In March 2026, I met Rey Lopez at the Philly Bike Expo, spoke briefly with him, and got his card…read more Afterwards, I called and emailed him. I said I wanted a custom-built titanium bike. At the Bike Expo, several frame builders were offering such bikes for $12-14,000, but I didn't need a custom frame (there's nothing unusual about my body/arms/legs), especially given the cost. Rey has a good relationship with Lynskey, a major American (Tennessee) manufacturer of titanium frames. Over the next two months, he and I had numerous conversations about components, since I had to make decisions about all the bike parts. I know much more than the average cyclist about bikes and parts (I've been cycling for 50 years, and repair my own bikes), but my knowledge about recent technology (carbon wheels, hydraulic disc brakes, and electronic shifting) is lacking. I looked to Rey for advice about everything, and I learned that he is extremely knowledgeable about all the things I needed advice on. Given how much the bike was going to cost ($6,000+), I was particularly interested to see whether he would try to upsell me to try to get me to spend more than I needed to. Instead, we had honest conversations about the various parts. For example, one can spend thousands of dollars on a wheelset, but I needed to know how much I should spend to get a light and strong wheelset that would work for the kind of riding I do, and what spending more money would get me. He told me that I could spend more money on a different wheelset from the two he recommended, but the marginal increase in quality wouldn't be worth the significant increase in cost. His advice on gearing was particularly helpful since changes down the road can be costly. He recommended a bike fitter, I had a professional fitting, and the fitter and Rey worked together to choose certain parts, like the stem and handlebars, that were important for bike fit. The bottom line is that the bike he built for me is just excellent. It's everything I expected a great bike to be. And the icing on the cake is that he is a great guy, very low key, and very easy to work with. He is opinionated, but he doesn't try to push anything on you. And I never thought I'd be able to get the bike built in just two months, in time for riding it this summer. A coincidence is that a woman in my bike club also had Rey build her a bike, and we didn't know we each were dealing with him. She too was very happy with Rey. In sum, I can recommend him without any reservations. If you are desirous of a custom-built bike in the Philadelphia area, I cannot imagine anyone better.
