I've been bitten by the bug and really have found a fun activity in road cycling. My poor MTB must resent the new sleeker counterpart that has been getting all of my attention lately. I've been averaging about 2 rides per week, balancing work and family like (I'm guessing) many of you.

As a fun hobby, I'd like to ultimately venture into doing a custom build. The idea of making something exactly how I want is appealing. As crazy as it sounds too, the journey almost seems as interesting as the destination. Given my experience and riding goals, I don't envision spending an arm and a leg nor am I pretentious enough to think I need the best of anything or some elite racing machine. I don't plan on competing nor am I interested in doing a triathlon. So it narrows down the selection to a small degree, I would think.

Looking for any advice on do's and don'ts or pitfalls to avoid when doing a custom build.
I'm kind of stuck between two schools of thought.

1. Stick to popular and ubiquitous brands like Felt or Giant given the large number of dealers in my area to save money
2. Get a more exotic frame set not commonly seen around these parts and outfit with components

There's something kind of appealing from the hobby point of view having something a little different than the masses.
Any people that have made the initial leap from full bike to custom build that have advice, I'm all ears.

Im currently working on my 6th build in 4 years (slippery slope). All i can say is find the frame you want then go from there. My current build is a open mold Chinese frame because I just want to build the lightest bike ive ever owned within a reasonable budget.

I wouldn't build up a bike any other way. Building to suit taste & road feel is the best way to increase your riding pleasure for the long term.

And the journey is fun too. I almost enjoy building and working on bikes as much as riding them. If ive gone six months without a project i get antsy

You sound like a prime candidate for a Gunnar Sport. Not particularly exotic but a reasonably priced custom steel frame that you can build any way you wish.

I don't know what your base of information is so I will start from zero. First, go get a fitting. From that you may find that there are plenty of frames that will fit you precluding the need for a custom frame. Assuming that you can buy off the shelf, it's then a matter of frame material and aesthetics. Lots of choices from Nashbar to Colnago. If you can do the work yourself it's just a matter of getting killer deals on the components you want. Or not, depending on how much money you want to throw at it. Custom builders like Gunnar, Zen, Independent Fabrication, Guru, et. al. can build you a custom frame and outfit it for you. You have lots of choices.

Next June I will turn 70 and I'm going through this mental process too. Kind of wanting to give myself a birthday present of a new bike. Sometimes the mental process can make me crazy so I'm trying to go slow and chill out right now.

Just be aware that custom build ups, even of stock frames, cost more than buying a complete bike UNLESS you scour the internet for cheap parts. Get your group set in the UK (Wiggle, Ribble, etc.). Look for take-off of bars, stems, seat posts. Find or build cheap wheels. Otherwise the project will be very pricey. It is likely more cost effective to buy a full bike close to what you want and sell the parts you don't like on ebay, replacing them with your preferred items.

Full disclosure requires I say I build up all my bike myself. But I buy lightly used frames and parts to keep the cost down and I build all my own wheels. That is how is has to be done to make any sense.

Or a really nice used frame for half that cost. I don't think a $1200+ frame is a good starting point for someone that is budget conscious

I have only built two...and had a blast doing it...and learned just how much i did not know (well, I am not sure i have really learned that)... in my case both were bikes I built for someone else... but watching them ride and seeing the joy of it was a great payment for me.
I started off by getting used frames in their size...and on one I ordered the controls from England (ultegra 6800) at quite a bit lower than I could find them here... on the other I used gently used components...both turned out nice. Both were rewarding in experience and emotional attachment, neither were really economically worth it.

Are you going to do the work yourself?

check out competitive cyclist for frame deals.

1. Custom build normally refers to actually having a frame built to fit you.

2. Build means buying a frame separate from the components, and putting them on the bike.

Most people that do this, do it because of several reasons.

1. Buy a less expensive Chinese (open mold) CF frame. Not a counterfeit, but one of the major Chinese brands that is reputable.

2. Find a good used frame at bargain prices. And then add components.

3. Like Campy (or SRAM) components, but only find the frame that they like with Shimano.

4. Actually have a custom built frame, and then add components to it.

5. Are good at scrounging around the internet for inexpensive parts, so they actually can build the bike for less than they could buy it with similar parts. But this takes lots of patience and time.

If you want to build a bike yourself, you should have a good reason to do it, other than you just want to do it. As others have said, it will probably be more expensive than just buying a bike with the level of components that you want.

If you do decide to build the bike yourself, then look as some of the UK sites for your components, as they often sell them cheaper than an LBS can buy them from a wholesaler here in the US.

GH

If you build it yourself, you can have it exactly how you want it from the get go.

Pick a groupset you want first and stalk classifieds until you score a good deal on it or are able to score on the pieces.

If you start with a frame, you'll be on hold till you get the components. This will make you spend more money in the long run.

Components sitting on the shelf with no frame... Easy to take your time and be frugal.

Frame sitting naked in the corner... Hard to excersize patience and leads to comprimized parts or too much money spent.

I agree that it can be pricey if you buy your parts local or in the states. I have found that if you are diligent and follow the sales, you can beat a complete bike purchase in price and get better products. It took me about a year to get all my parts as I had a firm budget and wanted to beat it. The most difficult piece to get was the frame. I started with my groupset and went from there. I picked out each pieces and then waited for sales or deals to fall into place. I bought them as they occured. The end result is that I got exactly what I wanted. It was a ton of fun doing it. rpenmanparker is correct about getting things from the UK. Ribble and PBK were my primary vendors that I used. I was surprised at how long it took to find the frame that I wanted. I kept asking around these forums and got a lot of help. One poster told me that excel sports in CO had the frame that I wanted. I went to their site and bought it that day.
Good luck with it.

My initial bikes a Colnago and a LeMond were full custom builds cos I didn't have much money and had to scrounge for parts and the like.
however, I feel that a lot of standard bike builds disappoint in areas of wheels, saddles and handlebars/stem.

The costs of replacing the wheels alone might justify the increased costs for the custom build but its usually for the higher end bikes.

So a lot depends on how much $ and time you want to invest to get your dream bike.

I have two bikes and two good wheelsets. I am going to build number three, and I don't think I need the wheels.
I will use the wheelset I already have. I think the wheelset alone will save me couple of hundreds bucks on the new build.
The only drawback is that if I want to use wheelsless frame, I need to install the wheels first.

Makes sense, thank you all for taking the time. Really good advice in here, and I appreciate the input.
Without really sounding ignorant, how does one really choose a groupset? I can see why it's a logical place to start. It honestly seems a lot like choosing between Audi, Mercedes, and BWW. Really all of them make comparable products (according to reviews anyway) at various price points. You could almost flip a coin and wind up in something quite nice. So is that the answer? Find a groupset at a smoking deal (whatever the brand) and go from there?

As not to start a debate on that, are there general rules of thumb to follow or avoid? For instance it seems a lot of Italian frames are paired with Campagnolo given the country of origins. But I'm guessing there's no hard and fast rule as to what pairs with what. I assume it's all universal sizing and fit?

It would seem picking a popular brand like Giant or Felt
Propel Advanced SL Frameset (2016) | Giant Bicycles | United States
FRAMESET: AR FRD - Felt Bicycles

Would probably be silly to do a custom assembly given their packages come pretty well dialed. Is that fair to say? In thinking about this a bit more, I'm asking myself what it is I'd hope to gain by doing something custom.

It almost seems it's well suited to finding that rare frame and assembling something exotic. Or a frame on close-out where the price warrants the effort of trying to piece it together little by little.

For me, my CAAD9 has SRAM Rival 10-speed and I really like it, having test ridden several 105 and Ultegra built bikes over the last couple of years. I prefer SRAM. I'm going to keep the CAAD9 until the frame brakes but I'm going to start racing next year and will be using it as my race bike. I also like endurance riding (but not full on touring) so I will be building up a bike specifically for centuries, double centuries and maybe eventually "credit card" touring on weekends. Since I like SRAM and for an endurance type ride, the latest, lightest, greatest group isn't necessary, I've decided to do a 10-speed Rival build, using a wifli RD for greater cassette range over the short cage setup on my CAAD9. Since that's now "outdated", it will also allow me to save quite a bit of money over building with 11-speed Rival or Force. So now, it's just a matter of choosing my frame and for what I'm planning, steel makes sense, but since I'm not doing loaded touring, a steel fork isn't necessary, so steel frame with carbon fork, it is. I've looked at off the rack frames made overseas - Soma, Surly, and a couple of others, but settled on a Gunnar Sport for US made custom sizing (available). I'm hoping to keep the total build around $2000, but won't skimp on wheels to do it.

Decide what you are going for. All-arounder, super light, electric, wide range, etc.

Then look to see what the best bang for the buck is.

A lot of weight weenies like SRAM, some prefer Campy since it's not so cookie-cutter and works very well. Some love Shimano for it's availability and reliability.

If you want retro, there are even more options.

I've been toying with this idea as well. I'm another that enjoys working on the bike as much as I do riding.

I have gravitated to the "build it myself" school when it comes to bikes...that's how I've built the last two roadbikes I've had. It's been great and you get to choose exactly what you want and spend money on the stuff you think is important. A lot of off the shelf bikes come with crap wheels and certain other parts are just mediocre...when you build yourself you don't have to spend the money for crap wheels...just get yourself a good set from the beginning.

make sure you have the tools you will need to do your planned build. The housing cutters that park makes are pretty nice and the bottom bracket tool is invaluable for putting on external bearings (if that is the route you go).

Where I see your point, I always start with frame first. With all of the different bottom bracket conventions available now, I wouldn't know what bottom bracket to get in a groupset without knowing the frame.

Felt and Giant charge an arm and a leg for their bare frames. If I was building from scratch, they are absolutely the last place I would look. If it were me, I would go to R&A Cycles closeout section and find something I like, on a deep discount. I have several already picked out for imaginary builds, and I won't tell you which ones, because you might buy them and ruin my fantasy life.

I'd rather base the frame I want on the crank I want. I'm not sure I'd want to pick a crank based on the confines of a particular frame.

If you pick a pressed fit BB frame, you are limited in options. If you pick a english threaded BB frame, you could run just about anything.