Doing my research, planning to buy a road bike in August or so. Me and my extendo arms don’t fit that well on a lot of companies’ standard sizings. Couple of bikes are pretty close to the geo my bikefitter recommended, so some options around. Sticking with Rim brake cos I have wheels I want to use.
So I was checking out the Condor Cycles website, looked at some of the bikes, geo diagrams etc. Just as i was about to close the website, I saw a tab that talks about custom sizing for a set fee (A$500). I almost missed noticing it, and would have dismissed them as an option.
Dear CyclingTips forum, are there other companies that you wouldn’t expect to make custom geo, but do? More likely to be a metal bike, and that’s fine. There are some interesting bespoke makers around, but many have long wait lists.
Any tipoffs appreciated. In a good spot option wise, but figured i’d check here.
I believe most Ti manufacturers will do custom geometry for a fee. Mosaic, Moots, Seven, and Firefly come to mind. Waltly in China does custom geo Ti as well if you’re on a budget.
Another Italian manufacturer doing custom geo is tommasini. Mostly steel with wonderful decals. Heard only good about it but haven’t ridden one myself.
Do you have a particular material preference, a budget preference, and a maximum waiting time? I looked at Condor this year, but they’re quoting a lead time of almost 2 years, now; Stelbel is 10-12 months. This may or may not be an issue for you.
Having commissioned a custom bike this year, and done a lot of research, I can probably help, but a bit more info would be good.
Ah, thanks for the heads up about the lead time on the Condors. Preferred material is Aluminium. Ideal lead time would be less than 6m. Budget is up to A$4,500 for a frameset.
The only custom alu that I know of are Low; that would be in budget but when I last looked they were quoting 12-15 months lead. Rock Lobster might be an option but I know very little about them. Cyfac in France might also be an option but they weren’t taking orders as of January.
Stoemper and Spooky both offer custom alu bikes. I believe Weis Mfg, might also offer custom. But like you mentioned, many if these more than likely have some pretty lengthy lead times.
I was looking into getting a DeSalvo, and may still…but lead time is 12-15 months
A couple of standard frames have the numbers i want (storck aernario, stevens aspin, light blue wolfson), while others are close and would work with a longer stem (canyon endurace), or be a little tall for stack (rose sl pro). So custom geometry isn’t my only option, but expands the number of options i have. Ps. The ideal would be a 630mm stack (with a spacer under the stem) and a 420mm reach (for as 120mm stem). Current road bike keeps me on the road, but my track bike for the velodrome has my numbers and is a blast to ride. Bought the tracky used, thought it was too big but accidentally bought close to the right size Using a longer stem and deeper bars on that one.
Not all custom builders have huge lead time. You need to ask.
Condor make nice bikes however, I don’t see anything wrong going with them. Don’t expect the same lead time anyway if you go the custom route with them.
Condor custom (steel, admittedly) was what I looked at. In conversation, they stated that they had a huge backlog, and ‘don’t order if you’re not prepared to wait 2 years’, though they hoped that would improve this year. In honesty they were quite overt that they were currently discouraging new orders and had discussed closing the books.
Using a longer stem and deeper bars on that one.