Quote Originally Posted by zoom-zoom View Post
At this point custom is my likeliest route...which still sorta sits weird with me. I know it's my own insecurities, but I can't help but feel like my relatively slow, relatively casual riding doesn't "deserve" a $$ custom frame, even though I have legitimate reasons for going that route. I'm still bummed that I can't get a higher-end carbon Redline with discs, since that would be perfect (and probably half what a comparable custom will cost). My low-rent Redline is my very favorite bike. It fits like it was made for me.
Zoom, you are exactly the kind of person that should buy a custom bike. You know exactly what you want and you ride. That's all that matters. The fact that you have some difficult fitting issues just makes it even more important that you buy custom if you can. And, a custom cross bike doesn't have to be more expensive than a production bike. It's all in the build. You can order the custom frame and everything else you can buy and build up through your shop at wholesale prices. I built a very inexpensive custom cross bike. It's heavy as all get out, but that has more to do with the build than the frame. IMHO it doesn't make a lot of sense to spend a lot on a cross bike build since you ride those bikes in horrible conditions and have to replace parts frequently.