Originally Posted by
RobiEli
I was never claiming to be an expert, otherwise I would have never started this post lol. I do feel I know enough though, from my personal experience, that it's not necessary to buy a super expensive wheelset....not for my needs anyway. As far as being cheap from China, I can only base my decision on feedback from people that have bought there. I've seen more on Walty frames than Toirays but both companies seem to have a lot of experience and good reputation. I tend to agree with some of the comments above and don't see a reason why these Chinese quality frames should be any less than US made. Anway, I'm not willing to spend $3000+ on a custom frame even if I saved up the money for it.
Did not say anything about a super expensive wheel set. There are levels of quality.
If you are not willing to spend money on a custom frame, then clearly a custom frame is not for you at all. There is plenty of reasons why a unknown quantity is lesser than a known quantity. Moots, Firefly, Lynskey, Lightspeed, Merlin, Bingham Built, Ren/TiCycles, Independent Fabrications...are all known quantities who make high quality stuff, yes they cost money but they are custom frames built by experts in their field, the equipment, knowledge, skills...are what you are paying for and what you are getting. Some random company in China will make a frame to the lowest bidder they do it all the time but that is not a mark of quality or knowing what you are doing. Slapping a frame together isn't hard so long as the welds hold enough to put it into a box and send it via China Post. Geometry and all that stuff don't matter and you aren't paying for it you are buying whatever cheap ti tubing they can scrounge up and someone to weld it. A 94 Geo Metro and 94 Acura NSX are both cars but one is a lot more desirable and higher in quality (and it ain't the Geo Metro). T.G.I Fridays and The French Laundry are both restaurants but one has had 3 Michelin stars for years and the other is well T.G.I Fridays.
Like I said you seem to be best served with something off the shelf. Custom is not your thing clearly. Those who are looking at custom are saying "I am willing to spend money" those who are saying "cheap" are looking for something from closer to the bargain bin or at least something from pre-made to manufacturers spec. Not necessarily a bad thing, shoot my New Albion Privateer frame is fantastic and was not expensive at around $380 could be a great bones to start with. It is decent quality steel, not super light weight but a great ride and easy to do just about anything with. Budget but one I would recommend highly. Merry Sales Co. has been around a long long time and I know should I ever have any problems with my bike I can get support from them (granted I doubt it, it is steel and so far has taken a lot of abuse with no problems). There are times you can find the starving artists who can build up a cheaper frame out of UBI or some frame building school and they might be OK (everyone starts somewhere) but I would wait a bit till they grow and practice their craft.
Moots has been doing it since '81. Merlin started in '86 and spawned Indy Fab (and some of those folks worked before at Fat City Cycles in the 70s and early 80s), Seven Cycles and possibly also Firefly (amongst possibly others). Wheras Tiorays is on Alibaba and eBay and has little known history and poor spelling, They started in 2019 on eBay and 2020 on Alibaba and his 40 thieves and possibly in 2017 for their business license (according to what they gave to Alibaba). I cannot even find a proper website for them or contact info. Not someone I want to deal with.