squirtdad

Given a choice, assuming the price difference is not huge with similar gear and that the bike is going to be ridden a lot, would you get your dream C&V bike or Custom?

Does anyone have have both and care to compare and contrast?

it's Friday, almost time to go, and I am curious

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

Tough call, partially because I have a hard time imagining how I could make my Dream C&V bike cost as much as a Custom Build.

There isn't really any C&V frame that would sell for more than $1200 that I would consider my Dream....on the other hand than same $1200 is gonna still be several hundred short of a well equipped Custom Frame.

Perhaps if my Dream C&V bike was some seriousissimo Italiano Unobtaniumo I would be able able to get that price up to a comparable range, but I dig old English stuff.

If money were no object I'd like a Custom frame.


Problem is I'm the kind of Idiot who'd get a custom frame and build it with 1950's parts, and also get a 1950's frame and build it with an Alfine 11.

jeepr

I like old stuff. Especially if I can save it from the scrap yard. So I guess C&V for me.

I don't really know what my dream one would be though. I will probably know it when I see it..

Bianchigirll 

I think I would go with the C&V dream bike. I don't think is is really worth it unless you need strange sizing, or want something really wild, such as Aron's MAX bike.

I think is I were to have something built I might try a Mixte with the Gilco tubing like Colnago uses for the seat and down tubes.

MrEss

If it weren't for that "ridden a lot" part, I'd say "Columbine Cycles". That Hale-Bopp Comet show bike just pushes all the right buttons, and I'd love to have a similar bike themed on the Bohr model of the atom.

For a rider, C&V. There are so many awesome choices that keeping a rotating stable seems like the way to go.

khatfull

I would think for the price difference of even the most expensive C&V frame and a custom frame that one could find something, in a tubing they like, with geometry that works for them. Personally if I had a money no object deal going on I'd look for the hot C&V before a custom. Obviously very tall riders or those with unusual body types and dimensions would probably benefit greatly from a custom frame.

Alan Edwards

1992 Colnago Artisian with Campagnolo Athena 11, dream bike with modern spaghetti. Custom frames are real nice, I just can't get past the sticker. Right now the Colnago idea is way off, but I am putting together everything to build my own frame. If I can build a nice frame and finish it Colnago-ish I will be happer then ......

bbattle

How about: Someone gives you 5k to spend on a bike. Classic and Vintage or new Custom from any builder you choose.

Since I've got a garage full of old bikes, I would probably get the new custom ride. Especially if I didn't have to wait years to get it.

bigbossman 

YUP.

Della Santa, baby.

repechage

Bought the C&V bike, the builder is dead, so you do the next best thing, buy pre owned. I will eventually get a frame made to match one of my three all time favorite bikes, maybe when the Sax Max lug sets are out....

gomango 

Custom.

Kirk, Kvale, Dave Anderson, Zullo, or Marnati.

I probably won't buy another production bike for myself.




.......except for a Titanio or a Primato.

noglider 

Either way, depending on which presented itself to me. I'd leave it to providence.

auchencrow

"Give me C&V, or give me death"

(Well maybe not death exactly)

canyoneagle

Custom lugged steel frame with top quality components for the job. Probably a randonneur. If I spent that kind of dough on a similar C&V I'd probably limit my ride time on it because the cost of maintenance (with equivalent quality, original spec NOS stuff) would be a lifelong issue, with higher cost and lower availability as the years pass.

I'd say my cap on a C&V would be $2k, max, versus the $5-7k for a top custom (the way I'd want it). $5-7k gets me a C&V bike I'd be hesitant to ride.

Sixty Fiver

I have a hand built road bike, a hand built mountain bike, and just need a hand built touring bike to complete the trifecta... my current touring bikes are great and if I was to get another would build it myself along classic lines and would use vintage parts wherever I could.

nlerner

My Ebisu is along the line of semi-custom. I couldn't specify frame angles (standard lug set), but I could determine all tube lengths, choice of tubing (oversized vs. standard), wheelsize (I went for 650B), color, extra braze ons. It's a lugged-steel frame made in Japan in 2009. Other than the price, a key difference between it and my C&V projects is that assembly was a breeze, it fits intended tires and fenders with zero modification, the front rack is exactly where front racks are supposed to fit. And I've outfitted it with C&V components. It has a 60cm seat tube and a 55cm top tube, which is what I need, and I think it's pretty darn impossible to find those specs in a production C&V frame.

Neal

JonnyHK 

Working slowly on a custom fillet brazed Columbus xCr project at the moment...

rhm

I honestly don't see the point of most custom frames. They usually strike me as another repetition of something that's been done before. If I were getting a custom frame, I would go for something that really can't be got any other way. I'd be torn whether that would be a modern steel version of a historic frame in my size, or something more radical like a touring frame made for 20" wheels, Rohloff hub, internal cables and wiring, etc.

Sixty Fiver

We have a touring frame in the works that will have a Rohloff, internal cables, and be separable... this is not a bike you could just go and buy off the peg.

This is why I aspire to build frames... to provide bicycles that are unavailable or because your physiology or needs dictate that a custom frame is the best route to go.

If you are average fiinding a bike that fits well should not be a problem since production bicycles are usually built with averages in mind.

mudboy

I couldn't find my dream bike (57 or 58cm Specialized Sequoia) and I couldn't afford custom, so I built my own. I think building my own ended up costing:

* Tubes, lugs, etc. purchased from old stock from the guy that helped me build the frame - $200
* "Lessons" in framebuilding at a ludicrously low hourly rate, including use of shop tools, torch, etc. - $400 total
* 5oz 56% silver (only used about half), a handful of files, flux, etc. - $175
* Paint - $200
* Lettering/decals - $15

Frame 2 ended up costing me more for lugs/tubes/braze-ons ($300), less for "lessons" because I did a lot more on my own, nothing for silver, flux, etc. because I already had it, and nothing for paint since I do my painter's web site. So, it probably cost me $500 for a completely unique and custom frame.

Pete

Amesja

I can't imagine having a frame built custom. I'm not that far off of Mr. Average and my needs are not out of the ordinary. Now if I were a frame-builder myself I'd totally build myself a custom frame -but I'm not an the added expense just isn't worth it to me. I'm pretty happy with the way a standard C&V Raleigh Sports works for me.

If I needed something a little different I wouldn't be against having a frame modified, adding extra lugs, or stuff like that but I don't see myself starting from scratch.

rhm

Right; but you will also get an average bike, built for either 700c or 26" (MTB) wheels, conventional dropouts with derailleur hanger, probably vertical dropouts, the usual unimaginative cable braze ons, &c. Nothing wrong with that, if that's what you want; that's just not what I'd want.

Rocket-Sauce 

Peter Mooney.

sced

If you had planned ahead like I did you can have both a custom and a dream C&V bike be one and the same:-) My Holdsworth was custom made for me as a 1972 Christmas present from mommy and daddy when I was 16.

canyoneagle

There ya go. That's exactly the kind of bike I'd choose for myself. Beauty!