NAHBS 2014: Cielo Adds Road Racer Bike, Plus New Stems & Colors

Would like to start off with a rant on custom builders but not specific to any one builder (including the lovely Cielo frames/parts).

Seeing a lot of posts of course on the NAHBS. Gorgeous bikes and parts all over this show. My issue with “most” custom builders is they are too difficult to work with. You have to chase them down all the time just to get the ball rolling, then get them to agree on a spec and price… more not getting called back, then have them hit the “promised” date they said they would hit… which have never happened yet on the builders I’ve worked with. Some builders are great and communicated excellent I’m sure… have yet to deal with one though. Lots of talk but little follow through. Has anyone else had similar stories? Again I will not name any builder and this is addressed to the custom industry. I think it’s a big problem with this industry and they need to address it. Please study how to be better businessmen/women and improve your customer service to your industry.

@Kustomer. I’m happy with my Carl Strong. I met him at the Richmond show after he’d built my frame. He was one of the few builders who I enjoyed chatting with. He has a good business sense, he seems to be fully capitalized, and he’s been helpful to new frame builders.

I know of two happy Firefly customers.

I have a friend who had a bad experience with a mid Atlantic frame builder. The quality of the work was ok, but not award winning. The real problem was the person’s habit of over promising and under delivering. He wouldn’t return emails for weeks. Maybe bedside manner should be a module at the UBI frame building school.

WOW that blue bike looks hot.

@Kustomer- stories like that make me sad, and mad. Truly, it takes so little to send an email with current progress and an update. And it makes all the difference between a happy client and an angry client! This is doubly important when something isn’t going right and dates aren’t being hit- being forthright and up-front about issues is the hallmark of good service, it builds trust and ensures the customer (who is sending you their hard-earned money!) feels like they’re a valued part of the transaction.

Anybody who can’t reply to an email within a day (ESPECIALLY to an existing client who is expecting a product) is simply lazy and evasive. Being evasive has never, and will never, be an effective tactic to customer satisfaction. If you’re doing custom bikes that require a fair amount of interaction with the client, you damn well better be prepared for that- if are a socially awkward fabrication savant, hire someone to do it for you. How you treat your clients is equally important to the product you build for them.

Brushing off a client whose money you’ve already taken only sours them (and all the people who read their rants on the internet) on custom builders and makes it hard for people like me to do my job.

PS- Bike Rumor, thanks for all the coverage of NAHBS, and keep up the good work.

@carl, nicely said. I can only wish to engage a custom builder at some point in my life, but I hope that they are able to satisfy my desires in a properly built bicycle (road, mtn,cx or otherwise). In that regard I agree with Devin, the whole experience of purchasing a custom bike should be very intensive. That is built into the price of such a bicycle, otherwise there are a multitude of fantastic bike brands to chose from. If you aren’t going to differentiate yourself with exceptional quality, artistry and service then there is no reason to be solvent in my opinion. Pick all three, not two. It’ll make small builders that much more competitive in the long run.

when is this PF bb thing going to stop? these things can be problematic and as a frame ages, will only increase the potential for problems. why not at least offer a traditional threaded bb on all your frames? i am sure i am not the only one. (looks like only their “classic” models and mtb frame has threaded, but road and cx just pf30)

@Kustomer, I agree wholeheartedly. And I will name names; Cielo Chris King. All sorts of things wrong with the quality of the build, mixed parts, wrong custom made parts, unable to deliver type of stem ordered and bike not as published on their website. To name only some of my complaints. The largest one being that they don’t care about either of them. They wanted me to show them pictures, but only for their edification; not as a step towards answering my complaints… Buyer beware.
Their brackets and moveable parts are all good; their frames and customer service not. Which is a pity… Because they do look good in the photo’s.