Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by S on September 3, 2014 at 6:41am

What do you mean by custom?  Do you want a custom frame geometry or just want to get a frame and build it up from there?

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Christine (5.0) on September 3, 2014 at 7:06am

Are you just wanting to get individual parts, and then have them put together?  If so, I'd probably suggest Smart Bike Parts on Armitage.

Are you wanting an actual frame welded from scratch?  It will be pricey, but you could try Levi of Legacy Cycles. 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by mweerd on September 3, 2014 at 7:17am

Yes, sorry, I'd like to pick the parts and have someone build it for me. I'm a large individual so am looking at either a Soma or Gunnar frame ... possibly with 200mm cranks - which is an odd request...

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Christine (5.0) on September 3, 2014 at 7:19am

I definitely suggest Smart Bike Parts, then.  You also get free beer :)

Jason Mc said:

Yes, sorry, I'd like to pick the parts and have someone build it for me. I'm a large individual so am looking at either a Soma or Gunnar frame ... possibly with 200mm cranks - which is an odd request...

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kevin Mulcky on September 3, 2014 at 7:41am

Smart Bikes is a good choice if you'll be ordering items ala carte. They do lots of "custom" builds like this.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by sten on September 3, 2014 at 7:50am

Came here to suggest West Town Bikes. If you bring your parts to the Build a Bike class (which starts up 9/18, if there's still spots open), you can get walked through the whole process over the course of 8 weeks for a suggested donation of $200. I took the class this past winter, it's great.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by OLB 0.1 on September 3, 2014 at 8:04am

+1

I did this to build my road bike and it was a great learning experience. I was able to buy the few items I didn't already have from Ciclo Urbano (next door).

I was the only one in my session who was starting with a box of parts. Most others start with an existing bike and break down/rebuild it component by component. I had to come in to open shop a couple of nights to fine tune things and got much needed help from volunteers.

You can always call Michael Young to better understand if this would fit your needs.

sten said:

Came here to suggest West Town Bikes. If you bring your parts to the Build a Bike class (which starts up 9/18, if there's still spots open), you can get walked through the whole process over the course of 8 weeks for a suggested donation of $200. I took the class this past winter, it's great.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on September 3, 2014 at 2:22pm

200mm cranks?  There is nobody I know who even makes those...

Contact me privately if you want and we can discuss some details and I may be able to help direct you somewhere specific.

lThat said, Comrade is great, Johnny Sprockets is great, Blue City is great and Ciclo Urbano is great for that sort of build.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Eduardo on September 3, 2014 at 4:06pm

Bike fix in Oak Park is another quality shop.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Eduardo on September 3, 2014 at 4:11pm

Signed up for this class on 9/18. Looking forward to it. Still looking for a new project road bike unless I can roll out with the bike I bring to class.  

sten said:

Came here to suggest West Town Bikes. If you bring your parts to the Build a Bike class (which starts up 9/18, if there's still spots open), you can get walked through the whole process over the course of 8 weeks for a suggested donation of $200. I took the class this past winter, it's great.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kevin Mulcky on September 3, 2014 at 5:16pm

Zinn makes 200mm cranks, but putting those on an off-the-shelf frameset is a bad idea unless it was designed with that crank length in mind. 

You might want to get a professional fitting by someone with experience with exceptionally tall customers. If you need 200mm cranks, chances are you'll need a fully custom frameset.

• ▶ Reply