Just Paid the Deposit for My First Custom Frame!
 

Hello all,

I'm very excited to finally be making this leap after several years of contemplation and dreaming. If all goes according to plan I will graduate from my master's program in December and this frame will be a memento for that occasion. That being the case, I've arranged to take delivery in January 2024, although my frame will likely be done sooner than that.

I'm not going to say what builder I've decided upon, but I'll post the specification below! I plan to equip the frame with classic 6-speed components that were available around 1980, such as Super Record derailleurs, Simplex retrofriction shifters, Modolo Professional brakes, Stronglight 49D crankset, Record high-flange hubs with Mavic tubular rims, and a flashy Silca pump mounted along the seat tube. Essentially it will be my ideal classic bicycle for fast riding.

Cheers!

-Gregory

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24” seat tube center-to-top with a 22.5” top tube center-to-center. Reynolds 631 main triangle. 73° head tube angle / 73° seat tube angle. Approx. 11” BB center height with 700x25mm tires fitted. Approx. 40” wheelbase.

Technical Details

- Double cable guides on non-drive side of top tube and side of chainstay.

- Standard bosses for downtube shifters.
- Semi-sloping fork crown with oval blades.
- Campagnolo dropouts with rear adjuster screws.
- No fender eyelets.
- 100/126mm dropout spacing.
- Chain hanger on seat stay.
- Curved brake bridge.
- Approx. 45mm brake reach and chainstay clearance for 700x32mm tires.
- One set of bottle cage bosses (on down tube).

Aesthetic Details

- Dark green primary colour.
- Black head tube and central seat tube panel with three small panels on either side.
- Gold lug lining and bordering on panels & chrome.
- Chromed front & rear dropouts.
- Classic head badge and transfers + Reynolds 631 transfer at bottom front of seat tube + gold model transfers on top tube.

Sounds great, please post photos when it arrives and when you have it built up!

Sounds nice!
Looking forward to hearing more about the process of figuring out what you wanted in a frame and who the builder would be.

I've had two customs built by small builders. This is the second of them...

https://live.staticflickr.com/5711/3...3b7756_c_d.jpg

Paint is always a big decision when getting a bike. My bike (shown above) was used for commuting, so I selected a dark green in the hopes that it wouldn't show dirt too much. The panels were emulating the panels on the Raleigh Gran Sport that I'd owned years before.

British bikes are a favorite of mine, and they seem to enjoy the use of contrasting head and seat tube panels. The black head tube can work very nicely with a lighter main color. Here are two of my Brit bikes...

https://live.staticflickr.com/591/21...e24bc1_c_d.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/8068/2...79c565_c_d.jpg


Steve in Peoria

One water bottle? Room for 32s? Looks like we are mixing traditions and cultures😇

You won't regret it. I had mine made in 2016 and still enjoy every ride on it.

:thumb: Welcome to the club.

That was a tough decision to make but I think a frame pump is a requirement and I simply don't like pump pegs behind the head tube!

I can at least state that my choice reflects a rather typical configuration for this historic marque's bicycles around the same period that my components will date from... In fact, having two cages on any frames in 1980 was pretty unusual.

Anyway, for long rides I like having a bottle mounted on my handlebars!

-Gregory

Agreed, I struggled with the peg as well, got it anyway and ended up with the ugliest one for not drilling down, may have gotten the threaded one had I been paying better attention to that but had my hands full sussing out several other things.

I got three bottle sets and figure I can still use the ST position if need be but they do break up the clean lines of the plain tubes, a lot more trade offs with a custom frame than one would think. :twitchy:

Congratulations! I love seeing your bikes get built. Can’t wait to see what you’ve got.

Let the hand wringing begin. ;)

Hetchins or maybe Mercian?

:popcorn

I wanted a peg but my builder thought it distracted from the head lug. i also wanted a chain keeper.

Paint = PITA, IMO. :roflmao2:

Congratulations, on both your master's degree and the custom frame-set purchase. Six-speeds is the optimum number, in my opinion. 631 Reynolds is a nice choice, from what I have read about the tubing. Were you able to select your lugs? It's nice to see you selecting vintage components.

It does help if the builder limits the color choices, imho.

My first builder had a dozen short tubes painted in the colors that he liked. It was fairly simple to pick one out.

The second builder said "just pick out any PPG color" at the local auto paint shop. That seems like a better option... until you start flipping through their book and realize that there are a few dozen versions of "dark green".
The painter picked out the ivory/cream that contrasted with the dark green, and it turned out fine. I'm glad I didn't have to make that choice. :)

I always liked the Mercian catalog with enough color options to satisfy most folks, but not enough to overwhelm you....

https://live.staticflickr.com/7183/6...185eb5_b_d.jpg
high res version

although... it's still hard to fully grasp the subtle differences between some of these colors in this image. It would be best to see the colors in person under daylight.

Steve in Peoria

Well I had limited choices, wanted darkish red, Black Magic had Saronni red and I wanted a LITTLE darker, "that will be extra $150", ok I said and ended up with this without any headsup. :wtf:


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d817d54f2a.jpg

Thankfully it quickly grew on me and gets compliments wherever it goes. ;)

Howdy all,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and about some of your experiences getting a custom build done!

My main problem with pump pegs behind the head tube is that in nine out of ten cases once you stick a pump there it won't be sitting parallel to the top tube. That really annoys me and looks "cheap," and I cannot rely on a builder to get it right because it might still come down to the size of the mounting hole on the pump as well.

The choices I made for the chrome and paint are still not set in stone, as I will circle back with the builder after the frame is complete to confirm such details. But for now I'm satisfied that I will like the results I had in mind.

-Gregory

Super Record? Good choice.

I too don't care for the pump under the top tube look.
But what I do like is the pump on the nds seat stay.
I have that on one of my bikes and it's out of the way and I think it looks pretty cool.
It gives the bike a bespoke (if you will) look.
But if you're planning on getting a Zefal pump you better hurry.
They are not on the Zefal site and I've heard they have stopped making them.

If you don't mind me asking why are you getting horizontal dropouts?
Unless you plan to convert to fixed gear, for your pre-season training, there really is no reason (someone can correct me if I'm wrong).
Having both I prefer the vertical dropouts over horizontal ones.

IMHO having fender eyelets allows you the option of fenders if you ever change your mind, and they certainly don't detract from the look.
And who knows, maybe winters will be wetter in the future and fenders are a game changer in the wet.

Just some random thoughts from an old guy.:)

I opted out of a pump peg, much as I like my zefal HP, i have had good results with the compact attached to the bottle cage like the silica https://silca.cc/collections/frame-p...tico-mini-pump

In both cases, it's to reproduce the look of some dedicated racing frames built by this marque that I am particularly fond of. I plan to typically run tubular tires but requested the bit of extra space to get 32s in for longer day rides, but I live in central California and don't think I've literally ever rode my bicycle on a wet or rainy day!

Plus, I have this.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...618681ec40.jpg

I'm confused. Both derailleur cables on the non-drive side? How does that work?

WB and pump choices - like my old Fuji Pro of my racing days and the new to me Pro Miyata of a few years later. But I gotta have two WB cages down there. Both bikes immediately got clamp-on seat tube WBs and TT pump pegs. Several other bikes have had WB bosses installed and one a HT peg. (The Mooney. I missed that detail pre-paint so the peg is a nice SS pan head screw sculpted to be a good peg. Dave Levy of TiCycles knows a lot of tricks. This threaded hole will be a nice locater for the braze-on ball come the next paint job. So the only "wasted" work was tapping and the screw head massage. And Dave can massage steel as easily as anyone!)

I always pass on brazed on DT shifter bosses and have had exactly one bike with them. I try to ride with my knees inboard as much as possible (for their health). "Brush that top tube" was my racing days motto and I tried to rub that paint off. Hitting DT shifters while out of the saddle happens. Knocking the chain onto the 13 tooth cog going up an 18% grade - not fun! So I ordered my Mooney without and used a clamp. 5 years later I saw the SunTour above the TT box shifters. No knee hits! I was on-board and thank you, Ben, for you insight! Now I have two bikes with braze-ons for top of the TT shifters.

Custom bikes and the choices we get to make - fun! Enjoy! Even as much as I have enjoyed that Mooney I ordered 45 years ago. I'm going out on a ride on it now. (Re-vamped with paint, sweet sew-up wheels and fix gear, my true love. It has fit to die for. An all day rider. Oh, and both stem and seatpost are steel. The post - that sweet lugged Nitto job, the stem a TiCycles. Yes, tigged, not brazed and painted black but seriously classy.)

Ben aka 79pmooney

That's a reference to the brake cable guides on the top tube. They are "double" because they will have cable guide eyelets and stops.

-Gregory

I carry a small pump and inflator plus a frame pump on most for aesthetics and like Kilroy, a frame pump on a new classic build was a must, I had a new Silca paint to match and will paint an oldschool one as well just for overkill. ;)

All the oldschool ones I have on bikes will get me home and even if they didn't would still be in place, especially if they are paint to match. :twitchy:

Haven't had one yet that I couldn't get working at least ok, bought a bag of leathers way back and they always get them going.

I proposed this as well but the Campy DO's would have been way out of place with the other fittings, especially the crowns that were somewhat matched to the sockets on the DO's :twitchy: