merziac

No worries and no thin skin here, I'd be happy to hear your take, I'm sure many here agree with you and that's fine, we don't all agree all the time.

I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, I also know it defies several tenants in several facets of what we do.

But as I have said, it works great for me, rides like a dream and turned out just how I wanted.

I guess this far down the road "custom" can mean very different things to different people.

mstateglfr 

I think I am your height- I for sure understand the challenge of a bile looking good in the classic sense. There is always too much seatpost showing and too many spacers.
Whats important is that it fits and works great for the user.

Drew Eckhardt 

How many people buying custom steel frames are the same size as professional cyclists (154 pounds on average, under 2 pounds per inch for climbers which is 138 pounds for the average 5'9" man), have the same power to weight ratio, and plan to race them?

jade408

I do follow. But the IG algorithm sucks and so few of the builders I follow show up. I hate the way the feed decides what to display. I purposely follow brands and such and those posts never show up.

merziac

Agreed, several folks asked why we didn't make the frame bigger in general, there were many reasons and constraints for the parts, pieces, tubing and fit here, now and way down the line, it wasn't easy and this is the result of being 6ft tall with a 38in inseam/PBH.

dkatz1

I know a guy who's been builidng wonderful steel frames (complete with lugs) for many years, and says that in the last few years, intrrest (and sales) in his bikes has gone way down...and he thinks it's carbon frames.

Johnk3

That 18 lb bike looks like about a 53 cm frame at most.

Here is a real light stainless steel bike at 18.875 lbs including pedals for a 58.5 cm frame using Columbus XCr tubes, and it even has a stainless steel fork.:

veganbikes

The picture was taken all wrong but once you look past all of that it looks like a nice bike

You need to line up your valves ideally at 12 o-clock, big ring at the front and the smallest cog at the back and line up the cranks at 3 o-clock (though in some circles people line it up with the chain stays).

Beyond that you have the makings of a pretty slick bike. Re-take the shot and you have gold.

DMC707 

Yes -- very very nice bike he has built up, but its an enthusiasts bike. You'll rarely see such boutique-y parts on a high end "sponsored pro"
race bike ----

Im curious just how much of the pro cycling market is owned by Specialized -- just buy an S-Works Tarmac or Venge --- lace some tubular rims to it, and go racing

thehammerdog

old fellers.
young bunch now taking us to next level.

cycology

IF you ask about steel, bet you're not a racer. Bikes are developed for use, racing bikes for racers. Racing development can make a bike worse for nonracers (google Grant Peterson, Jan Heine, etc, racers can be too stiff, low, aero etc. )

Steel bikes are developed for comfort and distance, common on PBParis (steel may be best unless your body is developed for TdF)
And R&E makes a 15lb steel bike

ClydeClydeson

To be fair (to be faaaiirrr…), superlight steel racing bikes from the pre-aluminum era (mid 90s and before) were also pretty much disposable. A lot of heavier consumer-grade steel bikes lasted a long time and took a lot of abuse, but racing bikes were built with the bare minimum of material and were often weak as kittens. THis is why the industry so easily switched to aluminum bikes - cheaper, lighter, and often stronger than previous generations of steel bikes. A well made carbon frame with a similar weight to an old racing bike has the potential to be much stronger than the old racing bike.

tkamd73 

No, you just need to spend more money!
Tim

George

What about Ritchey. I thought he built pretty nice bikes.

fietsbob

Tom uses the services of Maxway Ltd TW , now .. Many other brands use their services too.

rebel1916

Good Lord, the last thing anyone should ever do is bring Grant into a conversation.

fietsbob

Last thing Any One should do is Over Generalize.

Dirt Farmer

In fairness to them, that photo is from when they were still located on State Street, which was seven years ago, in addition to the fact that their website photos are probably even much older than that.

Kapusta

Yes. In the case of bikes being built for anything but pro racing, it probably helps.

satrain18

It looks like a GeoCities site from 1995.

satrain18

Keep in mind that the frameset alone will set you back $2,800

Johnk3

Nope, it was $3,600 and a real bargain at that. The Cinelli XCr frame costs $1,200 more for a much less finished frame. The Columbus XCr frame set tubes alone cost about $900.

satrain18

$3,600 for just the framset is not a bargin, considering that a carbon fiber road bike with Shimano ultegra di2 electronic shifting AND disc brakes can be had for under $3,000. https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/ribble-r872-disc/

vespasianus

Holy god, I hope you are being sarcastic...

Johnk3

Comparing a mass produced Asian CF bike with mid and low end components to a fully custom, handmade Columbus XCr stainless steel frame with Campy Super Record group and WR Compositi components is like comparing a Fiat to a Maserati. I have 2 high end carbon fiber bikes. I'm not impressed with either of them. I would not have either electronic shifting or disc brakes if you paid me. My bike will be ridden decades after your CF cheapie is in the recycle bin.