Mountain Biking - Building your own bike

Does anyone here have experience with building their own frames? What are the do and dont's? Where do you get dimensions and what are the recommended materials for a beginner?

I'm right there with ya bro, I was actually about to post the same question. I'm very very curious about frame building.

Should be an interesting topic of discussion :)

I have been considering this for some time now.

it's expensive to weld aluminum.

So beginners are best to start with 4130 Chromoly.

The dimensions are all up to you. It's YOUR bike.

The hardest part is building the jig. That is the key to the bike.

E-mail some frame building companies and see if they have any pointers.

I suggest contacting .243 Racing. They build steel hardtails, and they are a legit company.

Pip from Banshee told me that to get a Full Suspension bike from the drawing board to the prototype, you'll look at spending 5 grand and up.

I was going to suggest going to nsmb.com and speaking with pip. HE would be able to help. Maybe DW from evil. He hangs out on hcor.net and ridemonkey.com and builds the coveted Evil bikes. Sideways on ridemonkey builds endless which is another good strong bike. Contact .243. The builder also hangs out on nsmb.com but his name currently slips my mind.

Thats all the engineers that come to mind for now :)

If you want info right from the horses mouth.

Call Banshee at 1-800-661-6566. Pip is extension 4 I think.

He is the man. Absolutely, positively, the best I have ever spoken with.

I like the Evil Imperial.. what is one of those worth?

arent there classes you can take?

there is a school in washington/oregon (i think at least) that offers a bunch of different classes. they offer two different frame building classes i think. the website is slipping my mind. if i find it i'll post it though.

Be nice if I lived in the states :(

http://www.ifbikes.com/how_to.html

Found this, its pretty detailed and interesting :)

Theres a guy who is usually on the road forums, dexmex, who I think is making/made a frame...he might be the one to ask...

One thing I do know is you can buy most parts pre made to be sure of standards. BB, headtube and dropouts are all available aftermarket. Do a search here and on ridemonkey as I am sure this is a recent thread.

Originally posted by Aggressor
I like the Evil Imperial.. what is one of those worth?

Around 7 large.


($700 US)

Originally posted by troie
Around 7 large.


($700 US)

Yeah spotted that on their website..

You can get the dropouts from Surly (I think it's www.surlybikes.com). Talk to Pip as to where you can get the BB and head tube.

He can also tell you where to get tubing.

So you can buy tubing that is precut, and you can weld it yourself?