[TommyL]

I do 90% of my bike research digging through the archives, but it gets old, so I'm throwing out some questions that have probably been addressed before.

I'm quickly realizing (over the past year) that my Trek 1500, with no clearance for fenders, no eyelets for any racks, and a little on the small side, is probably not the bike I'm going to be able to use forever. Whenever I'm on it I feel like I need to be doing a workout, and half the time that is just not enjoyable.

I'm looking to get properly fitted, and have a custom steel bike made that I can use for commuting, light touring, brevets(?), and shorter rides with my wife. Basically a do it all bike that I can have for the rest of my life.

First, should I make sure that the frame builder I choose is the one that is doing my fit, or can I get measurments from anybody and simply give them to the builder?

Second, when choosing a builder, what are the most important factors? Right now all I have to go off is (a) price (b) the builder is also a tall guy and (c) website coolness.

Any insight would be appreciated, thanks!

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[G0balistik]

Most bike shops can measure you correctly but a frame builder will still want to talk to you about everything else that needs to be considered for a custom frame.

HAve you looked at Leonard Zinn? he is a tall guy that specializes in bikes for tall guys. Other than that I would look into local builders because talking face to face is always better.

[TommyL]

I think that Zinn is going to be too pricey for me. I have looked at Doug Curtiss of Curtlo cycles. He is relatively local and a tall guy. I don't necessarily need someone who specializes in frames for tall folks, but someone who understands the issues faced by us large folks would be nice.

[Scooper]

Bill Davidson (http://www.davidsonbicycles.com/html/home.shtml) is in Seattle and builds in steel (http://www.davidsonbicycles.com/html/steel_full.shtml) and titanium (http://www.davidsonbicycles.com/html/titanium_full.shtml).

He charges a $100 extra for frames over 64cm.