My story and thoughts.........
I've been in to bikes for 7 years now. I started with a 531 Trek I bought at a garage sale for $50, then graduated to an all Mavic '87 Peugeot PX for $250. I sold the Trek for $350, the Peugeot for $400 and I was hooked big time. Since then I have bought and sold many (too many!) bikes. I have found that I am really picky with my bikes, I want them perfect. Even if I get a great deal on used bike, by the time I fix it up the way I want it I have a small fortune invested in it. I also ride a 64cm bike and finding used bikes of this size with the correct length top tube is pretty tough.
So, a couple of years ago I decided to have a Mercian built. The price was right and it turned out incredible. Since then I've had an identical Mercian made, only this ones a fixed gear, and I just recently received my new Jeff Lyon touring frame. I love buying new, being able to pick my own color, get the top tube the right length, getting the braze-ons I want, the rear spacing, etc. Not to mention I'm getting a frame that was designed around me, not the general population.
I'm not saying if the right Jack Taylor comes along that I won't consider buying a used bike again, but for me, I love the customs. So far my 3 bikes have all been on the budget side of the custom spectrum, but I'm thinking my next frame will be in the low $2000 range. If I pick a builder that has decent backlog, I can put down a few hundred dollars to reserve my space in the queue, sock away a few bucks every month and voila! In a year or two (or 3 or 4) I have a bitchin new frame relatively painlessly. As an example only, E-ritchie has a 4 year backlog. That'll cost me $58 a month (at current $2800 price) if I decide to go that way. I have plenty of bikes to ride, I can afford to wait. Heck , the way I see it, I can bring a sandwich to work twice a week and save $58 a month!
Maybe builders should consider some easy payment options even if they don't have a long backlog. Take a down payment, monthly payments, layaway, whatever. Anything and everything a builder can do to make it easier for us to buy a frame will help their business.
I urge everyone to consider a custom frame, they are simply amazing from every aspect.
cheers,
Rod Kronenberg
Fort Collins, CO