guys
can you recommend options for a) custom designer/manufacturer and b) LBS worth a visit while touring round Western Oregon and Washington. Looking for a pure road race bike and looking at the custom options.
Also if anyone has experience with Hampsten and Davidson bikes.
Thanks in advance
Hey SimleS
River city bikes in Portland Or, they have it all! they have some sweet high end road bikes.
look them up.
Dan…
TiCycles in Seattle. I have two. They’ll do pretty much anything, and they have several stock frames as well. And yes, they’ll do steel and aluminum.
My Davidson MTB is dreamy. Also, Hairy Gary in Spokane got a nice writeup in the recent Bicycling mag.
Hey Brider,
thanks for answer some quick questions about your Ticycles bikes
a) do they manufacture or sub
b) are yours custom
c) If so was there some process regarding the fit/design process that you went through?
Thanks
Both of mine are custom Softrides – a road in ti, and a track/SS in steel. The road I went in with a bike and said, basically, I want this rider compartment, and this sort of ride characteristics, in ti. And they hit it on the button. Totally satisfied with it. The track, again I came in with a bike already set up (a track bike) and said that I wanted that rider compartment, in a track set up but drilled for brakes, in a Softride, in steel, and beyond that, have some fun. Again, totally satisfied. At that time, they did the manufacturing in house. Not sure about the stock frames now whether that’s in house or not. Check their website, and contact them directly.
http://www.ticycles.com/ and info@ticycles.com or fabien@ticycles.com
They do a lot of other things too – aero bars, stems, suspensions, MTBs, the works. And the owner (Fabiem Prichard) just happens to race on the team that all the guys I used to race with are on.
Check out vanillabicycles.com. Custom design/builder in Portland. As you’ll see from the website, plenty of “bling”, but the people I know who ride them, love the performance.
scott
No experience with any of these guys, but they’re all WA/OR based, and recommended by none other than Richard Sachs:
http://www.vanillabicycles.com/
http://www.hampsten.com/
http://www.desalvocycles.com/
.
Hey how is El Paso
Pics of vanilla’s bikes are just too pretty.
Been checking out other options for custom and small boutique builders here in the NW. Never heard of deSalvo until today, looks like reasonably priced Ti frame.
Hampsten and Davidson are the two I am vaguely familiar with in Seattle area, migth mean a visit when I down that way in a week or so.
have fun in Texas
Davidson is really nice, steel or ti. You may want to check out www.elliotbaybicycles.com. They have Davidson, there at the northern end of Pike’s market. You may want to check Glenn Erickson, he does super lug work. He makes steel frames that are a work of art. Google search him and you can see his Calvin and Hobbes bike. There is also www.ticycles.com they make custom ti frames. They are close to the University of Washington. Good luck and if you do get a frame please post pics.
Yes the Vanilla bikes are damn pretty, and incredible craftsmanship.
Ironically I have a technician working in my plant today who has one on order. He said as impressed as he was with what he saw on the website, he was blown away when he visited Sasha at his shop. Downside - the wait list is out about a year.
This guy has decided it’s worth the wait, but has also ordered a Hampsten that he said was about a 8 week wait.
scott
Lucky guy, two bikes on order!
My main choice is Ves at yaqui, the wife raves about hers. But alternatives closer to home looks like Davidson, Hamspten and DeSalvo for pure road race bikes, especially for Ti
I’d go to en selle if you’re in portland. the owner wouldn’t sell me any tubulars a few weeks ago since he was gluing them for hampsten himself.
very small, boutique shop with lots of pro autographs and pics.
also, landsharks are made in oregon. http://www.landsharkbicycles.com/
I’d definitely look at Ti Cycles. I have a custom Ti road bike and my wife has a steel Hyak. Both are great bikes. Dave Levy, the owner, spent a lot of time fitting and helping to set up our bikes.
When I bought my Ti bike (a while back), it was made in-house. I think all of them still are, but I’m not sure.
Richard
I was wondering why you weren’t going with Mandaric…
El Paso is off to a good start. Went out way too hard this AM trying to stick to Francois wheel (he was riding easy) and blew pretty fast. I was feeling shitty, but even if I had been feeling good I’d only have hung on 'till the hill. Did about 2hrs with Paulo, easy pace - then came back and made lunch. Downtime right now…
Well, you can’t go wrong with Ves. I’ve been very happy with my yaqui.
scott
Just an FYI – I don’t think Dave owns it any more (though he’s the one that built my ti road Softride). Fabien Prichard is the owner as of a little over a year ago, as far as I know. I could be wrong though.
I own(ed) the orange Vanilla CCX with Disc Brakes on the site.
Simply put, if you want custom, you won’t find a more enjoyable experience than working with Sacha. His bikes are not only beautiful and distinct, they are high-performers. Last season, he built a 16.5 lbs. complete CCX bike. He’s also build many road frames using very lightweight steel options. His sense of handling/fitting is also impeccable.
My Team has at least 10 Vanillas in the arsenal and not a single rider has a complaint (road, track, CCX, single speed).
River City is a fine shop as well, but if you really want to add bling to your bike, visit CyclePath. You can get directions by calling (503) 281-0485. They also carry DeSalvo and Moots if you prefer something more readily available (yet, custom).
Don’t hesitate to hit me offline if you want to learn more.
Cheers,
Jonathan C. Puskas
thanks for the info!
My first choice but wanted to see what else was out there closer to home, and since I am getting old Ti might make a good choice! LOL
Also the wife has one already, cant be seen to be following her lead!
Sounds like fun in El Paso, what you really need is a new job that will allow you to train.