Originally Posted by
sstorkel
Which is why you should buy a mass-produced bike from your LBS and then have it professionally fit. You['ll get exactly the same results and spend a lot less money than you would for a custom frame!
Having built my first custom frame last year, I'll let you in on a little secret: it's no better than an LBS bike fitted with the same components! And it cost 2-3X as much, because I was buying stuff in such small quantities. I custom built my frame because I knew how to TIG weld and thought it would be a fun project. If I wanted the best-fitting bike at the best price, I'd buy from my LBS and schedule a professional fit...
While I applaud (with my envy!) your ability to build your own custom frame, My overwhelming experience with customs is the exact opposite and I am a textbook perfect fit for a 56cm C to C (top/seat tubes) production frame. I am not saying the average (sized) rider needs custom but the
potential benefits are huge. The hard part is only the buyer can attach value to these benefits, not everyone has the same priorities.
Years ago a true custom was ALOT more $$ than a really good production frameset. Not so today...really good production (mainly CF) frames run high (roughly $2000 to $5000 I see). I've recently been looking into a custom and prices go from approx $1000 to $4000 with a few extremes over that. I'm looking at a Yamaguchi custom steel frame and its about $1500-$2000. Although the Yamaguchi is steel and I know I can get a real nice production CF frameset for that $$, my priorities are for steel and certain riding characteristics this builder will provide me. Its also true (as far as I can see) there are VERY few custom CF builders out there so its even harder to compare production CF frames.
Overall, I am not defending either position but as the poster aboves states "what else can you still get custom-made in life?
cheers
k