Time Scale:

Becoming the owner of a Specialbike takes time. Do not expect an instant gratification retail experience.

The quickest one we ever did took ten days. On average they take four to five weeks. On a few occasions they have taken two months or more.

Considered, approximate time scales associated with the stages in the process document are:

  1. Vision: this is really up to you!
  2. Donor bike assessment or frame selection: 1 to 3 days
  3. Initial spec sheet, options and quotes: 2 to 4 days
  4. Questions and answers, clarification, changes, confirmation and deposit: again this really depends on the customer and can really vary - 3 days to 3 weeks or more
  5. Frame strip and preparation: 1 day
  6. Colour choice: up to you, dear customer!
  7. Blasting and Coating: 2 to 4 weeks
  8. Part selection and sourcing: 0 days to several weeks (see the notes below)
  9. Frame receipt and preparation: 1 day
  10. The build: 1 day (if everything goes to plan - see the notes below)
  11. Tuning and testing: usually the same day as the build, 1 day
  12. Collection or delivery: collection depends on the customer; delivery is by next-day trackable courier

Please bear in mind, however, that a lot of different factors can influence how long the whole process takes from start to finish. Examples of these are:

  • The time of year. We are a busy bicycle repair workshop (see the about us page). We don't build very many Speciabikes (one of the reasons that they're so special!) and so in the spring and summer when we are very busy servicing bikes we may need to wait a few days between receiving the frame back from the coaters and starting the build. In the quieter months (October to February) this wait is far rarer.
  • The vision. As we often say, the only limits to the bike we can create for you are your imagination and your budget. And we love a challenge. But the more complex or 'out there' your vision is then potentially the more complex it will be to fulfill it and so the longer it will take.
  • The blasting and powder coating is done by two different external companies and is the part of the timescale that we have least control over. The quality of the work is excellent but the turnaround time can be quite variable.
  • Part sourcing takes place whilst stages 5 and 7 are in progress and so usually adds no extra time. However if a required part is out of stock with a distributor, proves hard to find or has to be sent from overseas, this may on some occasions bring a halt to whole process and add some considerable extra time.
  • Finally, no matter how much experience and knowledge and how many skills we have, how much time is spent sourcing the parts and preparing for the build, sometimes unforeseen problems only become apparent once the build is in progress. This is part of building unique one-of-a-kind bikes, so be prepared.