I ordered a custom frame from one of the big names in this thread while living about 1800 miles away. I went to a respected local fitter, got measured up and sent the numbers over email the next day. The custom frame I got back fits like a glove, though the builder speced a longer stem than my fitter & I ultimately settled on.

I say if you find a good fitter local to you, getting a bike in the right size, custom or not, shouldn't be much of a problem.

+1

My fitting was done locally by a LBS that's a dealer for the frame manufacturer I chose to have build my frame. The San Francisco dealer communicated the details of my fit to the manufacturer in Wisconsin, and the custom frame fits like a glove.

Gotta say Carl Strong at Strongframes.com got it perfect with mine. Skype and e-mail were the only contact I had with Carl but would drop my next Ti build money on him no questions asked. I guess reputations built on years of experience count in the end.

Thanks for the tips. Strong looks good, but it seems a Ti frame + fork is well over $3000US. Ouch.

I wish I had a "stock" body so I could ride a "stock" frame.

I live in Montreal and I have 2 Litespeed custom frames. I sent my measurements and notes to them and they sent back a drawing. I set up a frame sizing machine that a local shop had and dialed in the frame geometry. I made a couple of modifications to the drawing and both worked out fine.

They delivered on time and I'm very satisfied with the frames.

Litespeed Ultimate 06
Litespeed Pisgah 07

At the end of the day spending a few hundred dollars more to be completely happy is a good investment. Call some builders and ask them what they can do for you. You may not even need Titanium. Cheaper custom Ti have a look at https://www.habcycles.com/custom.html good luck.

Thanks for the link. I will check them out. Also someone on the road forum suggested Tsunami which builds custom aluminum at what seems to be a very reasonable price.

OP udpate: I want to thank everyone for their suggestions. Due to financial constraints I have decided to go with Habanero. I know some might consider them the "bikesdirect" of framebuilders, but for someone who needs custom Ti geometry on a budget, they seemed to be the best choice.

Doug