Who built your custom frame?

[Roar]

Hi there. I am considering having a custom frame built (steel or ti).

I am on the smaller side, so I want someone who is going to be good at building a bike that is going to fit me.

Recommendations? What materials did the builder use? (Reynolds etc.)

I'd also love to know how much you paid (totally understandable if you don't want to post that info, but I am curious to benchmark this.)

Thank you!

Roar

PS - please only recommend frame builders who are currently operating.... ;-)

[Kathi]

Serotta

I'm also small, 5'1" and 98 lbs, and had been "beaten to death" riding an aluminum Cannondale so I was looking for frame material that would give me the smoothest ride possible. I got the Ottrott, ti and carbon combination. With the custom wheel set I barely feel the road.

I bought it in 06 and paid around 5k for it. My fitter was the best and still follows up with any issues I have.

[Crankin]

I have a Guru custom ti bike. I had it built as a more relaxed geometry road bike, with a rack and a mountain derailleur on th rear. It also has couplers to break down and fit in a standard size suitcase.
It cost around 8k, but a good deal of that was the price of the couplers. I think it would have been around 5,500 without them. I got the Guru fit and the bike was done in 6 weeks.

[Roar]

I also want S&S couplers. My investigations have yielded incremental pricing on those to be $750 to $1,000.

Do you pack your bike a lot? I travel often and would like to take my bike with me if I can. (Hence probably no carbon...)

[Crankin]

We have only packed our bikes once, and it is not something I could do alone; however I am totally non-mechanically inclined, I mean seriously impaired. My DH practiced once at home and then did it pretty quickly when we arrived at our destination. Of course, the couplers didn't cost 3k, but they did ramp up the price.
My other bike is carbon, so I wanted steel or ti. Personally, I like the feel of steel, but DH was all for the ti. It does feel smooth. I like both of my bikes, though.

[rebeccaC]

I love my Seven ti/carbon and how it fits and rides. For an all titanium bike they use Cirrus (ultra butted), Argen (double butted) or Integrity (straight gauge) titanium. Their prices per model and kit are on their website. I got a lower price from my dealer so there is room for dealers to do that. You probably need to talk to them or one of their dealers about just frame prices. If you’re using a good dealer you should be able to adjust the Seven kit to include different parts like headset, wheels, bars etc. for personal preference. Since Seven uses straight gauge ti, double butted ti, ultra butted ti and ti/carbon combinations they can dial in exactly how you want your bike to ride and respond. They are also very good at interviewing you at length to find out numerous preferences for how you want your bike to ride and how you ride. That process can really help in guiding you into an excellent fit. That kind of good communication is something you should be looking for in whomever you choose. Unless you live close enough to whatever builder you pick to have them measure you and put you on a bike fit machine so you can feel and give feed back to the geometry they suggest you need to have a good dealer or private fitter that does that.

Seven does steel but personally I’d go with Bill Davidson in Seattle for custom steel that can be done with many options including different steel tube sets. Both of them, as I would suspect of all custom builders, do SS couplers and cable separators.

Hoping you enjoy the process of getting a custom and then riding a great bike that fits and rides exactly like you want!!!!!

[indysteel]

There's a woman on another forum who just had a custom bike with couplers made by Davidson Handbuilt Bicycles. At least from the pictures, the bike looks absolutely gorgeous, and it sounded like she was really pleased with the results. She's on roadbikereview's forums under the name QED. If you do a search or PM her, perhaps she'll share her experience with you. She's getting ready to take that bike on what amounts to a world tour! How cool is that?

[Crankin]

I got to choose everything on my Guru. It mattered that I could have the Guru fit at my shop, but it just so happened that they started doing this right in the middle of our research. We would have gone with Seven if this hadn't happened, as they are local and we went to another local shop to look at the bikes.
The only things I was unhappy with were things the shop convinced me on and that's another story. I got rid of the 300.00 saddle that was supposed to be awesome after one ride. They don't make some of the things I wanted anymore, and we compromised. I could care less about color or paint, but if that's important to you, there are infinite choices. I generally hate these kinds of processes and I am very hard to fit, so I tend to rush through this stuff. Guru sent us all kinds of nice emails updating us on the build.
Any problems were problems with my shop and not Guru.

[rebeccaC]

There's a woman on another forum who just had a custom bike with couplers made by Davidson Handbuilt Bicycles.

hoping it's okay to do a link to rbr...http://forums.roadbikereview.com/lounge/dividing-zero-300770.html there are some more photos towards the end of the thread.

She's done a really good job of writing up the experience in that thread and in her original thread that she links to in the thread.

Bill Davidson had been doing it for a long time and builds excellent bikes.

[NbyNW]

Take a look at Rodriguez. They specialize in making frame sizes at the extreme ends of the spectrum, for very short and very tall riders. They will also do S&S couplers. They do mostly steel but they might have a Ti option in there somewhere.

[Susan Otcenas]

I have TWO full custom bikes make by Sweetpea Bicycles in Portland, OR. Natalie builds for women only AND she seems to make a specialty out of fitting smaller women. My first Sweetpea is steel with S&S couplers. I've packed that bike to Europe twice (and will do so again this summer) and several times around the US. The couplers (and the suitcase) pay for themselves quickly if you travel a lot. This is my fourth season on the Sweetpea. I've put over 15,000 miles on it and have been super pleased with how well it fits me.

I also have a full carbon Sweetpea. As far as I know, it's the only one in existence. She's developing a new line and I got the very first one. It is such an incredible bike. Built to the same size specification, but damn, that thing is a rocket ship. I put some Zipp 404s on there.... damn. Even with my Powertap hub, the thing is under 17.5 pounds. Yes, please. My first weekend with it I rode 350 miles. Yeah, it fits perfectly! (Incidentally, Natalie designed the carbon bike and John Slawta at Landshark built it. Kick@ss paint job, too.)

I recommend full custom if a) you can afford it and b) you are small and have had a hard time finding something to fit. However, make sure you work with someone who is accustomed to working with small people. If you are 5'1" and someone is trying to sell you on a full custom with 700c wheels, run and run fast.

You will spend a LOT of money on a full custom (well over $5,000 if you want high end components) and it should be perfect for you. If you are at all uncomfortable, or feel like your voice isn't being heard, find another builder.

[Thorn]

I have a custom Waterford with S&S couplers. It travels at least once or twice a year. As a small rider, your packing will probably be easier than mine (my seat tube is 58cm). The first trip was scary -- ?could I get it put back together? ?what if something went wrong? Now, I'm pretty comfortable with the assembly/disassembly.

I love the ride of the bike and it fits me well. Waterford is a steel bike. When I first starting looking, I wanted to go Ti, but the steel rides well.

Note: Terry's semi-custom line is made by Waterford. That might give you a slightly more cost effective solution.

[DebW]

My custom steel frame with S&S couplers was made by Peter Mooney at Belmont Wheelworks.