I fancy a new frame for all my 26″ bits as my geometron is making my Cove stiffee feel terrifyingly twitchy.

I could buy something new with bigger wheels, but it just seems wasteful to bin a load of perfectly good forks and wheels.

I thought about a 27″ frame, but all my wheels are 135qr at the back and the more modern geometry frames are 142 or 148, so i would need at least a new rear wheel.

I could have one made to order, I guess that would be £1300+?

So. How much to learn to build a steel frame, buy the specialist tools, buy some cheep frame tubes, make mark 1, then buy some nicer tubes and build mark 2?

I’m sure a pro built custom frame would be better than my mark 2. But I’d love to be able to make my own.

Ball park figure? £1500?

Cheers

Martin

A mate of mine is just starting his own frame building company. He reckons about £1100 for a custom frame made from nice steel. I believe there isn’t a huge amount of profit in that for him. I would hate to think what he’s spent on tools, jigs, etc to get things off the ground. If you want to build your own then there a few companies offering frame building courses where you take away your own built frame at the end.

Go where Chips went

http://singletrackworld.com/2017/05/bike-check-chipps-performance-pub-bike/

Prices are on the site

http://downlandcycles.co.uk/

My mate did it recently at the Bicycle Academy:

https://thebicycleacademy.org/pages/standard-framebuilding-course

Including the materials – 853 level tubing from Columbus, carbon fork, internal routing, disk mounts, through axle – it was about £2200.

13k

Go where Chips went

Bike Check: Chipps’ Performance Pub Bike

Prices are on the site

http://downlandcycles.co.uk/

This

Downland are highly recommended (by me), I did an 8 day course there in March and built a CX frame which I am currently enjoying racing. I built a frame and fork with materials for them both coming to about £400ish.

I’m going back in December to build another one based on wanting to be better at it and some ideas to make a better version of the frame. One could do it relatively cheaply (files, saws, brazing kit, lots of measuring) but to do it more easily or accurately I suspect the kit becomes pricy (frame jigs, drill, lathe, bespoke bits for aligning things, taps and reamers etc.)

the Ceeway website has prices for tools and bits and can supply tubesets etc. NB: Do not be put off by the ‘vintage’ site design, they know what they’re doing

Do you already have the beard?

Thanks for that.

At those prices I guess If I want a frame I’m better off having it made.

Perhaps I’ll save up and do a course for my 40th- that will give me time to grow the beard as well

I daren’t add up what I’ve spent…..

It all depends on your background and what you have access to elsewhere (e.g I wasn’t a welder but had other metalwork and engineering skills and access to gas torch and bottles after hours at work). If you have similar then in theory materials is about £150-200. Vee blocks and a flat surface can be used for a jig. Free tube notch templates and cad on the Internet. Drill, hacksaw, vice and files. Brazing rod, silver solder and good fluxes.

But then it is much easier with a jig (so that needs making first).

And a tube notcher jig is handy.

And maybe tapping and facing tools.

A home oxygen generator / propane torch is convenient.

Then maybe some tapping and facing tools.

Expanding reamer for seat tube.

Somewhere fireproof to work…

As you can see it never stops.

Damn those courses with full equipment suddenly look cheap 🙂

At those prices I guess If I want a frame I’m better off having it made

Depends whether you want a new frame or if you want a new frame that you built yourself.

I was thinking the same as mtbfix – the price for doing the course isn’t that much more and you’ll come away armed with a lot of knowledge. With a decent amount of planning and designing beforehand (which costs nothing) you can also skip the mk1 / cheap tube step if you have someone doing the teaching.

I’d definitely go for the brazing option – with a little practice, almost anyone can make something structurally safe. As per Chipp’s experience – novice TIG is rather difficult (modern welding gear helps a lot, but some of the tube junctions are rather tight / tricky).

Depends whether you want a new frame or if you want a new frame that you built yourself

I’d like a new frame.

I’d like to make it myself

I’d like to be able to knock out another frame/s in the future.

I guess a frame builders course will answer the first two points and I’m never going to build loads.

Time to start saving 🙂

Bicycle framebuilding classes

[video]https://youtu.be/sumJ6iTH_mY[/video]