Build your own bike frame

We all like the fancy frames that manufacturers come up with from time to time (Cervelo, BMC, LOOK, Pinarello, Trek, et al.) but after a while we know that nothing beats a frame made for you. It’s the difference between wearing an off-the-shelf suit and a tailor-made one. Now, for the ones of us that we live a busy life in a busy city with loads of stress we might be dreaming of a more relaxed lifestyle in the countryside working in a small workshop building frames and selling them for ridiculously high prices. The truth is, though, that not many of us end up doing it. The following morning the dream is over and we go back to work to make some money to buy another bike (because we always want N+1 bikes; where N is the number of bikes we currently own).

So, a hand-built frame can only by tramped by a hand-built frame made by you! “But how?” I hear you ask. Some months back I came across the Bamboo Bicycle Club that will sell you a DIY kit to build a bamboo bike-frame. I know that when you think of a top-end frame, bamboo is not the first thing that springs into mind, but for a city bike it might not be that bad. Actually it will definitely turn some heads. The Bamboo Bicycle Club offers classes on bike-frame-building, too.

Now, if you like bamboo frames and you are seriously considering it, there is another, limited time, option that involves crowd-funding. So head over to Kickstarter to see the Bamboobee project. It is much cheaper, it reached the pledged amount within 2 days, it has top-up options and stretch-goals for disc-brake, belt-drive, bicycle parts, tools, etc. The people behind the project already sell bamboo bikes; you can see them at the Bamboobee site. The Bamboobee Kickstarter project is not for made-to-measure frame; you choose one of three sizes.

Now, if you want something serious and by serious I mean something made of steel, then there is a third option. Head over to Bicycles by Design and they will teach you how to build a bicycle frame whilst building yours. Now, this option is not cheap. It’s not bamboo you see, it’s Reynolds and Columbus tubes. From a recent article on Cyclist Magazine it seems that it’s not easy either.

You can choose between two bamboo options and one steel, with a wide price range and some extras. Personally, I would start with the easiest and cheapest and I would move my way up. This will give me the chance to learn from my mistakes. So if you first build a frame that is stiff you might realise that you need it to be more comfortable. If you had done it comfortable in the first place, then you would want it stiffer. Whatever it is, though, you will be very proud of it because you built it with your own hands. And if by any chance somebody will dare to laugh at you, because he thinks that his Trek is better than a bamboo frame you built in your shed, you will laugh last as you pass them up the hill.

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