Originally Posted by PRJ
Thanks for the posts...a nice gentle reality check from most of you, although the one tip I really decided made sense was to drill out my water bottle...
I do have a question for Thylacine, though. You offer steel, lugged steel, "super steel", Ti, and Ti with carbon stays. Clearly you need to cater to a range of clients. But how do you rate these options on the weight vs comfort vs durability scale? And what do you prefer to build/sell- because you know the client will be happy for years to come?
Drill out the bottle? Most people just flip the lid to get the water out.
Tough question PRJ. I don't believe in 'bad materials' only bad design, so that's why I don't like to limit what we sell to one given material or construction technique. There's things to be learnt from everything, so limiting yourself is - from where I'm sitting - doing yourself and your customers a bit of a disservice. Marketing boffins like to assume everyone is stupid and they recommend to companies to specialise before they diversify, but that's what we do - we specialise in design. It's a tough sell in an environment where people like to personally identify with a material and particular construction technique, but that's our slant on things and we're sticking to it!
So the answer to your question is basically that. I think what custom companies should do is base everything around fit, budget, and the customers' needs, and temper that with their knowledge and expertise and that of other experts outside their own field of expertise. Sometimes that means steel, sometimes Scandium, sometimes icypole sticks and crazy glue.
I'm personally of the belief almost nobody needs anything 'better' than a 20lb steel bike with Chorus and traditional x3 laced wheels, but then again custom bikes hardly fall under the category of a 'need'.
I must say though I can see why people get 'Titaniumitis'. It's just such a nice material, quite like steel without the harsh resonance.