I’m loving my new DeSalvo gravel bike. On the first day I made a minor adjustment to the seat height and setback and that was it. It’s totally dialed for me and my riding. This is my fourth custom steel bike in four decades.

But in this day and age, does a custom steel bike still make sense? Here are my top ten reasons why you should buy a custom steel bike!

1. Fit. The top reason to buy any custom bike will always be fit. Maybe you have weird proportions. You’re super tall or super short. Or you’re getting older and those race bikes with crazy low stack heights just don’t work for you.
2. You want something unique. You have very specific ideas that aren’t met by what is out there already. You don’t want the usual Trek or Specialized. You want to be able to pick color.
3. You want rim brakes. Choices for rim brake bikes are almost non-existent these days.
4. You want a deeper connection to the bike. A custom bike is really YOUR bike. It’s not a commodity. It’s not easily replaced.
5. Style. There is something about the clean lines of a quality steel frame.
6. You love the ride of steel. Especially when dialed in for your weight and riding style.
7. Durability. Carbon has come a long way since the 80s and 90s, but it’s still more susceptible to potentially catastrophic damage in even minor mishaps.
8. Affordability. Custom steel might be cheaper than you think. It can be cheaper than off the shelf carbon fiber, and it’s definitely much cheaper than custom ti or carbon.
9. Street cred. Shop rats will swarm your cool ride at the LBS!
10. Fun. The whole process from start to finish is a lot of fun.

Chances are you have a top notch custom builder near you. Shoot them a note or give 'em a call. Support local, MADE IN USA!

If you haven't seen it--and if you have a bit of downtime this holiday season--be sure to check out the Jørgen Leth film “Stars and Watercarriers," which documents the 1973 Giro d’Italia. See the legends of that era in action: Gimondi, Merckx, Moser, Fuente, De Vlaeminck, and Battaglin. A lot has changed in 50 years! Read a detailed review on PEZ Cycling and you can watch the full movie on Youtube.

When I started riding road bikes in the 80s it was simple: you pumped your 23 or 25mm tires up to 100 or 120 psi. And when I started riding mtbs in the 90s, you just pumped your 26 x 2.1 tires up to 40 or 45 psi.

I started riding wider tires on the road in the 2000s, first with the 700 x 33 Rivendell Jack Browns. I was still riding with inner tubes, mind you, but now I was riding my tires at around 60 psi. Which seemed low!

Flash forward to today, I'm riding my tubeless 29 x 2.4 mtb tires at around 24/22 psi and my tubeless 700 x 48 gravel tires at around 28/26 psi.

How low can you go? Good article and video from the folks at GCN. And you can find a nice tire pressure calculator here.

Shop tires on BikeList!

I was amused by the recent rant on BikeRadar about tanwall tires. It’s kind of like the letters in vs letters out debate for muscle car guys. I grew up with tanwall tires in the 80s so they aren’t really that special to me. And I admit I kind of resisted them when they started to come back and become a fad a few years ago. I still dig a no-nonsense blackwall tire but I like to mix it up a bit, too–my new DeSalvo gravel bike has tanwall Rene Herse tires. Of course, most of my vintage bikes have tanwalls, although my 1995 Ibis Mojo sports blackwall Maxxis Holly Rollers!

What look do you prefer?

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