Originally Posted by
Wogsterca
Not to get too far off topic, you would have to pick a builder that has experience in building the kind of bike you want to ride. Going to a guy who builds full carbon 2kg racing bikes, to build a Chromo touring bike will probably be a bad experience. Going to a guy who has spent 25 years building nothing, but touring bikes, to build your touring rig and letting him guide the process, will be a good experience. As for frames, well, some people would be better on a custom frame, people who don't fit the 90th percentile height range for example, or people with an unusual build, may not fit a production frame well.
Hey if someone wants a Rivendell and they can afford it, then good for them, although for that kind of money, there are other choices, custom being one of them, which is why I put it out there.
You make good points. If you are not a good fit on a production frame or your dream bike is so unique nobody makes a production frame anything like it a custom bike is the logical alternative. However, I think what you need to factor in to the analysis and what many folks don't seem to consider is that the bike in your head and the bike you walk out the builder's shop will likely not be the same. How close you get depends on a lot of things. You suggestion to go to a builder who has loads of experience building the type bike you want is a good one.
For a lot of people custom isn't necessary and if you are comparing a Riv to a custom bike I think you have to factor in the fact that you can test ride a Riv, hold it in your hand and talk to other owners of the model that interests you before you drop the $$$. That's a big pro for buying a production frame.
I only take the time to make this point because I so often read online people talk about custom bikes with the implied assumption that they are better than a production bike and in the cases I've actually followed there are substantial numbers of people who got expensive custom bikes made that didn't love them because they got a different bike than they expected. So I think custom bikes are custom bikes....maybe better.....maybe not better than a production frame. You have to determine if the risks outweigh the potential benefits on a case by case basis.
The folks that sold me an expensive production frame would been happy to have built me a custom frame. I'm a bike geek so I have some ideas that I could have incorporated into a custom bike that would have made it very special to me. But on balance I realized I'd rather have a production bike I knew I would love [test ride, reviews, established performance specs] than a custom bike I might love a bit better or that might actually be less to my liking.