Housed inside R+E Cycles , Rodriguez Bicycles has been making beautiful steel bicycles and tandems for over 30 years. Owner Dan Towle has a long history of customizing bikes which began when he transformed his first used JC Penny's bike into a bike most boys could only dream of: A custom ride with 4- foot long, low slung, chopper-style forks controlled by tall "ape hangar" bars. He progressed into offering $95 bike overhauls (with a paint job) and included some rudimentary bike fitting.

Nowadays, Dan and his incredible staff are providing service seldom seen in the cycling world. After you go through a detailed interview that includes a complete body measurement, your information goes into proprietary bicycle fitting software called NEXT Fit . The numbers produced dictate the settings of a fully adjustable fit that can be tweaked before the actual bike is built.

After all of the pre fittings, 90% of people will fit very well onto one of the 15 production sizes made by Rodriguez. Most companies offer 5 or 6 production sizes, so tripling that amount allows for an incredible fit range. Should one not fit those parameters, a complete custom bike can be built exactly to those needs. From here, the bike is put in queue and built start to finish to ensure quality and brief wait times.

Though many enthusiasts understand the supple 'feel of steel' and 'glide in the ride', many incorrectly assume that a steel frame is heavy. Although once true, Rodriguez makes their S3 Steel bike (2.2 pounds) lighter than most titanium, aluminum, and carbon fiber bikes. With Campagnolo components, the bike is a dream ride for most cyclists.

Competitor so*cal magazine, 2006