BengeBoy 

Hi, I've posted here off and on for the past year about my search for a new all-weather commuting bike. After looking at lots of stock bikes, I decided to get a custom steel bike that would strike a compromise between all the stock bikes I looked at and test rode.

The main use of the bike will be on my 20-mile commute, which I do year round, about 140 times a year. I also wanted something that would allow me to do some light credit-card type touring, but still be light enough that I could use on weekend group rides in the winter. The past couple of winters, I was always torn between using my good summer bike, which would then proceed to get trashed, or using one of my heavy commuter bikes, which are none too lively. I asked for:

- clearance for 32c tires + full fenders
- STI shifters
- low gear of 25 gear inches
- chainstays long enough to accommodate panniers + my big feet
- lighter than a full touring bike
- brazed-on eyelets for a front rack in case I want to carry a light load up there
- fit similar to my ultra-comfortable Davidson

And I eventually found myself talking to Chris Boedeker, a local mechanic who is now making bikes under the name Boedie Handmade Cycles. I first saw one of his bikes at a bike Expo here this spring. I've been following his blog, and met one of his customers on a century ride this summer. I liked his straightforward approach to building bikes, and once we started chatting and corresponding by email I know I had found my guy. He's just been getting his framebuilding business off the ground, so his lead time was short, and he was ready to go once I pulled the trigger in late August.

It only took Chris about 10 days to get started and build the frame; he then sent it to a painter in California who just finished the painting this week.

Since there has not been a custom-bike-being-built thread here for awhile, here is a taste of the build (many more pics on Chris's website...link below):

Custom steel fork...



Canti bosses...



Fillet brazed ...the bike is made with Columbus Zona tubing.






Serial number on the bottom bracket: Boedie #10



Frame taking shape...



Checking tire clearance..



Very clever brake cable hanger:

BengeBoy 

Back from the painter...got this color idea from a Co-Motion "custom color" gallery.





First ride. It's a little difficult to shoot this metallic-ish orange, but this photo is the best representation of what it looks like under most light (the photos above are more "brown" than the bike really is).





Build details...

From my parts bin, or taken from my current commuter:
- XTR rear derailleur
- Brooks saddle
- XTR spd pedals
- Honjo hammered fenders
- XT 11/34 rear cassette

New parts:
- Shimano 105 triple crankset
- (used) Shimano 105 9 speed STI shifters
- Chris King headset
- Tektro cantilever brakes
- XT hubs, Mavic 319 rims; 36 spokes on rear wheel, 32 spokes in front
- Handlebra leather bar tape
- Ritchey seat post, stem and handlebars
- Marathon Supreme 32c tires
- Tubus Tara rear rack
- Busch & Muller tail light

I'd highly recommend giving Chris a shout if you're interested in a custom steel frame. Nice guy to work with, short lead time, reasonable price for a custom frame. He did an especially good job interpreting my rambling / inconsistent requests about a frame and coming up with something that looks great, rides beautifully, and achieves just the kind of compromises I wanted to make in a commuter/light touring bike. He also did a great job with the final build - a number of nice touches I wouldn't have thought of.

Chris is at:

https://boediecycles.com/

Many more pictures of the build (and a devilishly handsome owner) at:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/boedeke...7622152129839/

tsl

Very nice.

Wishing you many happy miles together.

What are those fenders, BTW?

BengeBoy 

Thanks - they are Honjos, with about 2,500 miles on them. They cleaned up great with a bit of metal polish.

BCRider

Lovely looking ride. And I really like the practical real world choices you made.

billydonn

Very, very nice job! Far more fun than just buying a bike. The brown Brooks with matching bar tape really are a fine choice IMO. I'm going to look at the rest of your pics now...

PaulH

Nice bike!

Paul

ArtO

Beautiful bike. I hope it rides as good as it looks.

The Smokester

Great build. Glad you have fulfilled your dream.

How much does it weigh?

NOS88

Hey, thanks for the photos! I'm a sucker for those kind of pictures. There's something about seeing the birth of a bike that I just find fascinating. Hope you get lots of great miles together.

NormanF

I take it you had it built with a commuter than a road geometry? It has all the mounts necessary to attach racks and panniers as well as clearance for fat tires? Looks like a sweet bike.

Congrats!

BengeBoy 

Using the not-very-accurate bathroom scale method, it appears to weigh 25 pounds as pictured (pedals, Brooks B17 saddle, rear rack, heavy rear tail light, water bottle cage). For a big frame I'm pretty happy with that aspect...it's about 5 pounds lighter than my old rig outfitted the same way.

The geometry is really like a touring bike - long chainstays, low bottom bracket, slight top tube angle, handlebars almost as high as the saddle. It's got 3 water bottle braze-ons, front rack braze-ons, etc. Rear hub spacing is 135mm.

It's just got lighter tubing than a touring bike would.

northbend 

Nice fall color Steve, I look forward to a ride report once you've commuted on it a bit....

RoMad

Very nice looking bike and I like the lugs. I think they add a nice touch. I also think that the shop that your builder has looks more like a typical fab shop than the video you posted a while back. I am looking forward to some ride reports.

kr32

Nice ride, I like the idea of a custom bike.
I hope you enjoy many many miles on it.

Digital Gee

Do you plan to install a key holder on the bike?

BluesDawg

Looks like a great bike. The mix of lugged bottom bracket shell and filet brazing at the head tube and seat cluster is interesting.
Love the Honjos and the Tubus rack (but it needs to be level).
Are those bottle cages stainless steel?

FarHorizon

Oh Lordy that's pretty! A functional bike is nice, but one that is pretty and functional is a true thing of beauty. I hope you enjoy it for many years to come.

BengeBoy 

Very funny.

That would be a risky strategy, though - if I put a key holder on the bike, I'm likely to lose the bike.

The combination of lugged bottom bracket and filet brazing was the simplest to make and most straightforward approach. Also, as you know, if you choose lugs your design/geometry can be limited by the angles of the lugs available. I also liked the way his earlier filet brazed bikes had turned out, and was really happy with the work he did on it.

Yeah, the rack could be level - Chris makes racks for a (well known) custom bike builder and could fabricate a braket or attachment that would allow me to level out the Tubus, but not sure whether I'm going to go the extra mile.

The bottle cages are just plain ol' aluminum - they've moved from bike to bike (in fact, one of them is marked "Schwinn" from a bike I bought my son 15 years ago).

BluesDawg

Looks to me like you could rotate the rack to level taking up the slack in the existing bracket by angling the attachment tubes down. Will that not work?

Your classy new bike deserves stainless steel bottle cages. Fork up the $20-$30.

BigBlueToe

I'd do titanium bottle cages....maybe....who knows?

Wow! What a beauty! It's hard to measure the extent of my jealousy. I'm jealous of you for thinking of this, doing it, and having such a beautiful bike. I'm jealous of the guy who built it; I love to build things and have contemplated building a bike from scratch, but don't have the tools, or the know-how.

I love the lugs and I love the brazing. I compliment you on the thoughtfulness of your choices. I don't know what I'd change if I could, but I'd certainly have to think long and hard before changing anything; it seems very well-considered.

My only concern is are you really going to want to commute on this? It's almost too pretty to take out in the rain!

(And I'm a little concerned that you left it propped up on the edge of a dock, liable to fall into Lake Washington! I assume that's Lake Washington?)

Beautiful bike - compliments to the builder.

riversiderider

Sweet bike!

Very nice joints!

For my money a well done fillet brazed joint is most attractive.

Happy riding to you.

Ride safe

Cleave

Hi,

Beautiful!

I have no experience with disc brakes on bicycles, but the in-process build photo made me think that my next commuter might have disc brakes because they look cool on a road bike.

BengeBoy 

Thanks again for all the comments.

An update -- have been commuting on the bike this week. It has gotten a couple of really good soakings in the rain and, since neither the bike nor I are made of sugar, neither of us melted.

I have to say the bike is so great commuting that I am kicking myself for not doing this earlier. It easily handles my large-ish commuting load (clothes, papers, laptop computer), and I can now easily stand up and hammer up hills to get a workout on the way home with no tail-wagging at all. Am wondering if part of the difference is the bike, or whether it could be that the new Tubus rack is so much stiffer than my old rack that I don't get any oscillation created by having a single loaded pannier on a rear rack.

Also enjoying the 32c tires on bad pavement, and the STI shifters -- my commute has a lot of rolling hills, some sections with a lot of traffic, and being able to shift without reaching for bar ends or downtubes is nice.

In all - it's turned my commute into more of a "fun" recreational ride, not just trudging to work with a load.

Finally, I can't say enough about Honjo fenders in the rain. SKS and Planet Bike fenders don't go down nearly as far; they really need a mud flap. But Honjos go way down low, and keep a lot of water off your feet.

BluesDawg

I love to see a plan come together.