i've posted about this before.

i realize i'm going to need some kind of help in the frame fitting, but as for riding this frame built up, it's going to be virtually impossible unless i travel many, many miles. there is a local Look dealer, but shops in NYC are tiny and it's rare that they have more than two unbuilt frames in stock, and maybe - maybe - one built up.

without me effectively committing to buying it (and probably paying for it up-front), there is no way a shop is going to order me a large-ish, high-end frameset and build it up, just so i can try it out.

unless i get totally lucky and find a shop that has a frame built-up in my size (or meet someone who owns the bike and is nice enough to let me ride it), it's going to be tough to get my hands on one.

since i do most of my wrench-turning myself, i'm going to source the parts myself for cheaper (hopefully much cheaper) than LBS and do most of the build-up myself (last time i did that, i built it all up except for the headset install and had the local pros do a final tune-up).

i'm certainly going to talk to as many owners as possible before buying a frameset.

thanks for your words...