I saw this on e-bay this morning and thought it was quite funny. I wouldn't have the skills to build my own frame, hell I can't even weld. Who is this guy trying to market with this? It looks like low end tubing so a frame builder wouldn't be interested. I guess if you had a welder and wanted to throw away $125 to give it a try this is for you.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7217813056&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1

Mods: this is not mine, I just thought it was odd.

Steve

As soon as I finish my "Drill your own tooth" kit, I'm gonna give this a shot.

As soon as I finish my "Drill your own tooth" kit, I'm gonna give this a shot.

The pre-John Stewart Daily Show had a segment about a guy in Minnesota (I think) who gave himself his own root canal. Frickin' hilarious -- does anyone remember it? About '97 I think.

Founderland make great tubes. Their double butted tubing is rebranded as Reynolds 520, and they also make the steel stanchion tubes for Rock Shox.

The seller is located right here in my home town...maybe Wade will lend me a torch and I'll whip out a new frame...

The seller is located right here in my home town...maybe Wade will lend me a torch and I'll whip out a new frame...


so this guy has no connection to any Oregon builder? interesting. I looked at some of his prior transactions on Ebay, and it looks like he bought a torch recently. He probably wanted to build his own stuff but maybe got in over his head???

I don't know if it was this guy or some other guy but I almost bought a DIY fixed gear road frame kit. I've got a mig and tig welder, a plasma cutter, and most of the tools to give it a go, but I came to my senses when I realized making a jig would be pretty interesting...

You can make a jig out of wood or just freehand it, there is a book on brazing a frame with wooden jig, heck, it'd be cool as hell to give it a go if you have some welding experience.

OK, maybe freehand isn't a good idea. But still, go for it and share your experience so we can all live vicariously!


I don't know if it was this guy or some other guy but I almost bought a DIY fixed gear road frame kit. I've got a mig and tig welder, a plasma cutter, and most of the tools to give it a go, but I came to my senses when I realized making a jig would be pretty interesting...

LOL, I am the one selling the tube sets. I used to work at Bike Friday, and you would be suprised if you knew how easy it really is to build your own bike. The hardest part is picking the geometry you like, and then setting up a jig to hold it all how you want it. Most LBS's have the tools to align, ream, and face the frame afterwards, if you don't trust yourself.

Besides, $125 is cheap for a custom frame when you consider that most boutique steel steeds cost over $1000. High end tube sets can cost $200+ (without the braze-ons or drop-outs), so this tubing may be a good practice set for anyone interested in taking on framebuilding as a hobby. This material is overstock from a custom tandem builder, so trust me it isn't junk HI-TEN Huffy scrap. ;)

Cheers, MrCookie.

PS, check this site out.

http://smokebikes.com/

Progress so far.
If anyone wants to give this a try, let me know. I'll walk you through my process, and give any hints I can. I can even provide materials if needed.

very tempting. I can TIG and work the tubes but have never worked out bike geometry. Maybe I'll start playing around...

The pre-John Stewart Daily Show had a segment about a guy in Minnesota (I think) who gave himself his own root canal. Frickin' hilarious -- does anyone remember it? About '97 I think.



heck yeah i remember that!!! the funny part wasn't so much that he drilled his own teeth, but that he fabricated replacement teeth out of pebbles from his driveway. the daily show used to be hilarious. do you remember the interview with KKK members at a rally? still cracks me up.

the_dude

I just dropped the prices on the kits, and things are starting to move.

Here are a couple of links that would help you get started with planning.

http://www.ivycycles.com/framedrawing/frame1.html

http://www.bikeforest.com/CAD/bikeCAD.html

I basically used Brandon's approach (Ivy Cycles), and used graph paper (one square equals one inch) to draw/draft a scaled down drawing of what I wanted (based my choices on other reviews, as well as the specs listed on several bike company websites) and have closely followed the lengths and angles I calculated from the drawing.

-Cheers, Mike.

I just dropped the prices on the kits, and things are starting to move.

Here are a couple of links that would help you get started with planning.

http://www.ivycycles.com/framedrawing/frame1.html

http://www.bikeforest.com/CAD/bikeCAD.html

I basically used Brandon's approach (Ivy Cycles), and used graph paper (one square equals one inch) to draw/draft a scaled down drawing of what I wanted (based my choices on other reviews, as well as the specs listed on several bike company websites) and have closely followed the lengths and angles I calculated from the drawing.

-Cheers, Mike.

Wow thank you for those links. BikeCAD is great!

Progress so far.
If anyone wants to give this a try, let me know. I'll walk you through my process, and give any hints I can. I can even provide materials if needed.Are the AMP energy drinks a critical part of the process?

Those, or coffee!
My ADHD needs lots of fuel to keep me focused :D
I'm out building the rear triangle now, and will post pics as I progress!

Here are the latest pics. I hung a wheel in the dropouts, and the spacing seems pretty good. At this time it looks like I will be able to fit up to a 2.3 tire in the back.

PS you like the Harbor Freight el cheapo level I used for the platform...? :D

Here are some more pics. The alignment worked out pretty good. Current batch of kits are all sold.

Cheers, Mike.

Do you plane to offer more of these kits?

Here is the current progress.
I still need to smooth/file a couple of spots, and the whole BB area, and attach the cable stops and brake bosses.
If I didn't have a 3 week old baby things would probably be going a little quicker.

Great, Just &@#*!$ great. I might as well go get the divorce papers ready. I gotta try this!

Here is the current progress.
I still need to smooth/file a couple of spots, and the whole BB area, and attach the cable stops and brake bosses.
If I didn't have a 3 week old baby things would probably be going a little quicker.
Looking nice. How many hours to get it to that point?

Looking nice. How many hours to get it to that point?

Probably 20. Lotsa late nights... and beer.

Probably 20. Lotsa late nights... and beer.
Just noticed something. In the last picture it appears as though you disrobed to take the shot as evidenced by the clothing under the dropouts. Very disturbing.

Just noticed something. In the last picture it appears as though you disrobed to take the shot as evidenced by the clothing under the dropouts. Very disturbing.


Umm yeah, that is the sweater I didn't want to have covered with brass filings.
Dremel with the drum sander + Brass = Golden boy...?

Just noticed something. In the last picture it appears as though you disrobed to take the shot as evidenced by the clothing under the dropouts. Very disturbing.

Little soon to be lubin that bottom bracket, Dont ya think? :D

Being a tinkerer with some welding experience, have always wanted to try building my own - with guidance for quality control at first - heard some bike mechanic training course trains for this for a thousand bucks (maybe thats the cost for a ti frame, not sure - anyone know about this?) your frame looks good. Hope to see the finished product.

Professional builders that offer courses to help you build your own (Brew and Vulture cycles for example) will teach you what you need to know from the ground up in a class room setting. They will teach you about geometry, mitering, brazing and welding, and finishing like cleanup and alignment, and then painting. They are quite expensive ($1000+), and generally will only let you do steel (UBI has a ti building course, but it is like $2500 because the materials cost is about $600-800). But you end up with a pro quality frame with bragging rights.

If you have zero metal working skills or experience, these courses are an excellent way to learn a lot of do's (miters should fit snug) and don'ts (don't overheat the tubes when putting in bottle bosses, etc.) in a "relatively" safe environment.

As soon as I finish my "Drill your own tooth" kit, I'm gonna give this a shot.

Bwahahaha!!! :D

do you have a rough idea of the frame weight pre-paint?

do you have a rough idea of the frame weight pre-paint?
I just put it on my Piece of sh@t digital shipping scale, and it reads just under 5 lb 10 oz.

A wee bit on the heavy side. Between the tandem seat and chainstays, and excessive brass around the BB, there is probably a pound of extra weight there. I bet my next 29er frame I build will be under 4.5 lbs (unless the EBB is more heavy than I expect).