Best way to burn 10k

Beauty of custom is spec can be tweaked to fit budget :)

169 lufguss caps?

A friend of mine who lives in the Forest part of Brussels decided he'd like a Jaegher and get it built up in Kring. All I can say is, don't, on either of them.

If I was going to spend 10k on generic aero, I'd get a Cervelo from Bataia in Ghent, that crazy light BMC teammachine, Supersix/Systemsix, Factor from Bikelife in Lot.

The most important thing for your friend will be a good store in the neighborhood to get a decent service. I also know antoher guy living in Brussels who comes to Ghent to get his bike serviced, Lieven at Bataia really is great.

Good local knowledge, cimer mon grand. Conseils for Brussels mechanics? As it happens Kring is my local and I know the guys vaguely from the fixie scene. I haven't needed anything major doing yet but shit happens so it's good to know who to call when it does. My mate said he's going to some place in Namur tomorrow to check out some Cervelos, S5s presumably.

We don't wander much into the walloon side of the country, unless it's for riding a bike. :)

I can't really get into details what happend with my friend at Kring, but he was quite "colorful" about the experience. He actually came to Bataia to get everything fixed in the end.

The only other shop in the area I know is Coureur but no experience, Bikelife in Lot have a good reputation, but is bit out of the city center.

Let's not pretend that £10k is the highest we could go.

Get something custom from Mercian

Haha rep

As previously mentioned by @HK_Berlin you could spec up quite a nice Sarto for that budget...

Alternatively, with a strong grip on the reins of good taste, a Passoni could be lovely if tastefully specced...

It's a funny budget for someone who doesn't seem to have a specific idea of what they want, the potential for tasteless muck increases drastically in tandem with the budget and then when you think about it €10k is a lot of money but it's far from a blank cheque in terms of high-end bespoke stuff...

Do try to dissuade him from aero though. It just looks a bit stupid unless you're actually racing and lightweight is worth more cafe stop points than aero.

Just get him a top of the line MAMIL carbon aero disc brake wagon and be done with it. Something more special like round tubes, rim brakes or metal frames and he will be thinking of all the watts he may be losing according to the latest PR bullshit.
I'd go Supersix because it looks so absurdly aero it might even make a difference, S Works tarmac because it's the wet dream of every Fred or Canyon Aeroroad because Van Der Poel.

This would actually be fantastic too. Full stainless build with carbon ISP and solid silver headbadge - £4848
Sram Red eTap w/brakes - £2300
Sram Red AXS crankset - £600
Enve Foundation 65 wheel set - £1850
Enve bars - £400

Total - £9998

You don't half quickly pass £10k and that's not built, no saddle, tyres, chain or bartape :(

Tell him to buy a Decathlon Triban and blow the rest on hookers, drugs and booze

Guys its worth remembering that big brand bikes are the best when it comes to usability and ride quality. Thousands of people buy them, the R&D budgets are huge, the customer service in most cases is great.

Giant TCR is another candidate.

Alright DBAD

DBAD was a social experiment came in after years of riding a Trek (then Canyon).

They are also designed to satisfy the needs of a huge spectrum of individuals rather than a bespoke bike which is solely created to fulfil the requirements of its owner...

Who am I to advise though, I own a MGOF Koga Miyata and a big brand HHSRB S-Works, neither is worth £10k ...

https://en.nicolai-bicycles.com/bike/g1-eboxx-e14-2021/

#cobblecruiser?

I would counter-argue that most people dont 'need' a custom bike, especially Scoble

It's the lower stack version, so counts as an aereo bike

Am I right in thinking that what you're really leaning towards here is that yoga classes > bespoke frames?

"You don't need a frame that fits you, you need to learn how to fit your frame..." or BFAD?

At any rate we're getting off topic... I suspect pal in Brussels just needs to go into whatever the spendiest LBS is nearby and find a suitably greasy salesman to tell him which aero whip to buy, he most likely doesn't want actual advice from lowly cyclists such as ourselves.

No I mean there is so much choice in OTP esp in terms of geo that there should be no need for a custom

Like Trek offers 2 geo variants for Domane SLR

a bespoke bike which is solely created to fulfil the requirements of its owner

You only have to look at English to know that this is normally a terrible idea.

Custom bikes in the modern era exist to satiate competitive & conspicuous spending compulsions.

big brand bikes are meh

FTFY

Alternative take; @JB should buy Aethos