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Momentum A lot of Ti frames, and almost all the reasonably priced ones, are made in China and resold here (Enigma, Van Nicolas, Setavanto etc). Another UK based option is Burls (I think his frames are welded in Russia).
Otherwise there's a fe people building in the US in Ti but the frames are £1k minimum - Merlin, Lynskey, IF etcThat's correct! The Enigma qould cost around £1k as well :(
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I'm thinking you'll have to make some frames and loan them out to people, or sell them at cost, to get feedback on the quality, geometry, feedback etc. Speak to Scott about his Archie Grobags experience, he made prototypes, gave them to people for feedback, and at a lower cost, and then went into production on the final product.
Bikes are a really personal thing as we're all different shapes and sizes, you can charge a premium for being custom/handbuilt etc, but people generally only get to that point after having ridden, built up different bikes. Not sure someone would buy a custom handbuilt straight off as their first.
Also I think you'll need to figure out who your aiming for, what market you want. The whole fixed thing could be around for a while, or disappear back into its subculture roots in the next couple of years, are you going to build audax/track/road, etc. Personally think its best to concentrate on one sort of bike, one type of geometry, gain a good reputation for doing that and then branch out slowly.
Also whats your philosophy in relation to bikes, what sort of bikes do you ride, want to ride, and therefore want to make. The bikes you build for other people should be an extension of that philosophy, whether its all steel all the time, or lighter stronger faster, or bombproof is where its at. People will gravitate to you because they like what you're producing in relation to any of the following: quality, pricing, design, reputation, etc.
Also is there a market for your product, if you build it will they come and buy it. If not are you setting yourself up for a world of financial pain. Is this going to be your full time job, or will it supplement some other employment, how will you finance it whilst you grow your customer base, you may have thought of all of these things already, and I apologise if thats the case.Personally I've bought four bikes in my life, an off the peg kona cindercone, which I rode for 15 years, a bmx from a friend of a friend who sepcializes in rebuilding old gt's, a soma road bike , an off the peg frame which I was sized for and I picked the components that my wallet could afford, and finally a titanium track bike which I got for small beer off ebay and for which I sourced the components myself from various places. If money was no object I'd get a custom built Lynskey Ti frame or a Pegoretti or an Independent Fabrications, because at this point in my bike life, custom's where its at, I want something which is built specifically for me, but I also believe that you shouldn't have more bikes than you can actively ride on a regular basis so if I did get the custom bike, one of the others would have to go.
Hope this helps, have a word with Velocity Boy, he's going through the process now with Robin Mather, so should be able to give you some relevant feedback. I think it comes down to money and time, how much money you have to spend and how much time you want to spend waiting for it. One final thing, I would say make frame and forks, possibly with a headset and a bottom bracket included, and then let the customer finish it off as they want. Trying to build up the finished bike for people might be more trouble than its worth.
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IMHO you should try and work out why people will buy a frame off you and not off someone else, what can you offer that no one else can! do you want to concetrate on one area of cycling, like for instance the fixed scene and will this work longer term. sounds cheesey but think of a gimick that you can use to promote your work. Things I have thought about (I want to build frames as some point but as a hobby not a business) include:
bikes for big people that look good, once you get above 21" for a frame they tend to look goofy, can you make a frame that looks good in a large size, there are plenty of guys my size (6'5"+) that look at bikes then when you order a 23-25" frame you look at it and think, that looks far less balanced than the catalogue pics suggest, hence I'm currently building a 29er mountain bike, as my 23" spesh rockhopper just looks odd.
The whole fixed scene is big on bike asthetics, the bikes look smooth and clean, try replicating this look with a more regular bike, I'm thinking hub gear, concealed cable routing, concealed lighting (old style stem where the length is adjustable, fit a 4w LED in the end and power it off a hub dynamo, all wiring could be hidden and nothing to steal, great city bike)
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Just thought. On the subject of Robin Mather. You could always aim your frames at people like you who have travelled about a lot. S&S couplings might a good addition to a custom bike for people who travel about a lot.
I think you should go with Chris Crash on the frame and maybe call the company Chris Crash Cycles or Chris Crash Cylce co. You could register http://www.ccc.cc or http://www.chriscrashcycles.cc to hop on the .cc bandwagon. Loads of C's. C's all over the place.
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BillB The whole fixed scene is big on bike asthetics, the bikes look smooth and clean, try replicating this look with a more regular bike, I'm thinking hub gear, concealed cable routing, concealed lighting (old style stem where the length is adjustable, fit a 4w LED in the end and power it off a hub dynamo, all wiring could be hidden and nothing to steal, great city bike)
Definitely something worth doing for somebody. Think utility bike but nice. An all in one commuting bike that you can ride straight out the shop.
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I'll grant you that the "C" should have been a capital letter. It is considered gramatically correct to miss the "s" after the apotrophe though.
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thanks every one for the feed back.
@momentum/ tommy, i was not planning on selling any thing at profit for a while, im just getting things set up so when im back and im waiting for them to process the second visa so i can work, i can practice my hobby of building bikes for friends (at cost)
@platini even I knew about the Chris' not Chris's rule
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acutally, Chris Crash Cycle co (or Crahs, a misspelling would be pretty funny), would also shorten pretty well:
threeCco
could probably do some good graphics with that.
the co can stand for both company and colorado :)
and maybe market to strength (of frame)? you were taught by a bmx company... -
hassanr acutally, Chris Crash Cycle co (or Crahs, a misspelling would be pretty funny), would also shorten pretty well:
threeCco
could probably do some good graphics with that.
the co can stand for both company and colorado :)
and maybe market to strength (of frame)? you were taught by a bmx company...Brew owned the tri market in the 90s, as well as doing production for most american names at some point in the 80s-90s, and he sponsored allot of track teams.
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true... when i get back i will be playing with some tubes and nocking together a few concepts... im sure some people will be interested
Roberto
cornelius_blackfoot
BillB
rusty
Momentum
dogsballs
tom.
rpm
Object
Platini
hassanr
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Frame Building Market Research
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@chris_crash
I'm partial to a classic name. Something old school. New school just seems a bit faddish. Dendon (a portmanteau of Denver and London) springs to mind as something that might work.