Framebuilding

Just saw over at BREW that Steve Garn is Offering a frame building class

BREW built my first custom steel hardtail way back more than 10 years ago, and my wife's and my current hardtail. Over the past few years he has been doing more OEM BMX bikes and customized motorcycles.

I've always dreamed of building a frame. My road bike is a custom Richard Moon

With very nice Nervex lugs


Most framebuilding classes and books are based around Lugged construction:


Classes that I've seen available are very expensive but you end up with a custom frame would normally cost a little less than the whole class.

United Bicycle School is probably the largest school, and they teach lugged and tig. Titanium as well for advanced students.

Yamaguchi also teaches classes. I think he was the last custom builder to build bikes for the US national team.

For the DIY there are lots of resources to get yourself started.

The only real book in publication right now is The Paterek Manual


There is the frame builders email list serv that is searchable. Just don't be a noob and sign up and then immediately post. Hi, I am so and so and I want to make a frame please tell me how. Just spend about a year searching through the archives.

There is also a more modern Forum for frame building here:

Frame Forum But it doesn't get the kind of traffic that the email list serv gets. The list serv has a lot of history behind it and hence more momentum.

you can find all sorts of links to BLOGS of people making their own stuff. This on is particularly good from a woman that just up and made her own frame with no instruction. Just good old research and hands on.
Suzy Jackson


I am torn at the moment about how I'd like to approach it. I know myself well enough that if I get into something it almost always ends up being whole hog. I've got a full woodworking shop down in the basement that has been sitting idle as I realize that I'm just not into woodworking much anymore.

For the past year, I've been whole hog on bikes. Racing, riding, working on them, BLOGging. And you know that is about ALL I've got time for.

But what am I going to do with another bike? And if I really get in to building I'd have to build at least 20 before I'd be qualified to sell them. Maybe I should nip this on in the bud before it morphs into a life of its own and I get a shipment of Oxy Acetelene tanks arriving at my front door.

I'm also torn right now between the aesthetics of Lugged vs Tig.

Lugs are works of art. Rideable works of art


But lately I've been considering the simple utilitarian aesthetics of the Tig welded variety.



A simple utilatarian frame seems to suit my approach to road riding these days.
It just seems that my road bike just hangs around and gets ridden a fair amount, but that's it, just ridden, on the trainer and the road, wherever. I rarely do anything to it except wipe the chain down now and then. It truly gets neglected. I feel horible looking at those exquisite lugs and the rust stains in the internal cable routing and the road grime that isn't getting cleaned off on a regular basis.

For the most part I'm a mountain biker who enjoys training and riding on the road. But I'm not into a lot of the roadie gear/tech/old school glory like I am into the gear/teach/old school of mountain biking.