[Closed] Going Custom - Worth it? Experiences & Examples please 🙂

Many will have seen my custom bike as while it's not to everyone's taste it does do exactly what I wanted it to do. Very well.
Would I do it again? Well, yes probably.
Would I use Lynskey again? Maybe, communication isn't great but the frame is.
Would I use the LBS Lynskey made me deal with. Not in a million years.

You have to consider if what you want is different enough from what's already available to justify the extra cost. In my case it was.

Doubt I'd pay full whack for it (£800? - a pal did mine at cost) given there are plenty decent frames around, but it is noice (I got all the braze ons I wanted, sliding dropouts too, it's pretty light as well).

I wouldn't **** about with geometry 😳

My Fuquay, built in '94, is still going strong.
I'm just in the process of a rebuild again, from s/s to 3 speed.
Custom steel is a bike for life.

Although in your position I'd book myself onto the Dave Yates framebuilding course and build it myself.

Cheers guys.

Nicknoxx - What frame?

DaRC_L - Member

Although in your position I'd book myself onto the Dave Yates framebuilding course and build it myself.

Good point - would be one hell of a rough job though 😳

I'm slightly hesitant to post it again because it usually generates several cries of "Christ, that's fugly".

So I'll refer you to an earlier thread:

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/my-new-bike-warning-uber-niche-content

Nicknoxx

not ugly at all mate.....very nice clean lines.

my idea of custom is to sit on a jig and get it set up properly though not a hit and miss affair of sending drawings to Indy Fab or whoever in the states

[i]my idea of custom is to sit on a jig and get it set up properly though not a hit and miss affair of sending drawings to Indy Fab or whoever in the states[/i]

My sentiments too. My HT started off as a handbuilt, fillet brazed, Tange Prestige frame for someone else but It's been changed so much to my spec that it's a total custom job!
Do it right, go to a frame builder with a jig & get measured properly. Like you would if you were buying a Purdey shotgun.

Nice - like DaRC _L my Fuquay frame is still going strong too, which is quite impressive for a 17 year old 4lb steel frame 🙂

But don't feel you have to limit yourself to steel - if you know what you want how about a fully custom titanium frame in less than four weeks for £500 - £700 depending on options? OK so it does come from China but hey, you can't have everything. More info along with others who have done the same over here:
[url= http://www.spanner.org.uk ]Spanner Bikes[/url]

Oh, I did the whole fitting thing with Bikelab, as a result we slightly altered the top tube length and Lynskey made the head tube slightly longer. Seems to work for me.

I had a custom frame built for me this year. It's a road bike but it was an experience I would repeat again.

Most important thing is to talk to the builder and make sure what they think gels with your experiences. If you have a bike that fits you well then dealing with people at distance is not an issue. My frame came from the USA and all comms were email and phone.

Poo.

My Fuquay broke.

I'd still do it again though.

Road bikes are better for this sort of thing IMHO, as the fit needs to be more precise II have short legs and long body so needed a longer top tube.

MTBs don't need the close fit, as your moving around more, but that doesn't mean its not a good idea just to have something individual.

Tube choice is crucial.

I'd seriously consider a custom build from 18bikes.. Lovely designs IMO. Or for a FS frame go Nicolai they are original bike porn.

Also Enigma, just received my 2nd stainless steel road frame from them. 1st one had some problems with finishing and they apologised as not up to their standards and said they'd build a new one, took another 8 weeks but end redult is brilliant. Jim Walker is the owner Mark Reilly the chief frame builder. Both top blokes. If you want a steel mtb why not make it a rust proof stainless steel frame?

Not much point in going custom unless you wnat some specific braze ons, tubing, size or geometry.

Do you have a clear idea of what you would get out of a custom frame?

I had a custom 853 cross frame built a few years back. It was pretty rubbish for lots of reasons. Flexible, nervous handling, toe overlap etc...

The builder is everything. I should have got something made in cheaper steel from a builder who really knew what they were doing

esselgruntfuttock - Member

....get measured properly. Like you would if you were buying a Purdey shotgun.

Too true 😯

All good points - thank you.

Hmm.

Going to check out the links now.

@ Nicknoxx - Whilst the thread you posted seemed to have a marmite response I think it is a very handsome bike indeed 🙂

I have a Robin Mather mtb. Now 6 years old. It's ace. Both the process and the finished product. Worth every penny. In fact for teh money I thought it was a bargain for the amount of effort and skill that went into building it!

Posted pics plenty of times before..

Time to get a respray and change of colour.

I looked at getting a fuquay in 1997, chatted to Greg about it, but he seemed quite despondendt then and he was on the verge of packing up. (which he eventually did). Ended up buying a Klein attitude instead.

Post pics of your Fuquay's please!!

Supersessions, pics of your Robin Mather please?
I'm on his waiting list (He's up the road from my mum, who knew?), but it's going to be a while yet!

sslowpace - what are you getting? his new Ti stuff looks lovely.

sorry not got great pics on my flickr. some are a bit old, but here you go:
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Still can't decide the colour scheme for the respray.

letmetalktomark - Member
Well within another 12 months I will be thirty

As a cheer me up I was considering a custom frame

Thirty and you'll need cheering up? You poor old soul, my heart bleeds for you 😥
Does that mean that when I'm sixty in a couple of year's time I'll need [b]two[/b] custom frames to cheer me up? 🙂

Andy - Yes it does 🙂

Ooh I wanted a Mather. He lives very near where I used to live and I went to see him, but he never got back to me.

I had a Roberts DOGS BOLX, a Steelman Stage Race and two Paul Sadoff-built Rock Lobster Cyclorcross frames (was on a team sponsored by hi mwhen I lived in California)..

All beautifully crafted bikes. If you want something special then custom certainly is nice... and there is a delicious pleasure in pondering what to get, what tubing, what braze-ons, what colour, what bibs n' bobs etc.. it's almost like foreplay!

Be careful with the geometry though and don't let your imagination run wild. Also, be sure to go to a builder who specialises in the type of bike you want... MTB, CX, Road etc. Some builders have strange ideas if they are crossing into territory they're not experts in.. the geometry on the Roberts DOGS BOLX I had made in 1991 was for example, just plain weird.. and I went 100% with Chas Roberts' recommendations. It just didn't ride as well as some of my mates off-the-peg bikes.

For something that not many will have in the UK you certainly cannot go wrong with Steelman - pure exotica. http://www.steelmancycles.com/

I remember Steelman's being super cool in the early 90s