Just watched the vid of the making of one of the frames .Yes they are definetly yum but at over a grand a time would they be a good investment ?Would the ride be noticeably better or would you just convince yourself it was ?I suppose the same goes for Indy Fab and others of that ilk ?

In no way would they be an investment. You are virtually guaranteed to make a loss over the lifetime of the frame. You are spending money, not investing.

For the same or less you could get something built by a UK builder to exactly the same standards and with exactly the same care. They just don’t have an arty vid to promote themselves with.

I think the thing is to research the various builders and work out which particular trademark details you like from each one, and then incorporate those into “your” frame, built by someone who understands what you want and who you can form some kind of bond with in the build process – that’s what meakes it special.

Was looking at Vanilla/Speedvagen last night. Hmmmm. Still – would go and talk to Enigma first though.

For the same or less you could get something built by a UK builder to exactly the same standards and with exactly the same care.

Hmm, I’m not so sure. With the exception of the now departed Solitude how many UK custom builders are willing or able to knock up a 29er? Just an example of the willingness of US builders to explore new ideas compared to UK builders who cling to a road bike heritage.

We (well, Matt) at 18 Bikes are building a 29er at the moment. It’s even one with very specific (read slightly odd) geometry. Give us a shout if you’re interested in a custom build

For the same or less you could get something built by a UK builder to exactly the same standards and with exactly the same care. They just don’t have an arty vid to promote themselves with.

Possibly, but I doubt it somehow and Soulcraft have done pretty well for quite a long time now without an arty vid to help them! I also think it would be very difficult to replicate a frame without having all the details. To give an example – a US based frame which had been raved about in one particular mag was ‘copied’ by a UK framebuilder using (as far as could be ascertained) the same tubing/angles etc. and received a fairly lukewarm review in the same mag. Why this happened is hard to say. Was it a psychological, was there really a difference in the ride, was the tester a dick (my fave btw)? Who knows but there was definitely something which affected that reviewers opinion.

One thing is certain and that is, while your Soulcraft will not be an investment, if you ever want to sell it, it will be worth considerably more 2nd hand than anything made by a UK builder.

Oldfart – I think it’s one of those visceral things, that if you feel real good about it, it will make your ride exprience better. If you find your head ruling your heart it probably isn’t for you. 🙂

I’d have one at a drop of a hat, Soulcraft do put in some nice unique touches to their frames. Personally I wanted fillet brazing this time around, and the local connection meant a lot to me. I bought this Enigma Ego Excellence fillet brazed special(ex stw-demo) and did the paint at work myself. It’s a pleasure to own in a tactile way at the moment, as I’ve only three components – frame, forks and skewers – none of them brand new!

Right, no more pics of my newley acquired frame – I think I could be over doing it! 😉

18bikes produce some nice tig frames too 🙂

With custom made stuff you can go for frame, fork, stem, seatpost and whatever else you can think of:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/engincycles/page77/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/engincycles/page74/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/engincycles/page73/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/engincycles/page48/

I also loved that film. Got me thinking about a Curtis 😀