Framebuilders - Where to purchase tubing.

I looked through some of the past posts to see if I could find some info for this one, but didn't find a whole lot.

I'm wondering where is a good place to buy tube sets from. I have found a couple sites that sell Columbus tubing, but they're in europe. If anyone knows of a place in Canada, that would be ideal, but I won't be too picky if it's from south of the border. I'm not overly concerned with what the manufacturer is, as it will be my first frame, but if anyone has suggestions for things to stay away from, I'm all ears.

thanks,

I was just about to post this too...for the U.S.

http://bringheli.com/ Dedaccai distributer (cheapest prices for quality tubing)
http://henryjames.com/ True Temper tubing and nice lugs/parts
http://bikelugs.com/ Columbus tubing and nice lugs
http://ceeway.com/ Columbus tubing and lots of extras (great source and quite cheap even with shipping)
http://www.novacycles.com/catalog/ Columbus tubing along with some left over Tange stuff. Edit: A few years ago Nova's prices for non-wholesale buyers (ie garage guys) were quite high. In checking their prices now though, they seem quite reasonable. I'm guessing that they are feeling the pressure from competition which forced them to adjust. Good for us!

Search "Ceeway", which is in Europe. Although they are in Europe they have a huge selection of lugs,especially fork crowns. If you are strickly looking for U.S just search Henry James. The selection is limited, when dealing with lugs,but it is easier than dealing overseas.

I like Nova, they gave me great service on orders from canada, and kept the postage reasonable when asked. If you ask there is a lot more stuff available than they show online though they show some good stuff there.

For straight 4130, and there are some pretty cool, expensive bikes being made out of that alone, like 29ers, and Bikefridays, so other non-road race bikes are possible, try leavens aviation, there are western and Toronto sources for them, and online. In the US, and I think here you may also prefer this option in Canada, you could try aircraft spruce and Specialty, since they a lot have cheaper prices online, if it turns out you are forced to mail order anyway. I like Leavens cause I can walk in. Even the fancy shops like Mariposa use some 4130 for racks, and it's good for practice.

Mariposa was pretty happy to talk bike tubing and parts kits, when I was last chating to them, don't know how expensive that would be. Phone Mariposa of a Friday if you have the option. That is usually better than email or non-retail days, though it all works.

Really all these people mentioned in this thread are great, and I think we are lucky to have so many sources.

thanks a ton, certainly gives me some more places to start.

Wicks aircraft supply is cheaper than spruce for 4130.

Wicks aircraft supply is cheaper than spruce for 4130.

I was looking at the website and had a couple of questions. Let's say I wanted to get some of the 1 1/8" tubing for practicing - I understand that it's best to practice wall thickness that you would be building with, so that would be the .035", right? Also, instead of wasting good lugs for practice, I thought I could get some 1 1/4" tubing and cut some short sections and practice lap joints at first. What ID would be most similar to the ID of a lug socket? Would the 1-1/4" with a wall thickness .058 and inner diameter 1.134 work, or is that too big (or too small, even) for the 1.125 OD ?

I just emailed joe Bringheli and got a prompt reply that a price list is in the mail.

http://bringheli.com/

I've also been looking at Nova cycles.

I'd like to do some lug carving. Are cast lugs much harder to cut?

1 1/8" .035 and 1 1/4" .058 are pretty good for making "luglike" practice joints. The fit is a bit loose for a real silver filled lug joint, but that doesn't matter much for practicing.

"Are cast lugs much harder to cut?"
Yes, but check out the gallery at bikelugs.com, all cast stuff.

Marinoni sells Columbus tubing as well...and they are canadian

This is helpful, thanks all. I am about to stumble through a first attempt and will update this with any more news.