Thinking about doing a custom bike...

[thewalrus]

Not entirely sure if it's worth it - but I love the idea of a hand built road / cyclo-cross bike in metal. Steel or Titanium (if I'm feeling spendy).

Can't really grasp why I want to do this - aside from the cool factor. But I love the idea of having a bike made to my measurements (which admittedly aren't that far off a 54" roadbike), choosing the color, choosing the group set, choosing the wheels. And then riding it almost all the time, and keeping it for life.

Right now I have a CF Trek Domane, an aluminum Marin Lombard cyclocross bike (that's a little too big), and an aluminum Trek Mountain bike. From what I hear CF won't last for ever - it gets tired, it fatigues. It's great out of the box, but there's a shelf life on it. Not sure how true that it - but I can see how it could be the case. CF, really, just being plastic.

Plus I kind of love the idea of a bike, built by hand, in the US. Even if you have to send more to get that.

Anyway, I've found a couple pretty awesome frames that I'd use as a base. Hopefully with it ending up something like this:



There's be some ability to do custom paint (within reason), for not much added cost. But I'm seriously wondering (if I go the Ti route), whether raw titanium isn't the best bet.

[Talon]

That thing looks sweet.

Are there bikes you can buy that you can change from a road to a crosstrek type just by simply changing out the wheels/tires? Or does it not work that way...? Granted it'd be a jack of all trades, but could probably work.

[thewalrus]

[thewalrus]

Caletti bikes are my newest obsession. Stupid expensive - but damn they're hot.

[Talon]

I'd let that sit on my face.

[Talon]

Anyway, I am the same way with guitars. I currently own 11 friggen guitars, but I always want more.

I do use them all, and I have a couple I would sell however they’re literally not worth selling. Like I’d get $100 for it or something and they play too well to sell at that price

Last one I bought was in August basically because it was too good of a deal to pass up. $599 on sale from $1059, and it has all the bells and whistles. Currently I have my eye on two: Schecter Blackjack ATX-C1 and the Charvel Pro-Mod SoCal.

And a Blackstar amp. I am not greedy, though… a 1x12 solid state will do just fine.

[thewalrus]

[ryguy79]

Guitars and bikes are both N+1 hobbies. Although my guitar wants are pretty much set at this point.

However, I have 5 bikes now. Picked up a GT Grade yesterday. Versatle bike - set up for road, but could also be a gravel grinder or entry level cyclocross bike. Not custom, or high end at all, but does what I want in a road bike. Can fit at least 35c knobbies for gravel riding/cx, aluminum frame/carbon fork, relatively relaxed geometry compared to a true road race or cyclocross bike.



Also finally took my 1984 Stumpjumper off the trainer and actually put brake and shifter cables on it. Had it set up singlespeed in the hardest gear for a long time, now its my cruiser/pull the kids in the trailer bike. Added fenders to make sure road debris/sand etc isn't kicked up at my kids. It would be semi collectable but its not all original. Its got the wrong rear derailleur and the wheelset, seat, and grips are not original.

[ryguy79]

Also, after riding a 35lb fatbike all winter, a low 20s road bike, even a cheap one, rolls stupid fast.

[thewalrus]

[ryguy79]

Yep, its flat blue, with a little highlighting in a green that's very similar to Bianchi's celeste green. REI has bottle cages in the same green (presumably for Bianchi owners that want matching cages) but I think I'll add a couple to this bike. Riding sans camelback is always preferable. I did 28 miles on it yesterday with my camelback because I haven't put cages on yet, and road riding (with about 2 miles of gravel and easy singletrack thrown in) with a camelback was not the most comfortable thing ever.

Its pretty low end spec. Shimano Sora 2x9 shifts kinda clunky compared to XT mountain stuff I'm used to but its functional for now. I can see upgrading Tiagra 2x10 or maybe 105. Doubt I'll put any higher spec than that. 34x28 is the lowest gear for climbing, and I can see wanting a wider range cassette. Maybe swap out 11-28 for 11-32. As you can guess, there are some long steep climbs here.

I also want to swap out the tires pretty quickly. They're cheap wire bead tires that I've read are quite heavy from other owners. I'm going to look for some tubeless ready folding bead tires to save weight. The rims are tubeless compatible, which was a major selling point, as I love tubeless on my mountain bikes. Just need some stans tape to seal them and some valve stems. Lighter tires plus ditching tubes should shave noticeable rotating weight for a relatively low investment, plus I could go to a larger tire since this will see gravel/forest roads once the snow up high is gone.

My end goal with this bike is just getting more fit since I can get lots of miles on low traffic streets and bike paths direct from home, but there are some big rides I have in mind as well...like the Pikes Peak Highway.

[thewalrus]

[ryguy79]

I think unless you're a top level racer, or just really loaded, the rule of diminishing returns is very true in bikes. Especially when you start spending extra hundreds or even thousands of dollars just to save a few grams.

That said, a custom bike is different since its made exactly for you and will fit just right, instead of trying to find the closest fit from off the shelf sizes. I'm probably a 54 on a road bike, and this is a 55. The reach to the hoods seems slightly long, but I haven't played with saddle position. I might be able to just move the saddle forward to address the reach without having to go to a slightly shorter stem. But the next size down felt too small.

[ryguy79]

Also wally...if you go custom, consider Rivendell. Their bikes are beautiful. They have both standard models and do custom work as well.

[thewalrus]

[thewalrus]

[ryguy79]

Related question - do you use Strava?

[thewalrus]

[ryguy79]

I use it for keeping track of my mileage and climbing totals, as well as comparing my own performance. Its cool to compare past performance on segments I ride frequently. I don't follow the leaderboards much, too many really fast guys here. Its also fun to see what my local riding buddies are doing as we are all on strava.

[thewalrus]