Has anyone on here ever had experience with the construction of a bike frame? I did some research and it doesn’t look impossible to do…just time consuming and with a high margin for error. I have all the equipment I might need (sans equipment for painting). So, is it worth giving it a try? And do you know any resources I could check out for more information about it?
there is a frame building forum somewhere, and one on bf…
Find someone who’s already done it. Welding skills are a good start but then there’s a lot of bike-specific stuff you’ll need to know like: geometry, tubesets, assembly order. You’ll also need seat tube reamer and possibly a BB/HS facer. Frameforum.org is a good resource.
there is a really good blog style tutorial, lemme see if I can find it.
here:
http://www.littlefishbicycles.com/frame/there’s a class for 3/4/5 year engineers at my school for frame building, and its actually pretty tough, ive heard. there’s vibrations you need to take in consideration… etc. if i was smart enough to be an engineer i’d be taking it in a second
if that dude up there can do it, it cant be terribly hard, especially if you are just copying geo from a frame you like or already have…
You’re buying tubesets already designed for the purposes you are using, so materials consideration on a basic “will it fail” premise shouldnt be a problem unless you fuck up your brazing. A class that taught you these principles could be difficult, but just doing it yourself doesnt look to be to terribly difficult, just time consuming.
That dude is a chick!
really? haha, wow.
nice.
Which equipment is that? Do you plan to weld or braze? Do you have a frame jig? There are a number of other bicycle specific tools that one needs to have to finish a frame. Specifically, I’m thinking of the necessary tools to face and tap the bottom bracket, face and ream the head tube, align the dropouts, etc.
Which equipment is that? Do you plan to weld or braze? Do you have a frame jig? There are a number of other bicycle specific tools that one needs to have to finish a frame. Specifically, I’m thinking of the necessary tools to face and tap the bottom bracket, face and ream the head tube, align the dropouts, etc.[/quote]
a dedicated frame jig and dropout spacer aren’t necessary.
On a minimal level you can get by with an acetalene torch and the assosciated welding equipment, a bike stand and some basic materials found in a hardware store.
Getting things faced and reamed can probably be done at any LBS worth it’s salt, i would imagine if you talked to the owner about your interests in learning the skills they would be more than willing to help you out.
alx tx or whoever went to a class for it and made a bike
good info in this thread. ive wanted to build a frame for a long time now.
You suck on the tits of knowledge and yet you slap our father in the face.
You suck on the tits of knowledge and yet you slap our father in the face.[/quote]
he is the unwanted bastard child of tarck bear.
You suck on the tits of knowledge and yet you slap our father in the face.[/quote]
he is the unwanted bastard child of tarck bear.[/quote]
jealous 
[quote=“son of tarck bear”]
jealous 
[/quote]
Was talking about you. You are a son only in name, not nature.
you dont know my life
My dad has welding equipment and seems like he’d be willing to help if I found him enough positive information and tutorials. The guys from Kazane live near me so I might give them a call. I’m not sure what the best way to attack it is though.
Your best bet is to read up as much as you can beforehand. I’ve been in your situation before and can tell you that the wealth of free information on the 'net is almost overwhelming. A person can read for dozens of hours on the topic and still have much to learn. Frameforum probably has the most info, in addition to have several pro builders kind enough to answer your questions.
If you do find someone who’s willing to teach you the ropes, do them the favor of being as informed as possible so you don’t waste your (and their!) time going over stuff you could have learned on the web.