custom vs. stock roadie

My wife is 5'0 (well, really 4'11, but we round up!) and has been on a Specialized Vita Multisport 44 cm frame for the past few seasons. It's an entry levl ($1200) aluminum roadie outfitted with aero spokes, aero bars, etc. for more of the "multisport" feel. She puts on about 2-2500 miles a season on the bike, and wants to upgrade - probably to a road frame, not a tri-bike. The frame seems to fit her pretty well with some tweaks here and there.

Not many companies, other than Specialized, carry small women's specific frames. The Ruby Road series (carbon frame) seems pretty nice, and is in our price range (sub $3K), and seems like pretty good bang for the buck.
http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=33096

We've been at least considering looking at custom, but the local shop we deal with only carries Seven, which is probably a bit too much considering their base custom steel frame runs $1700. IF (independent fabs) look nice, but again, we're likely looking at around $3500-4000 or more for a customized steel roadie.

So, questions:

1) Is it really worth the extra $ to get a custom bike over a stock carbon bike, even if it's steel?
2) If so, are there other custom companies we should be considering?

Input and thoughts from sprocket rockets appreciated. I want to make the right investment.

I stongly recommend IF, but scott quiring will build you a custom steel road frame for $1000.

Check it out:

http://www.quiringcycles.net/rframe.html

That gives you $1500 to 2000 to buy a gruppo. Find a deal on components and get some descent wheels by shopping around and you should be all set.

A custom would likely be ideal; but, if that route doesn't work out for you, Trek makes some decent women's bikes in small sizes.

Giant might be worth looking at too. A sloped top tube can help if standover is the only thing holding you back. Have you done a fit calculator like, say, this one?

If you can find something with the right effective top tube length, everything else you can fake. You gotta be real into steel or a real weird shape for custom to really pay off.

Jamis does some great small sizes, amazing bang for the buck.

I would not bother with a custom--I just don't see the value of it when you're on a budget. All bets are off if you don't care how much you spend, but there is so much you can do with stems, bars, seatposts, saddles, and cranks, that I don't see the point. I'd much rather spend the greenbacks on a solid carbon frameset with nice wheelset and gruppo.

And FWIW, I am probably pretty close to the male equivalent of your wife. 5'5" tall and 28" inseam. I ride a 51cm Lemond and a 29er hardtail on dirt. Absolutely love both even though I'm not "supposed" to fit on a 29er. Wouldn't even consider custom.

There are a lot of Terry dealers in the northeast. From what little I know about Terrys they seem like excellent rides, and very reasonable.

All good input, thanks folks. We'll expand our searching...

At 5', regular 700c wheels push her into a really laid-out riding position and a slack head angle. You might look into a custom with 650 (triathlon) wheels, which will allow a more reasonable TT length and head angle without causing massive toe overlap.

There are a lot of good builders who don't charge an arm and a leg.

-Doug Curtiss (www.curtlo.com) will build you a frame for $750. He's been doing it for about a million years and knows what he's doing. Wait time is 3-4 months, though.
-Clockwork (www.clockworkbikes.com/) is a newer builder with a decent reputation and very competitive pricing (used to be $700 but has probably gone up).
-Gene Spicer (www.spicercycles.com) has been around forever and does Al as well as steel for about $850. I've actually seen a few of his frames around and they look nice.
-Waltworks (www.waltworks.com) mostly does mountain bikes, but he's got a good rep and builds road frames too. About $1000.
-Scott Quiring (already mentioned) also has a good rep.

True dat.
My wife is 4' 11", and I got her a custom Terry with a 650 front (700 rear).
DEFINITELY investigate Terry.

The only do women, if ya' know what I mean.

I would seek out a custom. My custom steel HT was made for me in "96" and still is my go to bike(as my SS). NOTHING will fit/ride like a true custom. .02

Lets pretend that you go with the "lowest" Seven custom steel frame (which is still BA) for 1700. Hang $800 worth of an ultegra group on it and you come in at $2500, which is below the 3K that you mention.

Steel offers fantastic ride quality and almost anything is going to be stiff enough to not be flexy under her.
Money should go into a frame, you can always upgrade components as skill / wallet allow.

I'll never regret spending a little extra for my Serotta custom steel. I look at it as something I'll own for over 15 years. Very comfy.

Maybe look at Tom Teesdale, too.