Steel is a material that, until a few years ago, had almost fallen out of use in the mid and upper tiers of bicycles. But today, thanks to the craftsmen, the essence of hand-built steel frame construction is being recovered.
The value of the custom bicycle
We can’t deny the attraction riders feel for hand-built custom bicycles, but only a few consider buying one. For most, the price is a significant obstacle. Yet, with the sheer number of custom bicycle builders out there, we can find options for almost any budget.
But the big question would be: why pay more and wait longer for something that’s available in any bike shop in your city?
The answer is simple. It’s more than a frame that merely satisfies an R&D process and a design driven by price and consumer impulses. A hand-built frame offers, as distinguishing elements, a precise fit for every measurement of the rider, the perfect combination of component specifications, ride characteristics tailored to its use, and custom design and paintwork. Elements that mass production cannot guarantee consistently.
How could anyone resist a custom frame designed for them?
In today’s market, a hand-built bicycle frame is something appealing that stirs a great deal of curiosity. Some even see it as a return to an earlier era, a time when everything in the bicycle industry was built in small workshops using traditional craft techniques.
That was the environment where our understanding of the design and geometry of a custom bicycle was forged. For decades, the evolution of bicycles was driven by pioneering framebuilders who worked tirelessly to meet the needs of their clients.
Mass production of bicycles has had great success in bringing the modern bicycle to a much wider audience. And, in general, the companies and brands behind all that success have done a fantastic job creating frames and bicycles accessible to millions of people.
And yet custom bicycles endure and gain ground year after year. In fact, there’s a worldwide community of craftsmen devoted to building custom bicycle frames that grows by the day. Its existence cannot rest on the curiosity of enthusiasts alone, but on the real effectiveness of their product.
The demand for custom products must be understood beyond mere allure. Although craft will always draw some clients, it needs them to thrive. So, what is it that drives a buyer to pay for something they must wait months for, simply because it’s personalised?
Source: Cyclingtips – Where is the value in a custom-made frame?
A production line cannot meet every need
The number of mass-produced frames out there is genuinely impressive, in sizes, shapes and features. Every brand brings catalogues to market that are refreshed year on year, with complete redesigns every three or four years.
All this effort does little to make up for one significant shortcoming: mass-produced bicycles are only offered in a relatively small number of sizes. Variations in frame geometry from one model or brand to another can compensate to some extent.
Changing the length and/or position of the stem to modify the frame’s stack and reach to suit the rider is common practice. At the same time, a change of seatpost — with more or less setback — may also be required.
What are stack and reach on a bicycle? Visit this guide to stack and reach.
In theory, this kind of adjustment will let a rider adopt their ‘ideal position’ on a wide variety of bicycles. However, some modifications can affect how the bike behaves. A very short stem makes the handling much more twitchy and can cause instability at high speed.
Many riders adapt to what the makers offer in their catalogues. Mass-produced frame sizes often work well, but it’s the riders who have to adapt to the geometry — the opposite of how it should be. Think of people with unusual body proportions, marked asymmetries, or injuries that limit movement.
But no — a custom bicycle isn’t only for people with unusual body measurements, asymmetries or injuries. A custom steel bicycle is for every rider who wants to achieve a comfortable position and optimal performance on the bike.
Source: Cyclingtips – Where is the value in a custom-made frame?
Fit the bicycle to the rider, not the rider to the bicycle
This phrase is one of my mottos, so to speak: it’s the line I use most when I talk to a client. Our understanding of the importance of marginal gains in cycling, especially when it comes to performance, has grown significantly over the last few years, and it applies just as much to bike fit.
A few millimetres can have a significant effect on a rider’s comfort, especially for those who spend many hours on the bike each day or week.
A custom bicycle is designed around the rider’s biomechanics and ideal fit. When the frame geometry can be adjusted to the millimetre, there’s no need to keep swapping stems to move things forward or back by a few centimetres to make it fit.
What’s more, a custom steel frame is designed around a specific stem length, fork rake and saddle height. All of it in keeping with the chainstay length and a wheelbase tuned for a perfect weight distribution.
In absolute terms, each refined adjustment to the frame geometry can only have a subtle effect on its own. But the sum of them equals or exceeds that of all the measured values that go into producing a bicycle which meets every conventional requirement.
This doesn’t mean a mass-produced frame can’t deliver the same — because it can. But it isn’t something that’s guaranteed for every consumer. It’s only a hope, which is why a test ride or Demo Test Days matter so much for the general public.
Source: Cyclingtips – Where is the value in a custom-made frame?
It’s much more than a simple fit
A custom bicycle offers a great opportunity for personalisation in a wide variety of ways. On one level, there’s the fit, as I mentioned earlier. On another, there’s the final finish: the colour and paintwork design. The choice of build material, brakes, drivetrain type and tyre clearance are further options.
Other options can be very disparate: the preference for a horizontal or sloping top tube, the choice of bottom bracket type (BSA, PressFit, BB30, T47…), the number of bottle cage mounts or the anchor points for racks or mudguards.
There’s no other opportunity where a rider or client can work so closely with a custom framebuilder to decide the specifications of their bicycle. It’s an enormously satisfying and empowering process, and probably explains the very high degree of client satisfaction.
It’s worth noting that this satisfaction doesn’t only apply in the short term: it usually develops over the whole working life of the bicycle as continued satisfaction. This contrasts sharply with catalogue bicycles, where brands foster dissatisfaction in their customers through the constant marketing of new models.
Seen as a whole, the custom framebuilding industry can accommodate almost any request, including one-off concepts that can break the mould of a modern bicycle. At the individual level, however, each framebuilder has a set of strengths that sets them apart.
Finding the right framebuilder is really a question of compatibility with the client’s needs. Technical excellence is intrinsic to the craft, though reputation affects price and lead times.
Source: Cyclingtips – Where is the value in a custom-made frame?
The distinctive magic of a custom bicycle
As a product for a very specific audience, a custom bicycle always carries a strong sense of distinctiveness. After all, most people who see your bike won’t recognise the brand, and owners rarely cross paths with identical frames on the road or the track.
Of course, there’s always the risk that some of these people may dismiss the custom bicycle out of ignorance. But for those riders who enjoy swimming against the current, nothing can rival the singularity of a custom frame.
Choosing a one-off finish only heightens this feeling. In the world of custom frames, this often involves striking paintwork and an arresting design — hallmarks of the industry. Clients can draw on all kinds of inspiration to produce markedly personal results.
Beyond the paintwork, a framebuilder often adds distinctive details and embellishments as part of the building process. In this respect, traditional lugs are highly effective, as they can be shaped in various ways and even polished to a mirror finish (if they’re stainless steel).
TIG welding, fillet brazing, bi-laminated construction and material hybridisation (for example, titanium/carbon) also work in the same way. This adds to the product’s distinctiveness, because they’re rarely found in the mainstream market. They serve as identity markers that highlight the framebuilder’s skill.
The differences run even deeper: at the heart of a custom bicycle there’s a unique ride quality that sets it apart from what the big mainstream brands offer. Custom framebuilders work with materials that mass production has shied away from: steel, titanium, stainless steel.
In strict terms, the differences may be only a matter of nuance. But the net result is a one-off frame, not only in appearance but also in how it feels to the rider.
Source: Cyclingtips – Where is the value in a custom-made frame?
It’s time to consider all the options
Every custom bicycle takes time to build, and if the builder is busy, the client has to wait. At first glance, this may seem a disadvantage, but it’s what allows you to contemplate all the possibilities of the frame and the build.
There are many decisions to make, and the process isn’t very different from renovating or building a house. The builder will be available to discuss the options and will often challenge the client to form a clearer picture of what they need. This includes the accessories that will eventually be fitted and which affect the frame’s specifications.
This process can be an intellectually demanding exercise, because there is no physical model or the possibility of a handling test to help visualise and evaluate each option.
Previous experience can matter. Builders will usually ask their clients about the bicycles and components they’ve enjoyed in the past, as well as those that have disappointed them. After that, it all becomes a deep investigation.
However slow this process may be, the effort isn’t wasted. It gives the client the chance to take part in the creation of their new bicycle in a way that isn’t possible with a catalogue product.
Talk to anyone who owns a custom frame and you’ll see a story behind every decision. You’ll feel how a deeper connection is forged with the final product.
Source: Cyclingtips – Where is the value in a custom-made frame?
Highly skilled craftsmanship
Custom frames are expensive, and with good reason. The production of a custom product is very difficult to streamline and, as a result, it simply takes more time to build. Many of the building processes that are most prized — shaping lugs or polishing fillets — demand considerable time, which raises the labour cost.
Much of it is highly skilled work, with an emphasis on the strictest building standards. The additional attention to detail leaves the frame better aligned and with more precise fits. That makes it far less likely to fail or interfere with performance.
In this context, it is much easier to justify the use of well-chosen (and more expensive) materials. However, those materials (stainless steel, titanium, carbon) are often harder to work with, which further raises the final cost of the frame.
The sum of intricate details and distinctive touches adds another layer of expense, as do detailed paint schemes and polished surfaces. For those who appreciate the craft involved, these touches become an investment because they raise the quality of the frame.
All that said, it’s important to note that custom bicycles don’t always have to be outrageously expensive. Many custom options can be quite reasonable, especially if you’re willing to forgo the filigree work and additional ornament.
Source: Cyclingtips – Where is the value in a custom-made frame?
A bicycle for life
After all of the above, it should be clear that buying a custom frame is not a hasty purchase. Nor is it a disposable product destined to become obsolete after a few years. Fashion cannot compete with a hand-built, custom product, so shifts in the mainstream market have little impact on devotion to the custom bike. That’s why custom bicycles are often purchases for life.
Seen from this perspective, the additional cost of a custom steel bicycle frame becomes much easier to justify. The extra effort also starts to feel like a worthy investment, as does the choice of well-chosen materials.
That said, a custom bicycle is rarely a rational decision; rather, it usually comes from a deep appreciation for what the craft of building steel frames has to offer.
It may seem a frivolous comparison, but a custom steel frame can be compared to a work of art. It fills the same space as modern sculpture and is as personal as a portrait.
The work of the late Dario Pegoretti was often regarded this way, and there’s no reason it shouldn’t apply to his contemporaries. That every sculpture or portrait is ridden on the road may offend the connoisseur, but it adds a functional — and possibly transcendent — dimension to the piece: works of art that refuse to be confined to a wall.
Source: Cyclingtips – Where is the value in a custom-made frame?
Too much for the average customer
However, for most riders, there’s simply no need to own a work of craft and the distinctiveness of a custom frame. After all, a bicycle is a sporting tool or a means of transport defined by its functionality.
The extra time and effort devoted to a custom frame are, at best, pointless in the eyes of many and, at worst, a vanity, because they do little — if anything — to improve its functionality.
In this sense, mass production has been a triumph, creating highly functional products at an affordable price. The industry has also evolved to meet a spectrum of demands, drawing in the consumer and demonstrating that there’s no need to spend more on a custom frame.
Cost isn’t the only excess affecting a custom frame. All the custom options will be unnecessary and barely comprehensible to the novice, overwhelming to the uninitiated and completely superfluous to the pragmatist. They can also add some ambiguity to the final price.
Source: Cyclingtips – Where is the value in a custom-made frame?
If that’s not enough, you’ll also have to wait in an order queue. It’s not unusual for a builder’s lead time to be measured in months, during which there can be very little communication with the customer.
On the one hand, this can heighten the anticipation; on the other, it can cause great frustration if the expected delivery date slips due to supply-chain issues or unforeseen circumstances. Although the same cause also affects mass production, delays of several months are common year after year.
Another obstacle is access. Custom framebuilders aren’t in every town or city, so it can be hard to meet one and see their work (which is why it’s worth attending shows like NAHBS, Handmade Bicycle Show Australia, Bespoked UK and Philly Bike Expo). Beyond that, it all becomes an abstract exercise.
The framebuilder can’t provide the product for your final decision, let alone a test ride, until it’s been bought and paid for. Clearly, a leap of faith is required to place an order. For those not convinced by the merits of the custom process, this will be a decisive factor.
Mass-production bicycle makers, by contrast, have no equal when it comes to the ease and convenience with which they can deliver their products to the consumer. For most buyers, that usually means a short trip to their local shop, where choosing a new bicycle becomes a satisfying and tangible experience. They can see a wide range of makes and models, and even try them out.
Source: Cyclingtips – Where is the value in a custom-made frame?
Trust in the mass market
For many, there’s enormous comfort and security in dealing with a major brand, especially when the price of a new bicycle runs to thousands of euros. Custom framebuilders simply don’t have the profile, presence or appeal of the big brands: they can’t compete with the extensive marketing campaigns and high-profile sponsorships that build consumer confidence.
Personal recommendations are often key when making a purchasing decision, and in that respect most buyers won’t have to look far to find a friend or family member who has had experience with a major brand. The general dominance of these brands on the street further reinforces consumer confidence.
Then there’s the question of innovation. The mass market has invested heavily in research and development, with public demonstrations of its achievements in the form of new products, new catalogues each year and periodic revisions of its most popular platforms.
While much of the fanfare may be purely a matter of marketing, it constantly eclipses the efforts of custom framebuilders, creating the impression that the major brands are responsible for every advance in bicycle technology.
Source: Cyclingtips – Where is the value in a custom-made frame?
This is certainly true in the field of aerodynamics. It was a space originally populated by distinctive custom products, but the pace of development accelerated once the mass-market brands began devoting resources to it. The results have been spectacular and consumers can now enjoy all kinds of marginal gains. A custom frame can offer a perfect fit, but it will barely improve a rider’s performance compared with an aero frame.
That doesn’t mean custom framebuilders aren’t innovators, because they are: their achievements simply often go unrecognised. They just don’t have the resources or the market reach to showcase their innovations the way the big brands do. Even so, they still have an influence: over the years there have been cases where the major makers have drawn inspiration from custom builders (and vice versa).
Custom framebuilders find themselves in the same situation when it comes to safety and product testing. This is something every builder, large and small, takes very seriously. The big brands, however, are in a better position to demonstrate the extent of their efforts. The final outcome may just be a matter of perception, but the larger brands have a stronger track record, at least in the eyes of the general consumer.
Source: Cyclingtips – Where is the value in a custom-made frame?
Conclusion
At first glance there seems to be a vast difference between a custom-built frame and a mass-produced one, but fundamentally it’s just a question of scale. The big brands work hard to meet the needs of the general public. Custom steel builders pour all their knowledge, energy and craft into the individual rider. Materials and methods vary, but the result is the same: frames that meet a specific set of needs.
For those riders who fall within the norm, the mainstream market has plenty to offer. The same is true for newcomers and beginners, for whom price can be a barrier to entry into cycling. In recent years an upper-tier catalogue range has developed that can satisfy experienced riders too. Most of the time, there’s no need to look any further.
The custom bicycle building industry exists to meet the needs of atypical, demanding consumers, and of those who already understand this. Few words will be needed to convince them of the value of a custom-built frame. They can’t resist the craft, nor the chance to collaborate with a builder to create the perfect frame.
That leaves only those in the middle: the evolving rider who may be feeling a growing frustration and dissatisfaction with what the big brands have to offer. Every rider evolves over time, and that affects their position on the bike, their style, their motivation and their ambitions. A custom steel bicycle should always be one of the best options for someone going through that change. And while the price may invite caution, it shouldn’t deter you from considering it: there are builders all over the world with very different price points.