I researched quite a while ( at least while I was waiting to save up $$)
Mark Hickey the builder has some really interesting info on his site
www.habcycles.com, about the tubes he uses and why...
It was pretty interesting reading his stuff after looking at Lynskey and some others...
Also his pricing is so good I figured I couldnt go wrong.
The welds are beautiful...
He took the measurements I gave him from my Trek Pilot, some a fitter had done, and I took pictures...
Also told him what I was looking for in performance, comfort etc...
It looks wierd...the head tube is huge...and the top tube length is shorter than my trek, but he was right on the money...it fits great...and handles great...downhill is like riding on rails...very smooth...I am very happy..I sit a bit higher...but my back doesnt hurt after long climbs...
I had him add fender mounts just in case..put Stainless set screws in there to protect the holes...
also the water bottle screws are cut into the Ti, no rivets to loosen up...
He also put the seat tube cage low for a better center of gravity...
I also decided to have the STI stops on the head tube...I like that look better...
Over all he was very accomadating....
I went for as much Ti as I could afford...
So Kings Ti bottle cages, even Ti pulley wheels...
Dura-Ace triple...
Weighs in a hair under 18lbs...the large head tube added some weight as there were only a couple of forks that would work...I wanted the Wound-up, it would have looked awesome, but the were 4 weeks for an order...so I got the Alpha...