I am going to have a local frame builder build me a Rivedell Atlantis copy. What are some of things I should be stressing to him to make sure the bike is as comfortable to ride as all the Atlantis owners say their bikes are. I would just buy the Atlantis but there are no dealers near me and I hate to spend that kind of money and the bike not fit properly, plus my local frame builder price is about $500 cheaper.

If you aren't buying the Atlantis, you should just forget about it. You are basically in the classic touring frame area. The antlantis is standard solid without a lot of beef. I believe, that they have 1" threaded stearing/head assembly, 1.123 tubing in the triangle (?), probably 969 butting, no oversize downtube, The stays are going to be based on your weight in a custom. Henry James lugs would be nice. Beyond that you need a good fork and good wheels.

I say either buy the Riv or buy the bike your custom guy is selling. Don't try to mix the two. If you trust your custom guy then tell him what you want the bike to do and sit back and let it happen. If you don't trust your builder to get it 100% right you need a different builder.

All the best,

Dave

No disrespect Dave, but I don't entirely agree with your philosophy. Some people don't know jack about bikes or bike fit but many of us do. If you don't know anything and have a trustworthy builder, like yourself I'm sure, go ahead and let the builder make the decisions. If on the other hand you have experience in what works for you in terms of fit and have a strong preference in terms of what kind of ride quality you want, and have ridden enough frames to discern differences between different frames/tubesets, then go ahead and enter into a collaborative effort and don't be afraid to ask questions and expect justification from the builder as to their decisions.

Not all framebuilders are created equal; some may be good craftsman but not the best in terms of fitting people. Other builders use the same tubeset for almost all their frames regardless of rider weight and intended usage. In either case, knowledge is your best route toward getting a frame that truly suits your needs, and you need not be a sheep during the process.