Ask me anything you like.

Custom titanium frames, drawn to your fit data and finished in one of six transparent colorways over polished metal — then built into a complete bike here, with every component chosen by you. The frames are designed here and fabricated by a specialist titanium framebuilder in China; see "Where the frames are made" below.

Seven. Pick a colorway. Send your fit data from a qualified fitter (or ask us to recommend one). Talk through how you ride and what you want on the bike. We finalize a design and you approve the drawing. The frame is fabricated and finished to it. It lands here and we spend about a week building the bike up. You come and collect it, and we set your position before you leave.

Design finalization takes about two weeks from the point we have your fit data and a settled spec. Frame fabrication and finishing take up to twelve weeks after that. Then about a week here to build the bike up once the frame lands — components are sourced in parallel, so they're waiting rather than being ordered. Twelve weeks is the ceiling. Some come in under it.

Because the frame does not exist until you order it. The geometry is drawn to your numbers, the tube schedule is engineered for your load case, the tubes are cut and mitred for full-contact joints and TIG welded under back-purge, and only then does the finishing start — where every visible surface has to be polished to a mirror before any color goes on, because transparent color magnifies scratches rather than hiding them. That polishing alone is days. A frame you can get faster than this is a frame someone had already made.

We don't publish prices, because the frame is one line of a bill whose other lines you choose. A build with a mid-tier mechanical group and alloy wheels and a build with a top electronic group and deep carbon are not the same number, and pretending otherwise with a "from" price would just be a number designed to be beaten. Start an order or ask us directly and you'll get real figures against a real spec.

No. Payment is staged across the build — a deposit to start the design and reserve build capacity, then milestones as the work happens. You are never carrying the full amount before there is a frame. The exact schedule is on your proposal before you commit to anything.

I read it myself, usually within a working day. If you sent fit data, I write back to start the design conversation. If you didn't, I come back with fitters near you first — I won't draw a frame around numbers nobody stands behind.

No. There are six colorways and no custom paint. This is the one fixed decision in the whole process, and it is deliberate: each of the six is a developed multi-layer process we have refined over and over, not a color pulled off a chart. A one-off finish would be a first attempt, and we would rather not sell you our first attempt.

Deep Black, Deep Red, Deep Blue, Deep Green, Deep Gold and Deep Rose. Each is transparent color laid over titanium polished to a mirror, then clear-coated. Crucially there is no metallic, pearl or mica pigment in any of them — every bit of shine and movement is the metal underneath read through the color. That's what separates this from a metallic paint job imitating the same effect.

The Italian transparent-color-over-bright-metal tradition, associated with builders like Officina Battaglin. Theirs is color over chrome-plated steel; ours is color over polished titanium — a different substrate, and a better one. Chrome is a layer added on top of the frame, and a layer can pit, lift and let rust creep under it. Ours isn't plated on: the reflective surface is the frame itself, polished, with nothing between the color and the metal to fail and nothing underneath it that corrodes. We say Cromovelato-inspired rather than Cromovelato because the substrate really is different — and different in our favor. If you've seen one in person, this is that, on better metal.

Never from a screen. Polished titanium coupons are sprayed at four different color densities and reviewed in direct sun, open shade, overcast daylight and neutral indoor light before any frame is coated — because a transparent finish over metal genuinely looks like four different colors in those four conditions, and a monitor shows you none of them.

No. Same answer as custom paint, for the same reason. Pick one of the six.

Yes, if you ask. It isn't a seventh colorway — it's the absence of one. Every frame is polished to a mirror before any color goes near it, so bare titanium under clear is simply the thing that already exists underneath all six, and I'll finish yours that way if that's what you want. I don't put it on the front page because the six are what I have developed and what I am confident selling, and because most people who ask for raw titanium are happier with Champagne once they hold it — it reads as brushed metal at distance and has considerably more depth up close. Ask for a sample of both and decide with them in your hand.

No, and this is one of the nicer details. The 180 mm script on the down tube and the 37 mm mark on the head tube are masked off before any color goes on, so those areas are the bare polished titanium of the frame itself showing through. The clear coat then runs continuously over both the color and the exposed metal, so the logos sit perfectly flush — run a finger across and there's no edge, because there's nothing there to have one. They cannot lift, peel or wear through.

It's paint on a bicycle, so a hard enough strike will mark it — no finish is immune and anyone telling you otherwise is selling. That said, the clear coat is the sacrificial layer and it is a tough one, and because the substrate is titanium a chip does not start corrosion the way it can on steel. Bring it back and we'll look at it.

Yes, and you should. Tell me the two or three you're torn between and I'll post you painted titanium samples — the actual finish on the actual metal — in a box with a return label already in it. You pay the return postage and nothing else: no deposit, no fee, no obligation to order afterwards. Live with them for a week, take them outside on a grey day and again in the sun, hold them against the components you're considering, then send the box back. I won't approve a color from a screen and I'm not going to ask you to.

Because no frame has been finished yet — the first ones are being built now, and the renders come down the day there are photographs to replace them. I'd rather say that than let you work it out yourself. It's also the reason the sample loan exists: you can't yet see a finished frame, but you can hold the finish in your hand, which for choosing a colorway is the more useful of the two anyway.

Inconsistently, and that's the point. All six read considerably darker at rest than under direct light. The renders on the colorway pages are shot in warm directional light, which is close to the bright end of the range — expect the frame to be deeper and quieter than that on an overcast day here.

Yes. A custom frame drawn around guessed numbers is just an expensive stock frame, and you would be paying us a lot of money for the privilege. We need a fit measured by someone qualified, on a bike, with you pedalling.

Tell me roughly where you are when you start your order and I'll come back with two or three studios I'd use myself, with a reason for each. Then get fitted and pick this back up. This is the one part of the process I will happily slow down.

Expect two to three hours and a few hundred dollars at a proper studio. That is money well spent whether or not you end up buying a frame from us — a good fit improves the bike you already own.

Saddle height and setback from the bottom bracket, saddle-to-bar drop and reach, target stack and reach (or the equivalent handlebar X/Y coordinates), crank length, handlebar width, and cleat position. Any competent studio's report has all of it. A twenty-minute size check against a height chart has none of it, and is not a fit.

A PDF is easiest — a MyVeloFit export imports its numbers automatically, and anything else we read by hand. You can also type the key numbers straight into the order form if that's all you have. Either way you get to check every figure before it goes near a drawing.

Send it and I'll tell you. Positions move — after an injury, a big change in flexibility, or a few years of riding differently. A fit from five years and one back problem ago usually needs redoing, and it's cheaper to find that out now than after the frame is cut.

No, and we keep those jobs separate on purpose. Your fitter measures you; we draw a frame that puts you exactly where they said you should be. A builder who also does the fitting is grading their own homework.

That's part of why pickup is in person. We set your position from the same fit data the frame was drawn to and you ride it before you leave, so anything obviously off gets caught in the room. Positions also settle over the first few hundred miles — come back and we'll adjust.

Drivetrain, wheels, cockpit, saddle, tires, finishing kit, and how far you want to chase weight. Any current groupset from any of the three, mechanical or electronic, 1× or 2×. Any wheelset, including hand-built on the hub of your choice. Bar shape, width, stem length and reach set from your fit numbers rather than whatever came in the box.

Deliberately not. Publishing a list would argue the opposite of the point — if a part exists, can be sourced through a legitimate channel, and belongs on your bike, it is on the table. Ask about something we haven't named and the answer is usually yes.

Internal by default, with nothing visible between the levers and the frame. External if you prefer it — a hose you can reach is a hose you can service without pulling a headset apart. It has to be decided at design time either way, because it changes how the frame is built.

No, and we won't push you toward one. A separate bar and stem is easier to adjust, easier to fit properly, and far cheaper to change your mind about — swapping away from an integrated cockpit later is an expensive afternoon. Integrated looks clean and saves a little weight and drag. Both are on the table; tell us which you want, or ask and we'll give you an honest opinion for your riding.

Yes, and this is where having only six finishes pays off. Because these six have been sprayed on coupons and frames over and over, I know exactly what each one does under a given light, so a color-matched stem, bar tape, cages, collar, bolts or spacers actually match. A builder offering any color on earth cannot do that.

We'll chase it properly — titanium and alloy bolt kits, carbon rails and cages, lightweight skewers and valves, ceramic bearings where they earn it — and we'll give you a component-by-component weight budget before anything is ordered. We'll also tell you plainly where a gram is costing more than it's worth. That conversation is part of the service.

Usually yes, and it's common — a saddle you love, a power meter off your last bike, wheels you already own. Tell us early, because a part you're bringing changes what we plan around it. We warrant our own work on the build either way; we obviously can't warrant a component you supplied.

All of it, and designed in from the start rather than bolted on after. Mount placement, routing for a dynamo, and clearance for the fenders you actually intend to run are decisions we make while drawing the frame — which is precisely the advantage of a frame that doesn't exist yet.

It's your frame, so it's a design decision rather than a spec sheet. Tell me the widest tire you actually intend to run and I'll draw for it, with the trade-offs stated: more clearance means longer chainstays and a different feel. We'd rather design for the tire you'll actually fit than the one that sounds impressive.

Designed in Kirkland, Washington. Fabricated and finished in China, by a specialist titanium framebuilder working to the engineering drawing we release. Built up into a complete bike here, and collected here. That is exactly what's etched on the drive-side chainstay of every frame — "Designed in the Pacific Northwest" — and we'd rather you read it here than discover it there.

Because the people who do 3Al/2.5V titanium framebuilding and transparent-over-polished finishing at this level are there, and they are better at it than anyone I could hire within a thousand miles of here. That they also do it for less is why the price is what it is rather than double. What I do is the design, the geometry, your fit, the tube schedule, the finish specification, the color approval, the component sourcing, the build and the handover — and we're the ones you talk to throughout.

The design conversation, the drawing, the component sourcing, the entire build-up of the bike, the fit setup and the handover ride. When the frame lands from the builder it takes us about a week to make it a bicycle: headset and bottom bracket pressed and faced, routing run, wheels trued and tensioned, drivetrain indexed, brakes bled and bedded, everything torqued and test-ridden.

Because that's the true one. It's a small maker's mark on the drive-side chainstay, sized and placed like a signature rather than a logo, and it says the accurate thing.

Because it is the difference between opening a box and getting a bike. We set your position from the fit data the frame was drawn to, you ride it, and we adjust on the spot. Anything that needs changing gets changed while you're standing there rather than over three days of email.

Talk to me. I won't refuse you, and we'll find a way to make it work — but I'll be straight about what you give up by not being here: the handover ride, the on-the-spot adjustment, and having your builder twenty minutes away when something needs attention next year. Some people travel for it, which is honestly the best of the remote options.

Come back. Position tweaks in the first few months, a second wheelset later, a groupset change in a couple of years — being local is worth more after the handover than before it. That is the part of this that doesn't fit in a box.

Up until the frame goes to paint, yes. After that it's painted, and it's your color. We'll tell you clearly when that point is coming so it isn't a surprise.

Often yes, depending on what's already been ordered and whether it changes the frame. A different saddle is trivial. A groupset change is usually fine if the parts haven't shipped. A change that alters the geometry after the frame is drawn means redrawing it, and we'll say so and what it costs rather than quietly absorbing it.

Before we start cutting, yes — you're refunded anything beyond the design work already done. Once the frame is in construction it exists and is yours; a custom frame drawn to your fit and painted in your colorway has no second buyer, so it can't be unwound. We'd rather be explicit about that now than argue about it later.

No. Custom-drawn, custom-painted frames are final sale, which is the standard across every custom builder for the obvious reason. This is exactly why the process front-loads the fit data and the design approval — so that by the time anything is cut, you have seen and agreed to what you're getting.

Then it's on us and we make it right. If the finished frame doesn't match the drawing you approved, or the workmanship isn't up to standard, that's our error and our cost to fix — including rebuilding the frame. Final sale covers you changing your mind, not us missing.

To the original Stripe charge, in the original currency. Refunds usually clear in 5-10 business days depending on your bank.

Ours. We designed it and we sold it to you, so a manufacturing or workmanship defect in the frame or its finish is our problem to fix — you deal with us, not with a factory overseas, and "take it up with the builder" is not an answer you will ever get here. The fact that the fabrication happens elsewhere changes nothing about who is on the hook. The written terms come with your build.

Component defects are the manufacturer's coverage, not ours — a hub, a derailleur or a brake lever is warranted by the brand that made it. We buy through authorised channels and, where the brand allows it, register the component warranty in your name so it's your direct relationship. If a claim comes up we point you at the right contact and share what we know from ordering through them.

Everything we did with our hands. Torque, cable routing, hose bleeds, wheel dish, alignment, spacer choice, paint touch-up after assembly — if it's attributable to how we put the bike together, we fix it at no cost. That holds for as long as we're the most recent people to have wrenched on it.

Not under warranty — a warranty covers defects, not impacts. Titanium is unusually good about this, though: it dents rather than shattering, and a surprising amount of crash damage on a Ti frame is repairable. Bring it in. If it isn't worth repairing I'll say so.

Email support@domestique-bikes.com with photos, your order number, what happened and when. For anything frame-related, that's the whole process — you're talking to the people who built it. For a component we'll tell you what the brand needs and point you at the right contact.

That isn't the business, and a good shop will do it better than I would. If you own a Domestique, come to us.

Because of what happens over years rather than what happens on a spec sheet. Carbon is lighter and can be shaped more aggressively, and for a race bike with a three-season life that's the right trade. Titanium doesn't fatigue the way aluminium does, doesn't corrode, doesn't hide impact damage the way carbon can, and takes a knock without becoming a question mark. A frame we expect you to ride for twenty years should be made of it.

Heavier than a top carbon frame, by a few hundred grams. Lighter than most people assume, and comfortably inside the range where component choices matter more than the frame does. If your goal is the lightest possible bike, we are not that, and we'll tell you so rather than pretend.

Yes, though less mystically than the internet suggests. It has a compliance to it that takes the edge off road buzz without feeling vague, which is a genuine advantage on long days and rough surfaces. It is not magic and it will not make you faster. It makes hour six better.

Fair question, and it's why the finish is translucent rather than opaque. Every one of the six is color laid over metal that has been polished to a mirror first, so you are always seeing the titanium through it. The chevron is masked back to bare metal for the same reason. If you want the material to be the whole statement, Deep Gold is the one to look at.