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I've read the whole thing, and my opinion counts for nothing, but I'd cut my losses and move on. You wanted the frame of your dreams, it hasn't happened. It'll always leave a bit of an after taste.
I don't want to shit on Spooky, and do wish them the best of luck, but it's a great time for custom bikes at the moment, and there's a lot of small scale manufacturers doing amazing work. You're not really short of selecting someone else to fulfill your needs.I'm particularly excited by @TvH new ride for example, and it's a showcase of what small builders can accomplish.
Do what you said, and just wait till next year to see what comes up then.
Best of luck.
Chak-
Yeah, @TvH 's MTB is a peach.
Have been having a mooch about on line for possible replacements this evening. Mason Bokeh is the closest thing I've found to an OTP that does close to what I was looking for from the Spooky. The Mason "In Search Of" is an interesting option too. Wouldn't be as "performance" orientated as my initial brief, but would take the wheels from my MTB and I reckon be a lot of laughs. Bit of an ugly duckling, but it's all about the ride right... Weird geo too. Much easier for me to work out what size I'd need in the Bokeh.
yetidamo
Excellent info. That all makes sense and does tally with other things I've read.
It's all a bit arbitrary now in terms of my original reason for asking the question as I've just told Spooky to arrange to collect their frameset and provide me with a full refund without delay.
In the end I've weighed it all up and head has won out over heart. I am gutted to be so close to getting the frameset I wanted, but in the end the fact that my frame has got through all the various stages of their full process without anyone noticing this fundamental flaw leaves me thinking that they're a company under pressure (not sure whether this is time/finances/lack of man power) and therefore it's too risky to accept the goodwill gesture of using the temporary "sticking plaster" frame until the proper one is fabricated. There's too much risk that I'll become low priority and/or they go bust in the meantime.
I've already lost 4 months, had a load of hassle and will lose out on PayPal fees and exchange rates etc when the refund is issued (plus I've got to argue with the tax man about getting my import duties back) but will prefer to cut my loses and buy an OTP frame in the UK that I can just build and ride without further fuss.
Let's see how quickly they honour the offer of the refund. I don't see why I should wait for them to collect the frame. The least they can do is give me my money back without delay. If they'd have done their job right I'd be happily building my new bike by now...