New Stoemper Framebuilder

[ikecycke]

Originally Posted by Jaybee

It's pretty clear you're not into this, and being "into this" is a key part of the custom experience.

Follow the advice above to call/email Stoemper, mention your concerns, see where to go from there.

I have a message into them just asking for a bit more about the new builder and expressing that the original builder was a big part of why I chose them, waiting to hear back (the business-end guy is in Australia for their handmade bike show, so giving him some time).

[KonaSS]

Originally Posted by ikecycke

I have a message into them just asking for a bit more about the new builder and expressing that the original builder was a big part of why I chose them, waiting to hear back (the business-end guy is in Australia for their handmade bike show, so giving him some time).

Cool, let us know how it goes and what you decide. Don't think anyone can fault you either way.

[skiezo]

If they are working together I would not worry too much. If Todd is doing the customer service and design of the frames and cutting of the tubes and Ben is doing the welding I personally would not be too concerned. Tig welding is not rocket science and most of the welders that I work with are all top notch. As long as the fit-up of the joints are spot on the welding is the easy part. Fit,tack check alignment,weld out. Pretty cut and dry.
Just MHO.

[ikecycke]

Originally Posted by skiezo

If they are working together I would not worry too much. If Todd is doing the customer service and design of the frames and cutting of the tubes and Ben is doing the welding I personally would not be too concerned. Tig welding is not rocket science and most of the welders that I work with are all top notch. As long as the fit-up of the joints are spot on the welding is the easy part. Fit,tack check alignment,weld out. Pretty cut and dry.
Just MHO.

Not working together, Todd's not involved at all now. Everything is on Ben (well, I don't know who is going to do paint now).

[ikecycke]

Just to give a bit of an update, I'm going to continue with my build with Stoemper. I got a good response from David Alvarez (founder/business-end) with respect to the direction of the company. It turns out Todd is getting out of bicycles altogether, so he needed to find a new framebuilder to keep things moving. Ben, the new builder, has a number of years as a pro team wrench and welder, so definitely knows his way around a bike. Plus, they brought in Curt Goodrich (who was mentioned earlier in this thread) to lend his expertise in a number of areas (paint, frame ideas, etc.), so they have a wealth of experience at their fingertips.

So all in all I'm pretty comfortable going forward, and will certainly be posting updates as things move along.

[Matthew]

Good to hear. Guessing you're going to get a great bike out of this. Looking forward to seeing the updates!