Frame-up custom builds · Portland, Oregon
Your dream build,
fully realized.
One rider at a time. You bring a frameset and an idea of how you want the bike to ride; together we spec every part, and I build it from bare frame to first ride.
- $499 Flat assembly fee
- 1 Build per week, max
- Frame up Bare frame to first ride
- In house Wheels laced & tensioned
The problem
Off-the-shelf bikes always involve compromise.
Wrong wheels. Wrong saddle. Wrong crank length. Gearing that doesn't match where you actually ride.
You already know what you want the bike to feel like. Getting there usually means one of two things:
- becoming your own mechanic, or
- hoping a busy shop can slow down enough to walk you through a true custom build.
Dream Build PDX exists for the third option: a patient, one-on-one process from frame selection to first ride, with every part chosen on purpose.
I'm chasing bike zen — the moment everything is so smooth and quiet that you forget you're pedaling and just float.
How it works
Four steps, no queue tickets.
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01
Tell me about your dream build
Road, gravel, bikepacking, trail, city, or something weird and wonderful. What are you riding now? What's missing? Where do you want this bike to take you?
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02
We spec every component together
Frame, drivetrain, wheels, cockpit, tires, gearing, and all the small stuff. I handle the compatibility checks and standards so you don't end up with the wrong parts or a dead end.
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03
I build, route, and dial everything
Once the parts are in hand, it's a full frame-up assembly:
- frame prep where it's needed
- internal routing and hydraulic brake setup
- wheel building, if you want hand-built wheels
- careful torquing, tuning, and test riding
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04
We fit, tweak, and chase bike zen
You pick the bike up, we do an initial test fit, and I make adjustments. After a few rides you come back for a follow-up tweak — that's when a build usually goes from good to right.
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Bare frame, in the stand -
Rear hub and spokes -
Crankset and chainrings
Pricing
Most Portland shops bill custom assembly by the hour, typically $80–$100. A frame-up build done properly — routing, bleeding, facing, wheel truing, test riding — runs six to twelve hours. So the careful version of this work usually lands somewhere north of $600 on the clock. I charge $499, flat, however long it takes.
What the $499 covers
- Pre-build component consultation, for as long as it takes
- Compatibility checks across frame, drivetrain, wheels, and standards
- Full frame prep and assembly
- Internal cable and hose routing
- Hydraulic brake setup and bleeding
- Custom wheel building — laced and tensioned by hand
- Initial test fit at pickup
- One follow-up adjustment after you've had time to ride it
What it doesn't
- Parts and frameset — those are yours to buy
- Frame repair or structural fixes
- Paint or refinishing work
- Suspension damper rebuilds or advanced shock tuning
- Machine-shop frame correction
If a build turns out to be unusually complex or needs an outside service, we talk it through before anything is spent. No surprises, and you approve first.
Recent builds
Every part on this page was chosen for a reason.
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Poseidon X Ambition
Bikepacking rig — Eastern Oregon
- Wheels
- Light Bicycle 650b carbon
- Drivetrain
- Shimano GRX 11sp, 12sp derailleur hack for an 11–50 cassette
- Post
- KS E10 dropper
- Lighting
- SON dynamo hub, wired front and rear
- Extras
- Rear rack, bikepacking cockpit
Built for long days on Eastern Oregon gravel: low gears for loaded climbing, lights that never need charging, and wheels durable enough to trust while still feeling lively.
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Trek Emonda ALR
Fast aluminum — West Hills climber
- Finish
- Hand-stripped, custom primrose/green fade
- Drivetrain
- SRAM Force AXS 12sp
- Gearing
- 46/33 × 10–36
- Wheels
- Light Bicycle 45mm carbon
- Cockpit
- Integrated routing, Blendr mount
A sleeper alloy bike built to climb hard, descend fast, and look like nothing on a showroom floor.
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Specialized full-suspension
Trail climber — technical singletrack
- Fork
- Fox 32 upgrade
- Drivetrain
- SRAM Eagle AXS 12sp
- Gearing
- 30t × 10–52
Set up for steep, techy climbs and precise shifts right at the edge of traction.
One build, start to finish
The Emonda, from stripped frame to first ride.
This is what the $499 actually looks like — the same bike at the top of this page, four months earlier.
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01 — Stripped
Factory paint taken back to bare aluminium by hand.
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02 — Painted & cleared
Custom primrose-to-green fade, then clear coat — in California, because Portland wouldn't cooperate.
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03 — Assembly
Frame prep, internal routing, and Force AXS going on one piece at a time.
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04 — Finished
Built, torqued, tuned, and test ridden before it goes home.
By the time this frame was ready for clear coat, Portland had turned cold and wet — the wrong conditions for a finish that has to lay down flat and cure clean. So I put it in the car and drove it to California to shoot it there.
That is roughly the level of stubbornness involved in a Dream Build.
About
I've spent decades building and rebuilding my own bikes, always chasing that one moment when everything is so smooth and quiet that you forget you're pedaling and just float.
Even when I find it, I'm already thinking about the next tweak. I love building bikes. I love riding them. I love obsessing over the details nobody else will ever see.
After years in the corporate world I started Dream Build PDX as a passion project, not a volume business. I take on about one build a week, which is what lets me:
- happily wrestle with internal routing
- lace and tension a wheelset by hand
- fuss over cable length, housing curves, and noise
- talk far too long about gearing and tire choice for the one climb you can't stop thinking about
Most shops have to watch the clock. I built Dream Build so I don't have to.
Honest expectations
Is this right for you?
Probably, if
- You've been thinking about this bike for a while, not just a weekend.
- You care how it feels as much as how it looks.
- You're genuinely excited to talk through gearing, tires, and cockpit.
- You enjoy the process, not just the finished bike.
Probably not, if
- You need the cheapest or fastest possible build.
- You're not particular about spec or feel — any complete bike will do.
- You need it finished by this weekend.
If you're nodding along at the left-hand column, we'll get along great. If you're in the right-hand one, a regular shop will genuinely serve you better — and I'll tell you so.
Questions
Before you get in touch
How long does a build take?
I'm currently booking about three weeks out. Once your parts are all in hand, the build itself is usually about a week — I only take one at a time, so yours isn't sitting in a queue. The long pole is almost always parts availability, and we'll talk about that up front.
Do I buy the parts, or do you?
You buy them. We'll build the list together and I'll tell you exactly what to order and from where, but the parts are yours, bought at whatever price you find. I don't mark anything up — the $499 is the whole of what I make on a build.
What if I only have a frame — or nothing at all?
Either is fine. Plenty of builds start as "I like this frame and I ride this kind of terrain, help." Starting from a blank page is honestly the most fun version, because nothing has been decided wrong yet. If you need a frame, I keep a running list of ones worth building on.
Can you build wheels separately?
Wheel building is included in a full build. If you want wheels on their own, get in touch and we'll sort out something fair.
Where are you, and how do I drop off a frame?
I work out of a home shop in Portland. Once we've talked through the build I'll send you the details for dropping off a frame and picking the finished bike up.
What happens if something isn't right after I ride it?
Come back. One follow-up adjustment is built into the fee, and it's the part I care about most — cables settle, you find your position, and a build usually needs a second pass before it's really finished. Message me any time after that too.
Start your build
Tell me about your dream bike.
Where you want to ride it, what you're on now, and what's missing. I'll follow up with questions, talk timelines, and we'll figure out together whether this is a good match. No obligation either way.