How I did it: This is how I went about having my custom bike made.  Nothing off that rack struck my fancy so I went another route.   This is how I did it...

1.  Look at tons of photos (I spent a lot of time on Flickr looking at fixed gear bikes, single speeds and road bikes sorted by how interesting they were), study the bikes in your town, talk to people in and out of bike shops and do a little reading/research to figure out what you want.

2.  When you have an idea of what you want you should really get wrapped up in it. I thought of nothing but bikes for a good 2 months.  Enjoy the feeling of planning and preparing to create something uniquely you.

3.  Find a bike shop you are comfortable in.  More importantly find someone in said bike shop who asks you want you want and is as excited about the bike as you are.  Tell them what you want, get their input. 

4.  Go home, spend time oozing over the internet printing photos of parts your dream bike would have.  Print em out.

5.  Take your photos back to your lovely bike aficionado and proceed to start making your dream a reality.  Pick parts in the shop, have what needs to be ordered ordered, make sure you talk to your bike master to make sure that all your parts fit together.  Settle for nothing less than what you want!

6.  Wait for the bike to be built...wait wait wait.

7.  Walk into the shop when they give you a ring, freak out when you see how beautiful your new baby is, take her/him out for a spin, and

8.  FALL IN LOVE!

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May 28, 2009, 09:59PM PDT | 0 comments | 1 cheer