I did end up buying the Ti frame. It's a new older stock 2003 Wylder Queen of the Road frame in my size. Got it for $495. That was the only reason I went ahead with this crazy idea of building a bike. I had an opportunity to purchase a used custom Spectrum for $2200, but wanted to create something that was more for me.

I hear you about wanting to keep costs down. I have no idea how much this whole process is going to run me. I'm willing to put $500 max a week towards parts. Hopefully, it won't take too many weeks! I have a sick feeling that the fork will be almost as much as the frame.

Originally, I was going to figure out what parts to buy, hunt them down and put everything together with another local mechanic. However, I decided to let the lbs owner where I purchased the bike coordinate and assemble everything. When I offered to help locate a suitable fork, he told me he had already emailed Waterford and would take care of it.

The lbs owner/mechanic/salesman is a 1 person show. Walking into his store is nothing like walking into a Trek dealership! Beautiful Waterfords and Sevens grace his shop among other quality bikes and frames. It's very overwhelming. He's old school and his knowledge vast. I just have to learn to trust his judgement and to gently elicit information from him without him feeling he has to justify his recommendations. He's not one to debate his side. He simply states what he thinks is best for the situation at hand.

My main concern is that because he has been in the industry for so long, he has a lot of older stock items. I keep questioning him if I will be able to replace something if it breaks or needs replaced. He doesn't seem to think it's a problem like I do. On the plus side, he's building me a set of custom wheels using rare Ultegra 650 rims for no more than $450.

Sorry I can't offer any suggestions. This is all so new to me. I would love to hear more about progress updates though. It must be an exciting adventure finding and putting all the pieces together.

You are fortunate that you know more about bikes and what you want. Finding a mechanic who is knowledgeable, communicates well and understands your budget and vision is a rarity to be sure!