Speed2XS

Hi everyone,

My wife and I would like to build a touring bike for my father-in-law as a thank you gift for all the help he has provided to us as of late. My problem is finding a somewhat reasonably priced (sub $1200) lugged steel frame and fork to start this project off with. The more more I spend on the frame, the more I will have to take away from the other components. An unpainted frame will do as we will have it professionally painted. I would rather not buy the Atlantis at their list price of 2k, to only have to spend more money getting it painted, which is a requirement.

Who makes, if anyone, what I am looking for?

Thanks in advance!


Laurence

imi

I can highly recommend the Bob Jackson World Tour made in England.
A beautiful traditional bike made from 631 Reynolds lugged steel.

It costs £505 (about $812).

I have recently finished my build. I went for an off-the-peg frame after much deliberation over custom frames.
The Mercian King of Mercia was in the running, but I finally went for the BJ as it had all the braze-ons I wanted as standard without having to go custom.

As standard it has 130mm rear drop-out spacing, but they'll build 135mm (or 132.5mm as I specified) if requested, at no extra cost.

Can't be happier!

edit: I think you'd even avoid the British V.A.T. tax, but have to pay taxes and duties when importing to the USA

fuzz2050

If you eliminate lugs from your requirements, you can get the same quality of bike for a lot less. OK, so it might be less pretty, but it's for riding, not looking at.

Speed2XS

imi: I was not aware of these before, I will check them out. Thanks.

fuzz2050: It's a gift for my father-in-law and he like's lugs. My hope will be that he will ride it, but like looking at it too when he's not.

antokelly

also check out spa cycles in the uk they have an ultra dawes galaxy frame and fork for i think 495 sterling excellent touring bike 853 tubing .

imi

Nice find there antokelly!
Not that easy to find frames on their website... under "parts and accessories" (logical in a way I suppose)
https://www.spacycles.co.uk/products....=m2b0s143p2426

Not lugged tho'

antokelly

imi a friend of mine bought the ultra galaxy last year think he paid around 2 grand for it anyway its a really nice tourer and very light.

fietsbob

Just that TIG welding is so much more advanced , and it eliminates
needing to buy lugs for all the sizes and angles


yea old school British Marques would likely be satisfactory ,
a Torch array brazing jig can turn out a batch of frames in a short order..

But paying a warehouse full of people in Asia to do the TiG welding by hand
costs less..

catmandew52

Henry James website https://www.henryjames.com/blocator.html lists most of the domestic (US) frame builders, and if you still can't find what you would like see if can sign up for a frame building class in your area.

imi

Not doubting that! 853 is lovely light steel as far as I can ascertain... The Mercian KoM would cost £200 extra with 853 as compared to 631.

Speed2XS

Thanks everybody for your input. I noticed, searching Google rather than the search on the forums, that this is a pretty frequently asked question. The Bob Jackson route seems like a great way to go, although a custom paint job would seem like a waste with all their options.

catmandew52- If I had the tools and time I would build the frame myself, as I completely enjoyed building the one I did at UBI.

fietsbob

Mercian , King of Mercia , was their most Ornate Lugged model,
maybe they are still bering made , shipped to us nostalgiacs

Ciufalon

Looks like Mercian still has their KoM frame for less than $1200 https://www.merciancycles.co.uk/frames/22/king-of-mercia

Brian25

Hi,

I'm Brian from Ravello Bikes in Tucson, AZ, and I could build you a lugged steel touring frameset for under $1200. My website shows a number of aluminum bikes, but I have built lots of lugged steel frames in my time. You can check out www.ravellobikes.com or give me a call if you'd like. If you decide to contact me, I hope you don't mind lots of questions, since I like to make sure I am giving the customer what they want.

Good luck,

Brian

Medic Zero

That King of Mericia is gorgeous! Going to have to add that to my want list!

Thanks for sharing both of those!

paxtonm

I ride a 64 cm King of Mercia. I've had all kinds of bikes, dating back to the 1970s, from hand-built steel (Tom Ritchey), to aluminum, to titanium (Litespeed). The KoM is the best riding bike I've ever thrown a leg over.

martianone

Check out Sanner cycles - nice lugged touring frame, not a huge $$

Shifty

Bruce Gordon BLT is $750 for frame and fork....$1725 fully built and ready to ride. Not lugged, but awesome!

https://www.bgcycles.com/blt.html

irwin7638

Rivendell (rivbike.com) and Soma (somafab.com) both make a couple in that price range. They also teamed up to create the San Marcos which is $900 and one I intend to buy soon.

Marc