Quote:
Originally Posted by d_douglas
I just looked at Steelman's website thanks to WIlliam's Builders list and damn, his bikes are exxxpensive!
I think he builds beautiful bikes, but correct me if I am wrong, he must be at the top of the price-heap in terms of steel bikes ?!?
Maybe Maestros Sachs or Pegoretti and surely Mr. White's crazy creations exceed these prices, but for a standard (and gorgeous) road frame - wow.
It must be a tough sell, when you are looking for business, versus Sachs or Pego who are full of work for the foreseeable future.
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Well, right, most builders of steel frames who post prices post lower prices, and maybe this is somewhere in the vicinity of the top, but why should that matter? I've got no skin in the game here, but what's wrong with looking for a viable business model and making adjustments as you go? I have a team mate with a Steelman cross bike. He thinks it's great. I've no idea what he'd pay for another, but I reckon (a) that there's no single universally accepted heirarchy of frame builders, (b) that Mr. Steelman has his fans -- is very well known, and very well regarded, at least by some, (c) that Steelman fans will pay some premium to deal with him, and (d) there's one way to find out how many will pay how much.
I've actually got a new frame in paint with a particular fellow in Pennsylvania. I wanted a bike from him, and was willing to pay what he was asking. I didn't care -- this time -- to go to somebody else, even somebody well-regarded, who might have charged 500 bucks less for a frame. Or even 1,000. And I certainly didn't go where I did because some other guy was charging 400 bucks more. I didn't settle. I wanted to deal with a particular guy. I'm happy to be dealing with him. Which is not to say that I was entirely indifferent to price. The sky wasn't the limit. The limit was the limit -- someplace real that I didn't have to investigate or struggle with in this particular case.
Somebody else might very well shop differently. I've done it before myself. You have perferences, interests, budget constraints, and you do what you do.
I reckon that Mr. Steelman will find out whether 3 or 30 or 300 people will line up at the currently contemplated prices. I have no basis on which to predict the results, but I wish him well in all regards.