Best steel bike maker
06-28-21, 06:20 PM
#101
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"She is hard to fit" My warning flags went right up when I saw that. This changes the whole game. If you go with one builder for the two of you, it has to be one that will serve her well. It might actually turn out to be easier to go to two different builders. A thought I had was seeing about Sweetpea for your wife. Sweetpea here in Portland, OR. Owners Natalie and Austin Ramsland. Natalie is the heart of the company and a quality framebuilder. She started out building in the quarters of one of the nation's finest traditional builders and what I've seen is very clean work. I haven't seen her work recently but the variety of what I have seen is impressive. Her goal is to provide the women who come to her with the bike that's is truly "their's". (Sweetpea works closely with Gladys Bikes, also in Portland. Gladys Bikes has a full fitting setup and the owner will work closely with Sweatpea.
An idea I just had - I'll bet the Gladys founder and owner (a woman not named Gladys) would be willing to talk to the builder of your bike to work out paint and details to make your two bikes look like a pair together. (Or possibly Austin of Sweetpea to face the reality that a man talking to the almost certainly male builder of your bike might go better. Sucks but that is what way too often is.)
Edit: if you went with Sweetpea, it might make sense for you also to go to a Portland builder. That would be kinda rough. So few to choose from!
I'll bet TiCycles could make you a TIG'd steel frame and work closely with Natalie to get the matching details.
An idea I just had - I'll bet the Gladys founder and owner (a woman not named Gladys) would be willing to talk to the builder of your bike to work out paint and details to make your two bikes look like a pair together. (Or possibly Austin of Sweetpea to face the reality that a man talking to the almost certainly male builder of your bike might go better. Sucks but that is what way too often is.)
Edit: if you went with Sweetpea, it might make sense for you also to go to a Portland builder. That would be kinda rough. So few to choose from!
I'll bet TiCycles could make you a TIG'd steel frame and work closely with Natalie to get the matching details.
06-28-21, 06:50 PM
#102
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There are a few custom Carbon Fiber builders in the USA.
Parlee makes a fully custom CF frame.
I think Calfee also makes custom Carbon Fiber
There should be several other companies also, if you hunt for them.
You can even get custom CF Tandem bikes.
For steel, there is also this thread to watch:
https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...stand-out.html
Parlee makes a fully custom CF frame.
I think Calfee also makes custom Carbon Fiber
There should be several other companies also, if you hunt for them.
You can even get custom CF Tandem bikes.
For steel, there is also this thread to watch:
https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...stand-out.html
07-01-21, 03:57 PM
#103
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There are a few custom Carbon Fiber builders in the USA.
Parlee makes a fully custom CF frame.
I think Calfee also makes custom Carbon Fiber
There should be several other companies also, if you hunt for them.
Parlee makes a fully custom CF frame.
I think Calfee also makes custom Carbon Fiber
There should be several other companies also, if you hunt for them.
Likes For Bob Ross:
07-01-21, 04:23 PM
#104
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Take a look thru here for your budget:
https://www.condorcycles.com/collections/sale-bikes
https://www.condorcycles.com/collections/sale-bikes
07-10-21, 09:34 AM
#105
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"She is hard to fit" My warning flags went right up when I saw that. This changes the whole game. If you go with one builder for the two of you, it has to be one that will serve her well. It might actually turn out to be easier to go to two different builders. A thought I had was seeing about Sweetpea for your wife. Sweetpea here in Portland, OR. Owners Natalie and Austin Ramsland. Natalie is the heart of the company and a quality framebuilder. She started out building in the quarters of one of the nation's finest traditional builders and what I've seen is very clean work. I haven't seen her work recently but the variety of what I have seen is impressive. Her goal is to provide the women who come to her with the bike that's is truly "their's". (Sweetpea works closely with Gladys Bikes, also in Portland. Gladys Bikes has a full fitting setup and the owner will work closely with Sweatpea.
An idea I just had - I'll bet the Gladys founder and owner (a woman not named Gladys) would be willing to talk to the builder of your bike to work out paint and details to make your two bikes look like a pair together. (Or possibly Austin of Sweetpea to face the reality that a man talking to the almost certainly male builder of your bike might go better. Sucks but that is what way too often is.)
Edit: if you went with Sweetpea, it might make sense for you also to go to a Portland builder. That would be kinda rough. So few to choose from! I'll bet TiCycles could make you a TIG'd steel frame and work closely with Natalie to get the matching details.
An idea I just had - I'll bet the Gladys founder and owner (a woman not named Gladys) would be willing to talk to the builder of your bike to work out paint and details to make your two bikes look like a pair together. (Or possibly Austin of Sweetpea to face the reality that a man talking to the almost certainly male builder of your bike might go better. Sucks but that is what way too often is.)
Edit: if you went with Sweetpea, it might make sense for you also to go to a Portland builder. That would be kinda rough. So few to choose from!
I'll bet TiCycles could make you a TIG'd steel frame and work closely with Natalie to get the matching details.We have sketched out what our ideal bike would be able to do, options we would want, and components we like. Steel is what we want in a material, we want something that will do fast road rides, comfortable for centuries and some randonneuring, light bike packing, and some light gravel duty.
We want something in the 20-22lbs with pedals and cages on the high end of the scale. We currently ride heavier bikes which are fine, but they aren’t built for what we are wanting to do right now (hybrids with 7-8 cassettes).
With all of the research and conversations, along with knowing what we want, we just need to find a builder and shop that we like. We found Wildcard in Alabama that isn’t too far away. We can’t find much info on customer reviews and testimonials, but it is close and custom.
Breadwinner is still a solid option for us. They were so friendly to us with our general inquiries, and that goes a long way in my book. Gunnar/Waterford has yet to respond to any of my emails. Speedvagen seems cool, but it is just so expensive. Again, the budget for a complete bike is in the $5-$6k range. We also looked into the Rodriguez option, and it seems almost too good to be true. Great price, etc.
Someone mentioned Dave Kirk to me recently along with Sklar. I absolutely love the looks of the Sklar bikes - probably the best looking bikes in my opinion (my tastes). However, I know he is a young builder (not that this makes any difference), and I don’t know much about his work.
thank you all for your continued help with this endeavor. There has been a lot of suggestions here, and indeed as many of you have said very little separates the good builders out there - style and customer care are about the only major differences. However, the names of builders that keep being thrown out there the most often by you all are: breadwinner, Gunnar, Waterford, Ritchey, and anyone close by. Breadwinner and someone close at hand seem to me to be logical choices.
again, thank you all so far!
Last edited by Jburrow; 07-10-21 at 09:35 PM.
07-10-21, 09:32 PM
#106
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Obviously I’m partial to Speedvagen but if going for both breadwinner (beautiful bikes) are the only bivouac choice. Cant wait to see the finished products!
07-10-21, 09:36 PM
#107
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thanks! Yeah I don’t really think between breadwinner, Speedvagen, Sklar, Waterford, or Wild Card will be a disappointment. We should get killer bikes in our price range.
