Piers
Retro Guru
Hi, been looking for treads with custom built frames as the main feature, but couldn't find any. Sooo...
Post up your bespoke bikes (i.e. a frame made to your measurements and spec, not an off the peg frame with your choice of component)
And, please feel free to comment and geerally add your thoughts or wishes.
Here's mine (alas now a melted wreck due to a cretinous pensioner who thought it was OK to do 70 in dense fog).
'Sweetie' was built by Hardisty in Newcastle from Columbus Genius steel tube (so thin you could actually deform the top tube by squeezing it really hard between fingers and thumb)
She was finished in candy-apple red (red laquer ove silver base coat) and was a Bio-Racer made-to-measure job so I had to be measured up on a big jig thing - the inside leg measurement bar gave me an inferiority complex.
After getting the drawing faxed back from Bio-Racer (Holland I think) I specified a 18" seat tube, rather than the 22" suggested, an internal seat post binder, an open cable guide to the rear canti (think old Kona, but designed to be easy to disconnect and clean) and stem to my design.
12 weeks and much telephony later, I got the frame.
Beautiful,
BUT the 22 1/2" seat tube was back. :x
AND, a 58mm width bottom bracket (wot!?).
AND nasty canti bosses :evil:
So back it went.
8 weeks and loads more phone calls later...
Bicycle loveliness was mine. I polished up the components and started decorating.
Finished and time to learn how to cope with it - twitchy and fragile feeling.
But, I learned she wouldn't break and I adjusted to the steep geometry. I had a gorgeous bike that I loved to bits and rode as hard as I could.
She got up-graded and I finally gave up on the Aheadset cos it never stayed adjusted - XT cassett headset and Ringle stem.
I went to Sachs Wavy shifters.
Then I got a Santa Cruz...
But I liked Sweetie more and went back to being fully rigid
Post up your bespoke bikes (i.e. a frame made to your measurements and spec, not an off the peg frame with your choice of component)
And, please feel free to comment and geerally add your thoughts or wishes.
Here's mine (alas now a melted wreck due to a cretinous pensioner who thought it was OK to do 70 in dense fog).
'Sweetie' was built by Hardisty in Newcastle from Columbus Genius steel tube (so thin you could actually deform the top tube by squeezing it really hard between fingers and thumb)
She was finished in candy-apple red (red laquer ove silver base coat) and was a Bio-Racer made-to-measure job so I had to be measured up on a big jig thing - the inside leg measurement bar gave me an inferiority complex.
After getting the drawing faxed back from Bio-Racer (Holland I think) I specified a 18" seat tube, rather than the 22" suggested, an internal seat post binder, an open cable guide to the rear canti (think old Kona, but designed to be easy to disconnect and clean) and stem to my design.
12 weeks and much telephony later, I got the frame.
Beautiful,
BUT the 22 1/2" seat tube was back. :x
AND, a 58mm width bottom bracket (wot!?).
AND nasty canti bosses :evil:
So back it went.
8 weeks and loads more phone calls later...
Bicycle loveliness was mine.
I polished up the components and started decorating. Finished and time to learn how to cope with it - twitchy and fragile feeling.
But, I learned she wouldn't break and I adjusted to the steep geometry. I had a gorgeous bike that I loved to bits and rode as hard as I could.
She got up-graded and I finally gave up on the Aheadset cos it never stayed adjusted - XT cassett headset and Ringle stem.
I went to Sachs Wavy shifters.
Then I got a Santa Cruz...
But I liked Sweetie more and went back to being fully rigid
:xmas-wink:
