Originally Posted by Peterpan1

I like pretty simple and beefy tubing, given my size. Lighter tubing isn't optimal for me, unless it wasn't loaded touring, or was mostly for non-touring use. To that end I have experimented a little with 4130 straight wall tubing. People often complement the ride of BF bikes, and they are 4130, just to list one data point.

I think it helps to ask the builder, not all builders will use the same brand or be comfortable with the same types of tubing. No point in going for 953 if the builder you choose is a low mileage user or a non-user.

Since we are dreaming, I would definitely get custom racks, one of my favorite aspects of playing with touring bikes. I really like Arvon Stacey's racks, and Sakkitt. They both have really long rear racks that actually support the length of my tent and bag. Also I think with custom you really want to dig deeper in the process. When buying off the rack one basically buys the stuff that has the most likelihood of being good, and one normally starts with the bike, because that is normally the biggest hurdle. With custom, everything should be perfect, and one may prefer other logic in selecting stuff. For instance the choose the perfect load, then the perfect bag, then the perfect custom racks, and only then the perfect frame to carry them, is one option. I design boats, and this is a very common problem. People have a sense of how much boat they can afford so they say they want a 40 footer, but one should start with fundamentals like the number of people in the crew, the amount of water they will need for the voyage, whatever, and then build from that.