At the moment I am in Latin America, staying with a friend for a few months. I have a job here for which I need a bicycle. So, I went around the place having a look at what's on offer and found out that a lot of places will built a bike for me from scratch. I got very excited about this prospect, as it is not a common practice where I come from. Yesterday I selected a frame, handle bar, tyres, saddle and some extras. Tomorrow my bike should be ready, and I will go to the shop for some last adjustments. I love the idea of having a bike exactly the way I want and need it. And the best thing is that it is really cheap as well. Have you ever ordered a custom-built bike?
We have never built a custom made bicycle before but have entertained the idea. When your bike is finished, it would be great to see a photo of it posted. We do have a close friend who builds his own street bicycle. But his parts are very expensive and I believe he buys most of them online. He bikes for many miles at a time and so they are bikes built for more of a professional use than for joy riding. It sounds like you could really benefit from a bicycle in Latin America as public transport might be limited. Congrats!
Here in America custom built bikes are usually expensive. I know one guy who got a custom bike that used a used frame. He got a bike that was overpriced as far as I could see, and the person who built it for him was just getting rid of old parts. I once had a custom built bike I got from someone who owed me money and it was a very expensive racing bike. About 30 years ago he spent $2500 dollars for it and it was definitely a nice bike. Enjoy your bike!
