While frequently cool and rainy, the Pacific Northwest is a region that absolutely smolders with bike lust. Upgrading shifters, cranks and wheel sets is a way of life, and manufacturers cater to every whim imaginable, from color to geometry. But for some, that’s just not enough.
For the most particular and ambitious cyclists, we’ve uncovered a surprising number of local bike shops and dealers who can custom build your perfect machine.
There are varying ways of obtaining a custom bike. Many small businesses are well-equipped to provide a great finished product for a reasonable price, and spare the customer the sometimes-overwhelming “fit systems” of larger companies (who can have very specific ideas of what’s best for you).
“It’s both an art and science,” says Fred Clements of the National Bike Dealers Association of custom-fitting. “There are several fit systems and companies that can be used, (but) many stores take the basics and modify them based on their own experience and knowledge.”
In Portland, Ore., Molly Cameron of Veloshop says that her crew “specializes in custom builds – especially wheels.”
Erik Tonkin, of Sellwood Cycle Repair, emphasizes that his staff is “creative and easy going,” which is crucial when communicating with a customer to determine his or her needs. “We use a mix of new and used parts,” he continues, “and we often start with a frame that the customer already owns…or a new frame that we ordered.”
Some shops actually go a step further and build new frames completely in-house. “Eighty percent of customers are going to be able to find a bike that fits them from our regular production line, but for those who can’t, a custom-fit frame really makes a difference,” says Scott Rock, manager of Seattle’s R&E Cycles, producer of Rodriquez Custom Bicycles.
The Seattle shop orders frame tubes elsewhere, but then cuts, welds, fits, adjusts and paints the frames. They have a measuring stand they can use for fittings, along with an adjustable “fit-bike,” to help ensure each customer gets a bike that specifically fits them.
When asked whether cyclists really feel the difference of a custom bike, Scott says, “most people, no. But I’ve got customers with back injuries, or one arm longer than the other, for whom that extra degree really makes a difference.”
Demetri Macrigeanis, owner of Veloce Bicycles in Portland’s Hawthorne District, crafts bicycles ranging from affordable commuter bikes to high-end racing cycles by piecing together new steel, aluminum or titanium frames with components that meet both his customers’ riding habits and their size.
He uses a precise and expensive measuring tool known as Body Scanning CRM (Client Relationship Marketing) to give cyclists a smoother ride. It has streamlined his bike fitting consultations, making them more affordable and accurate.
“It’s a sophisticated ruler,” he says pointing to a laptop computer, dusty from sitting in the shop alongside works-in-progress. The CRM program prompts Macrigeanis to type in information ranging from his clients’ height and weight to their average weekly bicycle miles and frame material preference. “We enter all the information and then we get the magic number.”
This “magic number” is actually three measurements: the customer’s ideal top tube size, seat height and stem height. Macrigeanis, who is certified through the Kit Fit System and has attended numerous trainings on bicycle-fitting techniques, helps riders attain this magic number in less than an hour and for under $100.
Some bike professionals, such as Sacha White of Vanilla Bicycles in Portland, Ore., are artists at heart. Vanilla Bicycles, with their creamy paint jobs and polished stainless steel lugs, are “damn sexy” according to White - and at a glance, it’s indisputable. With a craftsman’s eye for detail, he builds his works of art single-handedly, from the silver-bonded steel tubes to the letter “V” sculpted into his dropouts, and then sends each frame to Acme Bicycle Painting shop for the crowning touch: the color.
From his warehouse in southeast Portland, White meets with customers to discuss their riding style, components and any other specifics. “ A proper fit comes from experience on my end and on the customer’s end,” says White. “I set up my fit bike to match their current bike’s dimensions…then I make adjustments based on leg extension, posture, how they are balanced in the cockpit and the feedback that I get from them. From there I take the fit coordinates (where the saddle, handlebars and pedals are in relation to each other) and transfer them to the drawing board and design the frame around those points.”
Perfection doesn’t come cheap, however. A basic Vanilla frame costs just under $2,000 and then increases depending on components and upgrades (custom wheels, racks, bags, fenders, stems, seatposts, built-in lighting, etc.), and the wait time is sitting at 16 months due to ever-increasing demand.
When asked whether a custom-fit really makes a difference, White responds, “When someone comes to me for a bike, they are getting more than a bike that fits their body. They are getting a bike designed to fit their needs. These needs come into play when the bike is first being conceived - not as an afterthought.”
The result is a bike and rider that were meant to be together. “When I’m building a frame,” says White, “I like to think of it 30 years down the road being inspected by an experienced eye and being as nice as anything they have ever seen ... every detail.”
— Anne Scalamonti is an Outdoors NW intern, freelance
writer and an avid cyclist. Becky Brun is the editor of Outdoors NW.
Resources:
Arrow Racing: Grants Pass, Ore., (541) 471-7212, www.arrowracing.com
Bicycle Specialties: Seattle, (206) 528-4711
Bike Works: Seattle, (206) 725-9408, www.bikeworks.org
Burley: Eugene, Ore., (866) 248-5634, www.burley.com
City Bikes: Portland, (503) 239-6951, www.citybikes.coop
Co-Motion Cycles: Eugene, Ore., (541) 342-4583, www.co-motion.com
Community Cycling Center: Portland, (503) 288-8864, www.communitycyclingcenter.org
Cycles La Moure: Roseburg, Ore., (800) 704-1020, frameman@mcsi.net
Davidson Handbuilt Bicycles: Seattle, www.davidsonbicycles.com
David Wilson Industries: Seattle, (206) 909-6000, www.davidwilsonindustries.com
Desalvo Cycles: Ashland, Ore., (541) 621-8408, www.desalvocycles.com
Erickson Cycles: Seattle, (206) 527-5259, GlennEBike@aol.com
Hairy Gary Bicycles: Spokane, (509) 533-2788, www.hairygary.com
Hampsten Cycles: Seattle, (206) 524-6010, www.hampsten.com
Jeff Jones Bicycles: Medford, Ore., (541) 535-2034, www.jonesbikes.com
LandShark: Medford, Ore., (541) 535-4516, www.landsharkbicycles.com
Lippy Cycles, Inc.: Bend, Ore., (541) 389-2503
Recycled Cycles: Seattle, (877) 298-4683, www.recycledcycles.com
Rodriguez Custom Bicycles & Tandems: Seattle, (206) 527-4822, www.rodcycle.com
Sellwood Cycle Repair: Portland, (503) 233-9392, www.sellwoodcycle.com
Spot Bikes: Blaine, Wash., (888) 711-7768, www.spotbikes.com
Stevenson USA: Olympia, Wash., (360) 236-9734, stevusa@olywa.net
Terra Nova Cycles (Strawberry Cycles): Portland, www.strawberrybicycle.com
Ti Cycles: Seattle, (206) 522-7602, www.ticycles.com
Vanilla Bicycles: Portland, (971) 570-3244, www.vanillabicycles.com
Vulture Cycles: Bend, Ore., (877) 963-1251, www.vulturecycles.com
Veloce: Portland, (503) 234-8400, www.velocebicycles.com
Veloshop: Portland, (503) 335-ELO, www.veloshop.org
Velotech: Portland, (503) 251-5543, www.velotech.com
|
