zatopek

Karl Strong or Independent Fabrication
I've got a Strong Hyalite and it rides like butter. Give me an Indy Fab Stainless Steel Crown Jewel custom and I might die of happiness.

canam73

Maybe a better question is who has had a problem with a custom frame builder. Most people who have gone that route are going to recommend their guy and will love their bike. Because the truth is that for most people a correctly sized off the rack frame with geometry appropriate to their riding style will work very well. A few people with odd proportions (Dorf on bikes) will benefit from a custom, but it's mostly about knowing that every little thing is exactly what you wanted and being able to pay for it.

I agree with choosing somebody local to you. Most of the recommendations have come from people who have met their builder. It's nice to know the person you are putting your faith (and $$$) in when you are buying a frame before it's made.

Btw, what do you have in mind for your build?

StanSeven

Yep. Two good points here. One, people spend a lot of money on a custom bike and naturally won't admit, maybe even to themselves, they don't like it. The other is the majority of people don't need or benefit from custom.

I spent a lot of money on a custom Seven. It's nice and I like it but I like the way a newer CF bike I have more. The geometry turns out to be vitually identical except the Seven has a sliightly taller head tube. But that's the philosophy of the Seven founder - build bikes so riders are slightly more upright than most.

Taking the personal beliefs of the builder into consideration is something most people don't do with custom - they look at finished products of the builder and listen to what others say. But two different builders will fit you two different ways.

banerjek

You get more than something that fits and rides well. A good frame builder knows your preferences and how you intend to ride the bike and can make choices that can make the experience a little nicer.

Plus, you can buy things that just aren't available. For example, my commuter looks like a race bike. But it has an extra set of bottle bosses, guides for lighting and computer wires, and it can take full fenders (thin ones, and even those require modification) even though I don't have clearance to take more than 25c tires (I specifically asked for that). The rear stays are extended just a little so that when I put a custom rack on to carry my panniers, I have enough clearance to not be kicking them.

Of course I could have gone with a stock touring bike and I did that for many years. This bike is faster, more fun, and it is optimized to how I like to ride. When I was starting the project, I told the builder that I didn't just want a good bike because I already have a bunch of them. I wanted THE bike. And that's what I got.

frpax

Not for me. I got a relatively computer illiterate friend who wants something "NICE" (as he puts it). So I thought I'd throw the question out there in the forum, give him some options and let him worry about it from there.

He's wanting a good "all 'round" bike. Comfortble for centuries. Likes lugged steel, not welded, and doesn't trust C/F. He plans on putting a NOS Suntour Superbe Pro (friction) gruppo on it, Brooks saddle, Cinelli bar & stem, etc.

Yeah, he's old school (and that's OK with me!)

nateintokyo

I second the recommendation for Winter Cycles. Eric does gorgeous work. His head tube 'window' treatment is phenomenally good looking and are his hand-shaped lug stuff. Really good guy to work with, and as you saw above, you can get matched stems and racks too.

He made a dirt drop stem for one of my offroad projects, and I'd love to get one of his frames someday:

https://www.winterbicycles.com/

Bob Ross

I am pretty certain that Carl Strong does not offer a lugged steel frame. He's a TIG guy. He's a freakin' master framebuilder with few peers...but not a lug guy.

Bob Ross

Within that criteria, I'd go with Dave Kirk. Hell, Dave would be on the short list even if you didn't have any criteria!

canam73

I agree that for you it was probably more than worth it. But most of the custom frames I've seen are not nearly so specialized. Mine included.

Terex

Ellis. https://www.elliscycles.com/

Scooper

This.

Dave Wages spent many years at Serotta and at Waterford perfecting his framebuilding skills before hanging out his shingle. He built my 953 frame at Waterford, and his brazing is absolutely flawless.

Here's a recent Ellis 953 frameset:

surgeonstone

That is one really beautiful bike. I would never have thought of that color scheme but I love it.

Bob Ross

If I'm not mistaken, Mr. Wages choose that color scheme to differentiate the materials in the frame: The red painted parts aren't 953, as he believes that stainless steel isn't the best material for those particular applications. Or something like that.

canam73

Thst sounds right to me. Correct me if I'm wrong, Scooper, but the fork on your 953 waterford is chromed 531 for the same reason.

jr59

Kirk makes great frames

Dave anderson
Tom Kelloge@spectrum
Dave wages
Bill davidson

Scooper

You guys are both right.

The seat tube and head tube of the frame in my photos (the red painted tubes) are True Temper S3, not 953. See Dave's explanation of why he does this HERE.

At the time my frame was built at Waterford in 2007, Reynolds wasn't offering 953 fork blades, so the fork on my bike has a stainless crown and stainless dropouts, but the blades are chrome plated 531. All of the frame tubing on my Waterford is 953.

Because polished stainless looks like it's chrome plated, there is no visible difference between the stainless fork crown and the chrome plated blades. One unique feature of my Waterford frame is the fastback seat stay treatment. The seat stays are double pass TIG welded to the stainless seat lug and then dressed and polished to give the appearance of fillet brazing.

Terex

If you go to the Ellis gallery, and look at the bike "Murdo's New Frame", it's one I saw in person. The closer you look at these bikes, the more you will become amazed.