Originally Posted by foamy

rjajr— I was in your situation. I had gotten to a point where I wanted to tour (the Trans Am, specifically) and I wanted to treat myself. I own a few bicycles (some of which, I actually paid for), but I wanted what some others have termed the "magic" bike, so I set out to get it. I've raised a family (successfully, I might add—in spite of every mistake I could make) and I wanted to treat myself. It's a small enough thing, a bicycle. It's not a Harley, a speed boat, a Porsche or a real big ticket item. It's just a bike. Go ahead and do it.

You have a list of "must haves" for your bike. So did I. I wanted it to be comfortable for touring and day long rides. I wanted it to be as light as possible. I didn't want an RV, I wanted a Cadillac Sport Tourer, something that was just capable of fully-loaded touring, but would ride like a comfortable go-fastee when not loaded up—which will be 95% of it's riding life. I wanted, if not top-tier components, then the next closest gruppo and I wanted it to look good. Touring was/is only going to be a short while, riding happily ever after on a made-for-me bike is still going on.

I ended up going to a well known builder that I could drive to. I didn't want to have the bike shipped to me, I wanted to pick it up, ready to ride. So I contacted him, told him what I was looking for and he delivered. Big time. And it didn't cost that much. There are off the rack bikes that cost three times as much. In the grand scheme of things, a custom bike is not that big a deal, but I still derive a great deal of satisfaction and pleasure from it. Go get that dream bike. Oh, don't skimp on the paint. If you're going custom, spend a bill or two more and get a paint job that you really like—it's worth it.