ImOnCrank

Hey what do people know about CircleACycles? They look awesome and I love the companies philosophy but they don't really say much about pricing or wait time or whatever. They also mention something about a "courier special" but don't give any details. Anybody know whats up?

sillygirl

I emailed them 6 months ago (cant find the email right now) but they wrote back very quickly with their standard pricing (2 types of steel and lugged/welded option for both) and I think it ran from 800-1800. They sounded really nice too. If you are interested, just call/email and I am sure they will let you know what you need.

chimblysweep

one warning though-- there's a woman here with one of their frames, and it's beautiful, but the paint has been chipping like mad. they have offered to repaint it for her, but that's a pain... having to give up your bike to have it repainted.

ImOnCrank

hmmm... interesting. Sounds like a lot of bank to drop on flaky paint then. I'll have to call them and find out.

sohi

do they get them painted in italy?

ImOnCrank

I think the site said painting was in shop in RI

stronzo

long live the search function :

https://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.p...1&postcount=23

and i think sohi's comment was (like most of hers) tongue-in-cheek, referring to the infamous de bernardi/cinelli nail polish jobs. cheers!

48x16

The main frame builder at Circle A used to work for Indy Fab.

Ken Cox

I've always liked the look of Circle A's, and I like his politics, too.

A good review from cripiter: "...i'm happy as a pig in **** about my circle...".

Ken Cox

Excerpted from the Circle A site:

"Our bikes travel through time; yours probably does too. Try this experiment at home: walk a set distance, say from your home to the nearest cafe serving fair-trade coffee. Note how long it takes you. Next time, ride your bike. You will often find that less time has passed while riding to the cafe than while walking. It sounds crazy, but we've done the math and it's absolutely true. You travelled the exact same distance, yet less time passed. Cool..."

ImOnCrank

Anbody know any other nice frame builders with a similar philosophy and style that might go for a little less?

jasonsan

Hiya J- From what I have heard, the CA paintwork is done in-house using (high quality) PPG products.Sometimes paint failures occur, even when it's good stuff and applied properly. Seems that it'd be MUCH more of a pain if they weren't willing to warranty the work, and I would hardly say that they have a reputation of having weak paintjobs. The ones I have seen have been impressive .

jasonsan

Everybody wants to go to Heaven, but nobody wants to die - P. Tosh

chimblysweep

Yeah, I didn't mean to imply that the CA folks have been anything less than cool about it. the owner of the bike actually knows the guys in the shop, and they've been real friendly about it, but it's still not something you'd want to have happen to your bike. Her reluctance to part with it for repainting has resulted in spots of rust... so sad.

ImOnCrank

Dude with the number of bails I've taken recently dying doesn't seem so far away. But I was thinking maybe in the $300-500 for a frameset range as opposed to the $1100 for a frame range?

sillygirl

The nature of custom bikes require them to be handbuilt. Hate to burst your bubble, but i dont think you will ever find a $300-500 custom frame. There are few track frames sold at that price in general. I think you gotta go back to the pista/kogswell/iro/etc world of reality - dont worry I live there too

adamkell

$500 (probably) won't get you a custom frame. Have you checked out Mercian and Bob Jackson? You'll deal with shipping across the Atlantic but there have been good off-the-shelf deals and cheaper rates from both builders, I think. Mind the exchange rate though.

vivophobic

"Anbody know any other nice frame builders with a similar philosophy and style that might go for a little less?"

I got a custom job done by Johnny Coast. I absolutely LOVE it. Great frame, great guy. Not to mention he builds in Brooklyn, so being from NYC you could actually talk to him about all of your needs, etc in person, as he will tailor the build to your particular riding style. Only thing is you will have to pay more than 500. I dont know anywhere you can get a custom frame for 500. I think Johnny is charging around 900-1000, but you would have to ask him for specifics. Also, he is a one man shop, so you would have to talk to him about wait as well. Anyway...both the $ and the wait are worth it. Check him out:

www.coastouttabrooklyn.com

evanyc

Chris and Circle A are awesome. I just finished an interview with them that will appear in the next issue of HeartattaCk for all you hardcore kids...

Circle A's start around $800 for a welded frame and fork. For lugs it's about $1000. Tons of different options can bring up the price, but that's the point of custom frames. I don't know if you can get a custom frame for cheaper, and I know you can't get a better custom frame for cheaper.

evanyc

oh, i also have never heard anything bad about Circle A's paint... this is the first time. They in fact do it in house and pride themselves on having the hottest paint around.

evanyc

vivo - how long is the wait for Johnny?

I think Johnny Coast, Circle A, and Jonny Cycles are all great and comparable options.

2manybikes

I live a few miles from circle A.

A friend has one of his bikes. I have visited the shop.
The bike my friend has is a "touring bike" but it only weighs 23 lbs. That's a good deal.
most factory touring bikes are 26 plus. I like the bike, I also think the customer service is exceptionally good. He stands behind his products.
Probably the main problem with custom bikes, is the paint is not as strong or chip resistant as a baked on factory paint job. This is not unusual. You can get a good paint job but you have to pay for it. It's not cheap and you would have to send your bike to a pro.

My friends bike was only three days old when he assembled it and he chipped a lot of paint. The bikes are painted in house and the finish and attention to detail is great.
It would have been better if he let the bike cure longer. And the paint is not baked on I believe, I did see the paint booth. Also one of the braze on fittings came off. I don’t know the details, but I do know it was then made into a "weld on" instead of a "braze on". Of course the bike was fixed and painted promptly for nothing.

I would not hesitate to but a Circle A bike, but I would buy it without paint and spend what I needed to get a very durable finish. Here's the bike.....

Erich Zann

I have heard good things about CircleA framesets, but I would never buy one myself. I just think that it is silly that an anarchy symbol is used to "market" the bike. I would want a bike that is known as good for the quality of the craftsmanship not because it has some "gimmick" attached to it. I do not mean to belittle the framebuilders' philosophy and you peoples', but for the same reason I would not buy this bike I would not buy a "Thus Spake Zarathustra Bike" or a "Martin Heidegger Cycle" despite the fact that I read philosophy which is printed on the bike.

I understand that some people want to have what they believe printed on stuff they own, but I am not this way. The best builders have always gone by on their work alone, they didnt have to attach some outside cause to the bike to help sell it. The cause of making a good bike is good enough. I don't mean knock the circle (a) people for making quality bikes, because that is a good thing, I just think the marketing lacks class.

ImOnCrank

CAC, Coast, and Jonny are all sick looking bikes. Guess I'll be saving pennies for the rest of the summer... So much for $500. Anybody have experience with coast? They're the closest to home for me.

evanyc

i dont know much about coast, and don't know anyone who has a coast bike. that's one of the reasons i didn't go with them. the main reason though is because i clicked philosophically with Circle A and i'm really into what they are doing. still, i'd love to support a local builder, so i'll plan on getting my second custom from coast!