Cycling UK Forum

Custom Touring / Audax bikes.

I am considering suplementing or replacing (it depends on space) my aged Specialized Allez racing bike which I use for commuting about three times a week with a round trip of 40 miles, shopping and occasional leisure rides. I would like to be more comfortable, undertake longer (holiday) leisure rides and to be able to carry more.
So far I have not found any serious off the peg bikes which are not at least partially built in the far east. I have considered Dawes, Thorn, Raleigh, Fuji. I am not keen on an imported machine because the CO2 emissions from tranporting it would probably offset any environmental benefit from cycling for a considerable time to come. So I am considering being extravagent and ordering a custom built machine.

Can anyone their experience share their words of wisdom?

The most nagging questions are:-

1. Is there a vast difference in quality between the best and the worst frame builders?

2. I live in Gloucestershire. The only recommendations I have are from a friend who used Woodrup in Leeds a long time ago and from message boards for Mercian in Derby. Is it worth the trek or should I be able to get comparable value for
money nearer home?

3. A lot frame builders web sites seem to go into great detail about their racing frames and mention touring/audax in passing. Is this just the because of the nature of the market or do I really need a specialist in the kind of bike I want?

Hi
My custom commuting/touring/audax bike was made by Bob Jackson's of Leeds earlier this year. They did a great job and are very experienced with this type of bike as well as race bikes.
They have a website www.bobjacksoncycles.co.uk which is worth a look and they're only a mile or so from Woodrups so you can speak to both in one day easily if you're up this way.

dave

If you live in Gloucestershire, then it is not very far to Bristol where you can find Argos Racing Cycles.

They have been in business about 30 years making all sorts of frames. Many other custom frame builders use them for painting.

This is a route to go if you fancy a fully custom frame, but they also do some stock frames which would be cheaper.

Hi,

2 of my bikes are custom: an audax bike and a tourer. Chas Roberts built the audax machine recently and I am very pleased with it as being fast and comfortable. It has given no trouble at all in over 18 months.

The expedition tourer was built by Bob Jackson 5 years ago and they specced all the parts.

This gave quite a lot of trouble as the bike seemed to be of the sort they hadn't previously built. Things like the brake bosses not being correctly placed, the MTB chainset being incompatible with STI shifters and the dynamo bracket too high for the dynamo they supplied.

Having taken the bike back to them a few times, I gave up and took it to other builders, first Mercian, who refitted the brake bosses and later Ellis Briggs (a bit nearer) who converted it to cantilevers in place of V-brakes.

Having moaned about those issues, I would say that in other respects the frame is very well built and I am very happy with the bike now, so it's strange it had these quite minor problems and that BJ were not able to resolve them to my satisfaction!

Thanks for all your comments. I will consider your comments as I ponder over my decision.

As for all the bits coming from far flung parts this is an area I am working on. Are stronglight headsets really made in France as the label suggests?