Hi Custom Frame Forum,
You may remember me from my crazy bicycle design ideas fueled by a back surgery and no ability to ride.
I’m back with another crazy idea and am looking for input from some of the most interesting people on the internet. Three of my friends and I are starting www.bikegarage.cc and we aim to solve the bicycle parts compatibility challenge.
We want users to be able to put in a bicycle and determine all the correct parts with a few minutes of work. We’re starting with the big four brands but intend to have all bikes eventually.
As y’all are actively designing around the challenging treadmill of “standards”, I’d love to pick your brains for desired features for a compatibility webapp.
Any and all thoughts and feedback welcome. 
Mods please delete if not allowed.
2 Likes
Miles,
I think this is a GREAT idea, and I hope you can do it! As a manufacturer, we are continually dealing with compatibility issues. It’s particularly difficult in the custom/handbuilt world, because so few builders document their builds, or associate the build with the serial number. I’d like to see custom builders provide a spec sheet to their customers that includes all components, and where they can be purchased or replaced. That may be a bigger project, and possibly a shift in how builders relate to customers/riders.
Keep up the good work!
2 Likes
Thanks Mark!
Detailing stock parts on bikes is the heart of the system. We are working to include the parts that are on each bike. Users will be able to add their own bikes with “stock parts” or build from the frame up with custom parts (see below)
We are working to develop partnerships with parts and bike manufacturers, but we’re still a small team so we’re focused on highest impact and that’s Cannondale, Specialized, Trek, & Giant. We will be adding all the small parts mfg. we can get, like Appleman, Raketa, Garabuk, etc.
We will allow users to add parts to their custom bike builds, which we can expand to allow custom manufacturers and custom frames. We’re intending to launch around Sea Otter so we will have more detail the closer we get.
Here’s a sneak peek of what bike customization looks like (warning, very much a work in progress).
5 Likes
