Hi all… been a while since I’ve posted but I still love old steel bikes!

How much can a good, professional artisan frame-builder (at the top of his game, say 6 years in) make in a year… on average?

I’ve seen that a one-man show typically makes only 15-20 frames a year. These frames sell for about $2000 each on average. That means around $30K to $40K gross per year assuming they sell every frame they build. Let’s say $35K a year. Well… Parts (tubes, lugs, brazons, decals) are 10%, business taxes are 25%, overhead (rent, electricity, insurance) is about 10% = $21,600 net a year. And that is not even considering initial trade tools….which are ummm… a lot.

$22K net for a really good frame-builder selling everything he makes?

Is this right? If so, what can he do to supplement his income? How well did Alex Singer, or Herse or Mario Confente do? How well does Richard Sachs, Vanilla, Calfee or the best small operations do? Do you have to turn into a Cervelo factory to do really well?

Thanks in advance!