Westie said...

Good point. I'm not 100% sure what the prices are like for the boutique
frames.
I simply haven't seen any here. New Zealand is a smaller market and a long
way from home for most of the boutique manufacturers. I toyed with the idea
of building up a Blur last year but I couldn't import one and build it up
with decent components for any less than NZD$7000 so that kinda cooled my
enthusiasm for boutique frames. At the time, it was a full susser I was
interested in and something that I could ride immediately too. I'll
probably still do it one day, but not this year.

Certainly for me being able to walk into a shop, examine, testride, fit and
buy a bike that has a good reputation is important. Realistically for me to
get a boutique bike, I have to import a frame I've never ridden or been
fitted for, take time and money (buying components separately is more
expensive than buying a complete bike of course) and knowledge to buy it,
and build it. Maybe it's not whole lot of hassle for people on the group
here but for your average rider it's a big leap. I can see why Giant is so
popular.

Living in NZ would definitely complicate things. I'm always surprised to
hear what people pay for things outside of the US.