new touring frame advice.

[vernon]

If by custom frame you mean a bespoke handbuilt frame then Woodrup Cycles in Leeds is worth considering.

Have a look at their work here https://www.flickr.com/photos/woodrup_cycles/

Prices vary with specification and paint job.

 

[Blue Hills]

Where abouts are you jags?

I generally agree with others up above who say you don't really need to go custom.

But if you were going to have a frame built it might help if they were fairly local to you.

 

[Poacher]

I'm more than happy with my Spa tourer; 725 frame, forks and decent headset for £315. All the braze-ons you're likely to need - if you ever do decide you want front panniers, you'd be more than a little miffed if you didn't have the relevant fittings and had to botch something together! Colours limited to red, green or black, though; in fact it was like Henry Ford when I got mine - any colour you like as long as it's black!
If you really, really need a custom frame, Dave Yates is good to deal with, but his prices seem to have rocketed in recent years.

 

[jags]

Thanks folks appreciate all the replys.
i love the look of the blue ridgeback but still not sure if i can buy frame and fork only.
i had a fantastic Woodrup with campy reckord on it sold it for £300 also had a cracking mercian frame gave it to a guy in the uk for nothing im a geek like that no sense.
also had a thorn sherpa sold ( all top notch gear throughout the bike) for 1500 euro along with all my camping gear and ortlieb bikepacker panniers front and rear also bar bag, hilleberg akto exped matt all top stuff, stuck for money usual story.then i moved to a thorn audax 853 lovely bike but to big for me sold that to a lad in wales .
so now i have a Lovely Terry Dolan letape crackin bike but not much good for hanging panniers out of.i use it for group rides with local club.
btw im in ireland home of great cycling and all year round sunny weather
anyway im giving my self loads of time to get this bike im in no hurry this time ,next bike will be for keeps.
i like spa tourer as well pity tho they done have blue in it but silver is good.


jags.

 

[Jerry Atrik]

Have a word with Simon Aske at Colin Lewis cycles Paignton . Builds very nice steel frames at reasonable cost .

 

[jags]

Sure it will

Honest it will.

 

[jags]

Ridgeback only sold as complete bike ah well not to worry Spa goes to top of list.

 

[Blue Hills]

[QUOTE="Poacher, post: 4002532, member: 893" if you ever do decide you want front panniers, you'd be more than a little miffed if you didn't have the relevant fittings and had to botch something together! .[/QUOTE]

I don't think this is that major an issue to be honest. No need to "bodge". If you need to add front fork fixings you can buy bolt on fittings from Tubus which will provide a firm mount on any steel/chromo fork. Mine cost me about £7 - maybe a bit more now. Tubus don't do bodges.
If anyone is interested I will provide a link.
These Tubus fittings open up the possibility of using lots of old hybrids/mountain bikes as a tourer.

 

[Blue Hills]

One thing to bear in mind jags re your ambition to maybe get a "looker"/something posh.

It may make you feel more comfortable to tour on something that looks less nickable.

I'd go for function to be honest - your greatest pleasure touring will come from the carefree memories, not from admiring your enviable bike. (though you may be looking forward to sending endless FB updates of it nonchalantly posing against lamposts in exotic parts)

For reasons above I somewhat prefer my old late 90s chromo Ridgeback to my rather nice looking Hewitt.

And to be honest I can't see that the Hewitt (though undoubtedly a beauty) is practically any better than the Ridgeback (bought for £220 in a sale in 97) - in fact it may be somewhar worse - it has cantis (though good ones) whereas my Ridgeback (came with middling cantis) has been changed to V brakes at minimal cost. I was also (wrongly I think with hindsight) advised to go for an external bearing BB on the Hewitt and 9 speed. The Ridgeback is 8 speed - recently upgraded, mad fool that I am, from 7 speed. And has a square taper BB.

It doesn't have mid fork mounts but the Tubus fittings - see above.

Oh, the paint job on the Ridgeback, though not as smart looking, is superior.

 

[jags]

have to admit i like a bit of bling .but as long as the bling is quality does what it's supposed to do then facebook here i come lol. ah if i manage to get a decent frame i'll build a nice tourer i am a geek for giving stuff away now im going to have to start looking for sti leavers front and rear mechs i did have them but yeah now i don't.
anyway not to worry the hunt is on.
thanks

jags.

 

[Gez73]

http://www.oxfordbikeworks.co.uk
Tom Allen has used this company for a custom tourer. I have a Kona Sutra from last year and am very happy with it for load carrying and long rides. Obviously not custom but a very high spec. and apart from the tyres I would have requested the components or very similar anyway were a custom build an option. Budget is king but a true custom build will cost a lot and I am not sure it would be justified unless you are doing a world tour. Koga would be my ideal tourer but I could never do one justice without taking it very very far away. Do let us know how you get on. Gez

 

[raleighnut]

One thing to bear in mind jags re your ambition to maybe get a "looker"/something posh.

It may make you feel more comfortable to tour on something that looks less nickable.

I'd go for function to be honest - your greatest pleasure touring will come from the carefree memories, not from admiring your enviable bike. (though you may be looking forward to sending endless FB updates of it nonchalantly posing against lamposts in exotic parts)

For reasons above I somewhat prefer my old late 90s chromo Ridgeback to my rather nice looking Hewitt.

And to be honest I can't see that the Hewitt (though undoubtedly a beauty) is practically any better than the Ridgeback (bought for £220 in a sale in 97) - in fact it may be somewhar worse - it has cantis (though good ones) whereas my Ridgeback (came with middling cantis) has been changed to V brakes at minimal cost. I was also (wrongly I think with hindsight) advised to go for an external bearing BB on the Hewitt and 9 speed. The Ridgeback is 8 speed - recently upgraded, mad fool that I am, from 7 speed. And has a square taper BB.

It doesn't have mid fork mounts but the Tubus fittings - see above.

Oh, the paint job on the Ridgeback, though not as smart looking, is superior.

Couldn't agree more, my Ridgeback 502CS was given to me by my partners son in law when they moved in to an army house (it was in the garage of the 'on base' house with only one buckled wheel, no gear mechs or saddle) It first got built up as a 'winter commuter' but it just rode so nicely that it has evolved into the bike it is today with handlaced wheels, mainly Deore components ( although the crank is a Cannondale 52-42-30 square taper cos anything 'better' was all 'octolink' or 'isis' when I built it and I wanted square taper)
Funny thing is although the paint has scrapes and dings in it the bike is pretty much rust free, maybe it was 'treated' in some way before painting.

 

[Blue Hills]

Yes, my ridgeback has loads of scratches (and i have never been too careful with the d lock) but none seem to have exposed metal. The hewitt has hardly been used as yet but i recently leaned it against a concrete post, pretty carefully, and a slice of its suoerficially superior paint came straight off back to bare metal.i assume the basic reason is that the ridgeback was painted in a controlled industrial process by clever folks in taiwan whereas the hewitt would have been sent to a small, possibly one man outfit which couldn't have matched the investment in industrial painting systems. I have come across other custom frames (tho the hewitt is a standard frame sent out for indvidual local painting)with paint toughness issues.note to self - get the hewitt touched up.the bike also has handbuilt wheels, 36 spokes, from Spa. In my experience jags some otherwise very good looking brand tourers, although good value, fall diwn somewhat on wheels, so they aren't necessarily as good value as they seem.

 

[jags]

Blue Hills i reckon it takes years fo paint to fully harden ,most frames now are painted using water based paints or so im told ,i see a wee chip out of my terry dolan new bike no idea how that happened lol .
to be honest if i got my hands on the right size frame second hand i would dicky it up my self.mind u theres something special about a spanking new bike .
i like the look of the spa the ridgeback blue would be my choice because of the colour blue and white CLASS ,
i have a great set of custom wheels on my dolan 36 spoke on 105 hubs mavic open pro rims conti gator hardshell 25mm ,i want to get a brooks imperial as i get numbness when im in the saddle for hours besides i like brooks on a tourer. crankset will be impact most likely 50x34 12 to32 on the back if i can't get up a hill on that i'll fire the bike in the ditch .
if i thought i would get away with using my Dolan as a lightweight tourer i'de give it a go. i have carradice barley and longflap but would i get all i need for a week's touring in either one (barley would be my choice even tho the longflap is much bigger but if i overload it will my Dolan explode under all that weight.
sorry im rambling on here ,still no harm talking bikes.

jags.

 

[Blue Hills]

OK - do report back when you are sorted.