Some of you need to do a bit more homework - you won't get a Kirk or Sachs or Vanilla frame and forks for under 1500.

Anyway, at the risk of being a Spammer and blowing my own horn, I do custom Steel that's in your price bracket. Email me if you'd like more info.

at the risk of blowing thylacine's horn, after seeing the work he did for willie karsten, i'd be getting one of his were it not for the politics of the shop I work for (i.e. the manager wanting me to ride a bike that we carry, and giving me a nice deal on an I.F. so that we can start carrying them...).

You won't go wrong with thylacine. You get the cool stripes AND you'll have one of the very few which are in the U.S....

Mondonico.

Here's why:

"S2Xiii", maybe this link will give you some ideas. Pearl white looks awfully good.

https://www.serotta.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2198

Richard Sachs are bespoke custom and his wait, last I heard, was 36 months. I ordered mine last Feb. with a 2 year wait, only 14 months to go.

I'm not a "white" person when it comes to bikes -- i'm thinking a black to silver fade, with black and white decals, or perhaps black with white panels....or maybe trying to work some metallic black and metallic red combo...I'm terribly undecided on the whole thing. Thanks for the link though, it made me even more excited about getting my IF -- the reviews were amazing.

Richard Sachs is a custom frame, but the current waiting list is something like
30 months. . . yikes.
Dave Kirk gets my nod, but you'd do well with Weigle, Mooney, or some
of the other not so widely known builders. Albert Eisentraut is indeed a legend
and surprizingly his frames are not all that expensive.
Marty

OK guys, i was presented with another option...

We've got an '02 Merlin Cyrene sitting at the shop. Full Ultegra, ultegra hubs laced to open pros. Our sticker is 3375. We're offering it to customers (to get it out of the shop) for 40-50% off. Which means i could probably get it for around 1500. Should i get that over the IF steel crown jewel, which i'd build with record and campy wheels, and would cost me at least 1000 to 1500 more? Any thoughts?

no help? come on guys...

What size is that Merlin? I may beat you to it.

If you work in the shop I would still recommend the IF because, you can probably get a healthy discount, you will be riding a first rate bicycle and, the advertising with you riding it would be good for your business. You just have to pick the right colors though to set it off. The black with white panels, or fade, is a good idea. Have the panel lines done at an angle, or maybe multiple slashes - something creative, to make it stand out.

Second Russ Denny. He has built a number of frames for our club over the years, both racing, touring, and track. Beautiful work and excellent prices. Call I.E.Bikes in Murrieta, or go to Denny's web site.

Are you in love with the Merlin or are you going to spend the next few years pining for the IF?

I'm not in love with the Merlin -- its a nice bike, a great ride, and the price is a steal, but i don't think i'd be pining for the IF either... I'd really just rather have nicer parts than the Ultegra, preferably campy, and something new, built for me, rather than NOS two year old bike.

It's really annoying when people don't have the common courtesy to actually read a thread. For the second time, you can't get a frikken Sachs, Kirk or Eisentraut frame and forks for under 1500 bucks. Who gives a rats a$$ how long you have to wait for a Sachs? We KNOW how long his wait list is, we don't need to be reminded of it every second post. Stick to the frikken topic.

Now, if the choice was a custom steel bike over an off-the-shelf ti bike, I'd actually go with the steel. I know that's weird in this world of Ti and carbon worship, but at least then the frame would fit you and it would be unique, especially if you opted for custom paint. That appeals to me more than an off-the-shelf frame.

warwick...
have some decaf, eh!?
e-RICHIE

Sorry Richo, it's only 9am and I haven't had my first coffee yet

The only frame I know of the comes close to this price point is the Vanilla Bikes at $1525 for a frame sans fork... (Price list)

https://davidsonbicycles.com/html/home.shtml

You'll spend some time on the phone with a good frame builder. Someone whocan identify what you like, determines your riding style, and make some suggestions. Once all of that is setteled, then it takes approximately 4-6 weeks for your frame to arrive. Totally custom and hand built for you. Bill Davidson is one of those guys still making steel frames.

How about John Slawta at Landshark (www.landsharkbicycles.com)? At the risk of hijacking this thread, does anyone have any information on his custom road bikes?

I could also throw Brent Steelman's name into the mix, but his frames a more than $1500 and deviating from the parameters of the orginal thread seems to tick some people off. Not like it hasn't been done before.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

CycleSamms

I have customs done by Carl Strong, Sacha White (Vanilla) and Dave Kirk.

Carl is definately in your price range and is a great guy to work with. The other two also build fantastic bikes but they're both beyond the price you're considering. Vanilla also has a 12 month leadtime at the moment.

Below $1500, I'd recommend talking to Carl. He currently has a year end 20-% off sale going on.

Also, look at Curtlo https://www.curtlo.com

Sub-$1000 for a True Temper S3 frame. Can't be beat, and he comes highly recommended. He's on my list for a future bike.

At the moment, I'm doing a custom Ti frame from Davidson. He also does steel in your price range. I've impressed so far with working with them.

https://www.davidsonbicycles.com/html/pricelist.shtml

you need to relax, and not toot your own horn

www.anvilbikes.com He's in Littleton. Mostly mtb, but does some very nice looking road stuff as well.

I'd also second the motion for www.curtlo.com as well. I've had a custom mtb from him in the past, and was extremely happy with the ride. And he's amazing price-wise, in terms of the quality that you get.

Steve, I just had a custom built by Colin Laing. I haven't yet received the frame, as it was just finished last weekend, but Colin sent me a few pictures (not the best). He was one of the few builders out there willing to do something different.... What I asked him for is a "sport-tourer", built as if it were still 1975. I gave him the measurements, picked the braze-ons, lugs, tubing, color, etc. The frame came to under $1K. Here's what I'll be getting:

Here's my vote if anyone cares (and you probably don't). A Ti bike, Seven or I.F. are the people getting my money. if you are talking steel, that Waterford would be the brand of choice.

My Spectrum is ti, not steel, but I can vouch for Tom Kellogg's work. BTW, Tom designs Merlin's ti frames, but he says that steel is his true love. Don't know if his steel frames are in the OP's price range, though. Ok, Thylacine? Are you sure it was your morning coffee that you haven't had yet? "Someone get him a beer." <grin>