decision if having a custom frame and build.

Stick with the research first to see what you think would be a reasonable overall budget and then start thinking around it from there.

Oh, and the riding on the drops thing is down to bike positioning. Most road riders use the hoods, and I’m also of the view that drop bars are often too deep for non-racing riders (indded, plenty of racers I know only use shallow drops).

Go to somewhere decent to get a bike fitting done and discuss with them the type of riding you want to do and what you want the bike for. I reckon frame material, construciton, component choice will flow from that, rather than the other way around.

Seeing as your ‘peakish’, try Bicicletta just of Ecclesall road in Sheffield, or Race Scene in Barnsley.

Bicicletta are linked to the Lynsky importers and will measure you for custom titanium goodness.

Racescene in Barnsley have a huge range of OTP and MTM brands in stock.

i had a bespoke frame made for time trialling. i am a fairly normal shape and i would have to say, after using it a few years, it was a waste of money. there are loads of great bikes/frame available off the peg. just take your time choosing whats right for you. also, are you sure you want something for the rest of your life? after a few years you might fancy a change.

My twopennorth after years of riding steel/alu/carbon road bikes; don’t bother with a bespoke bike, and forget the bike-for-life thing.
The riders I know who bought bespoke bikes loved them for a few years, and love them still, but they actually ride the latest carbon bike.
Bicycle technology has developed to such an extent that todays bespoke bike is tomorrows retro-cool bike and next weeks curiosity.
Just buy a decent-ish road bike, and if you like it and can afford it, buy another when you feel the time is right.
Bikes are like computers; they go out of date, and should be purchased and ridden with that idea firmly in mind.

get a carbon frame with shimano components and mavic wheels ,scott cervelo or trek you cant go wrong ,I would stay away from titanium they feel crap to ride .