|   seeking advice on decision... | jh_on_the_cape
Jan 31, 2003 11:24 AM | | OK. What would you do?
Option one: Order a new custom steel frame and get a new fork and some other stuff. Probably a curtlo like 'BAZZ' posted a while back. Probably a fox fork, and then mostly other stuff from my old bike (but good stuff).
Option 2: just keep riding my CUSS. maybe upgrade the 4 year old z.2 on it, maybe just tune it up properly with some new springs. works fine. i have never had a custom bike before, but people talk about it like it's better than bad sex. which is still pretty good. like the cuss. (see pic below). i only got the cuss last june, and have ridden it quite happily since then. it feels much better now with a ti post/big tires/old z.2/higher rise stem.
I probably have the $$, but could also just save it for travelling, etc... I am leaving for a month+ at sea on weds, so I want to order a new bike now or not at all. it's alot of money, but not HUGE. i just keep feeling torn on what to do. keep it simple in life/bikes/$$ and just keep riding? or treat myself to a custom made for me great bike? i mean, how much better could it be?
I posted about this a while back, and there is one philosophy which i admire: run what ya brung. fancy azz bikes a good rider does not make. while another mantra goes something like: you only live once, so if you do work and make some $$, treat yourself to something you enjoy. and the cuss is a nice ride... but i do have at least some want (NOT NEED) for a sweet custom frame, otherwise i wouldnt even consider the purchase...
any thoughts? |
| for reference: the other option... | jh_on_the_cape
Jan 31, 2003 11:27 AM | | This is a bike VERY similar to what i would get: EBB curtlo.
I would even get a similar color. Fox fork, though (vanilla or float?), and the option to run gears. this belongs to Bazz. it's quite nice, isn't it? |
| keep the bianchi | Tom 411
Feb 2, 2003 6:20 AM | | You like it, and you're happy with it right? What more can you ask for. It's interesting I was just telling someone how I was pchyed with
the ride of my $300 ss frame compared to my $1000+ small builder steel frame. It's weird how some bikes just work for you.
I would say get you're $$$ worth out if it and ride it till is falls apart and save the extra cash for traveling to cool mtb locations out west or lattes at starbucks! |
| re: seeking advice on decision... | velo_junkie
Jan 31, 2003 12:13 PM | | well, the cheapskate in me says, if you got a bike and it works and you like it, why do you need a new one? i know new bikes are fun to build and all, but that's a pretty nice lookin bike you got right there on that wood pile. you could use the money you'd spend on the new bike to buy lube and chains and cogs and chainrings and tires and patch kits and tubes for a long time...
that's my 2¢ worth anyway. |
| what about another inbetween... | Allroy
Jan 31, 2003 12:17 PM | | a non-custom steel bike? You can still get the zoot factor and a steel ride just less money...
You already know the bikes people rave about here.
Also save some money and just run a rigid fork... 8^ )
-j |
| not sure this will help... | Shiva Steve
Jan 31, 2003 1:07 PM | | http://www.twowheelfetish.com/Ezine3/positiveconsumerism.html
Personally, I see no contradiction between a philosophy of "keeping it simple" and a decision to get a custom frame. Your hand-made custom frame, the individual, perhaps protracted, interaction with the builder, and the resulting ride quality is exactly what reflects that type of mentality. A "run what you brung" attitude (to me) is only a rough corollary, an admission that ultimately, in terms of fun, desire, and performance, its about much more about the rider than it is the bike. Both stand opposed to the trendy, fad-ish marketing schemes of overly-leveraged bicycle companies who have no financial interest in you simplifying your lifestyle.
So its about you. Is your desire for a personalized frame immanent? Is it real? Cause it isn't going to make you a faster or more technically gifted rider. But it might make you a more passionate one, and that (in italics) might make you faster :-)
If its really a heartfelt desire, and you have the means, then to me its a no brainer. |
| nice article... so... | jh_on_the_cape
Jan 31, 2003 1:35 PM | | I read the whole thing and agree with what it says.
I shake my head when I see some guy with a $$$$ Litespeed and all the gear, and mostly just drinks lattes at the coffee shop with the thing parked next to him.
I ride, but I also do other stuff, and I am no elite racer.
So is a custom frame overkill?
That's the real question here. A Hummer is overkill in Beverly Hills (and elsewhere).
I don't really care if someone else thinks I am a poser. But I care if I think I bought more bike than I need and I am a poser.
With some sacrifices, I could afford a BMW, and they are nice, but I would feel like a twit driving one...
I will think about it this weekend...
I generally ride 1 to 3 times per week, 7 to 15 miles per ride. Maybe 0 to 3 races a year. I race sport. And am middle of the pack (if I don't flat!).
My biggest problem with people's consumption is modesty, or lack thereof. I wish to maintain my modesty in my own eyes.
I love seeing really fast riders on really crappy bikes. I am not that fast...
Sorry for the rant and have a great weekend.
I will check back again sometime for any more spiritual philosophical rants.
And in the end, I will probably just get it!
-jh
PS What would Yoda ride? |
| nice article... so... | Pedsrfski
Jan 31, 2003 6:17 PM | | a word from your elder. follow your heart. you've spent enough time hemming and hawing over this. a new custom frame may only ride better in your head and you'll still finish mid-pack sport and ride a couple of times a week as on your cuss.
wanna ride sunday? rt 151 9am.
roger |
| Hi, I'm TD and I have a bike addiction problem... | TD
Feb 1, 2003 7:12 AM | | I also have a latte problem, so I bought my own espresso machine to make 'em.
I treated myself to a custom Steel Seven Sola SS and I have no regrets. The other bikes (Gunnar SS, Tracer FS) are very jealous of her because I choose her more often then them. Why you ask--well, the fit is awesome! There is no: the top tube is too long, I wish I had more stand over clearance, this bike sure is sluggish...
If you know what you want then go for the custom setup. I enjoy riding my other bikes and settle into their ride soon after I jump on. Each bike quickly makes me forget about the others as soon as we hit the trail. But you should hear the fighting between them every time I step into the garage! "Pick me...pick me, your Sola girl has got a flat!"
TD |
| very similar problem | hilljack
Jan 31, 2003 1:25 PM | | I, too, have a CuSS which primarly got me around town while in school.
Now that I've rejoined the ranks of the employed, I've had time for a few jaunts into the trails. Sure, the CuSS is a rocket, but the stiffness is pronounced, the longer the ride.
My decision is slightly different, in that I'm definitely staying rigid, and I'm thinking of swapping over the wheelset and cranks to a new frame:
- On-One
- Peyto (in the same baby blue like the Curtlo, inspired by the red & blue Il Pompino of someone on this board)
- Chester -- every now and then I convince myself into this, but I'm also the world's greatest procrastinator (I also make Canadian $ - so the financial hit seems more pronounced)
Or, start from the ground up...
Or, suck it up and ride.
To be honest, I ended up with the CuSS because, at the time, I was wary to buy a bike I had never even sat on -- only tried the CuSS and Surly before I had to have one (the challenging color scheme of the Cuss make me grin more). Still like the Cuss, but simply desire a steel rig, and have the urge to build something up.
Oh, yeah, the advice -- consider swapping parts over to a new steel frame. |
| One thing's for sure | Single Speed Outlaw
Jan 31, 2003 1:28 PM | | If you are ordering a custom rig, don't rush it. Take the time to work w/ the builder and define your riding style, sizing, geometry, etc. In other words, don't order it before next Wed.
My vote: keep riding the CUSS and expand the stable by adding a Rivendell Quickbeam.
From a Rivendell email several months ago: "Quickbeam: What's that? Well, thanks for asking. It's a Joe- and Curt-built single-speed frame. Not a funky ghetto counterculture eat-the-rich type singlespeeder; rather a highbrow one with some smart details usually overlooked in the funkadelic frames. We have two prototypes, and within a week or so you'll be able to see one or both of them on our site, and if color is too garish for you, a black-and-white photo and story will be in RR27. We are trying for a price of $1400, well below the $2250 or so of a Rivendell, but well above the $990 price of an Atlantis and Rambouillet . . . Quickbeam details: Track dropouts, perhaps a new model. The slots will be longer than many slots, to allow a wider range of gearing; and they'll be angled in such a way that when you move the rear wheel all the way forward and all the way back, the brake shoes will contact the rim either way. If you've never thought about that, you're in good company. On brakeless track bikes, the slots are kept horizontal. But on a bike with a rear brake, if you have the slot horizontal, it may mean (depending on the rim and some other particulars) that the rim moves out of range of the brake shoe when it's at the extremes. Horizontal road dropouts have angled slots so this doesn't happen, but we've not seen it addressed on road single-speeds. It'll also have rack eyelets, good clearance, and you can get it designed for standard reach sidepulls OR cantilevers. It's likely that the cantilever version will have better clearance than the sidepull one. It all depends on how lazy I get with the design, but I'll try not to be lazy with it. The geometry will be worked out so the Quickbeam works good on roads and fire trails. It won't be as quick as a track bike or a quick road bike, but it'll be responsive enough to let you dodge squirrels and potholes. It's quick enough, but not a handful, in other words. It's fine." |
| Reads like good advice to me. (NM) | JAK
Jan 31, 2003 3:48 PM | | ! |
| Buy the Curtlo and sell me the CUSS frame cheap! (nm) | Giantxc
Jan 31, 2003 1:39 PM | | |
| I'd say the Curtlo is the way to go... | T O M A
Jan 31, 2003 1:41 PM | | How can you go wrong? a custom steel SS for under $700??? plus it's 100% made with TrueTemper OX platinum tubes!! It's the bike I'd get if I wanted a custom rig.
However, as it turns out, my non-custom SPOT Brand is the best riding frame i've ever had. I would never change a thing on it, so in the event that I ever had to replace it, I'd get another Spot. |
| re: seeking advice on decision... | IdeaSSguy
Jan 31, 2003 8:37 PM | | Its all about maximizing the fun/$ ratio for me. I'm facing a similar decision and I've decided to stick with what I have (Brodie Unibomber). Cause its paid for, its fun to ride and I can commute with it without worrying too bad.
Fast forward two years, I'm done school, don't work at the LBS anymore, but still have connections. I would probably try and find a SiSS cause its got steel and discs, two things I am longing for and thats the cheapest, least excessive way to do it. I don't know that I see the value in custom frames.
If you think that you will have twice as much fun on a Curtlo frame, and it is possible, then go for it.
JeFF |
| re: seeking advice on decision... | scarkinsmel
Jan 31, 2003 9:37 PM | | Get measured at a shop and see if you even need a custom bike. You might find that an off the self bike might be perfect, and if not, you then can find a custom builder. Email Curt, he is very helpful with this kind of stuff. |
| ride it till it snaps (it will), then get a SISS on warranty(nm) | jacazz
Feb 1, 2003 11:05 AM | | |
| go custom | Tim T
Feb 2, 2003 5:43 AM | | Nothing rides better than a bike that fits you like a glove.And if it makes you feel any better scrape off the stickers and go with just the paint. Besides I'd rather ride around in a Corvette than a Chevette.
Tim T
www.phkbicycles.com |
| Thanks all... keepin the CUSS | jh_on_the_cape
Feb 3, 2003 8:34 AM | | because:
1. as SSO mentioned, I just don't have time right now to do the custom frame right. I would order it in haste as I am overwhelmed with other stuff right now.
2. as roger mentioned, I'll still be a mediocre rider with a new bike. Then again, everyone is mediocre compared to RAG-AH!
3. It will maximize the fun/$ ratio...
Thanks for posting...
cheers
Jason |
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