Hello, folks.

A bit of mechanical background about me: I've been working on cars and motorcycles since I was 14, and I'm competent with a wrench. I've also done a bit of fabrication (fiberglass, brazing, and wire-welding, plus machine shop in school), and painting. I'm not great with metal, but I enjoy it and would like to do more of it. I'm pretty handy with wood (made most of my own furniture), and like doing fussy/careful work and doing it correctly.

And a bit of professional background: I'm a fairly senior software architect type in his early 40's doing independent consulting work for big banks (not as lucrative as it sounds), and I'm sick of it. I am going to make a big professional change hopefully sometime within the next year and I am exploring a lot of options about just what to do.

Trying to get into bicycle fabrication is the option that's farthest from my comfort zone, but I am considering it seriously. For reference, some of the other options I'm considering would involve spending a year or more at school - which means significant monetary and time investment, plus the opportunity cost of losing a year+ of salary.


Now, I'm not a great cyclist, not an experienced bicycle mechanic, and not an expert welder/fabricator. However, I have a lot of love for cycling, for all things mechanical, and have wanted to become an expert welder/fabricator since my teens.

I live in Toronto, which has a remarkably rich and varied bike culture. Despite having a remarkable proliferation of bike shops, it seems that there are no full-time frame builders operating in the city. To me, that implies that one of the following is true:

1. There is a significant niche for custom building here, and it's wide-open.
2. It's impossible to keep a frame building business in operation in Toronto.

On one hand, I know that people are willing to deal with builders at significant distances to get what they want, and there is at least one well-regarded frame builder within ~100km. On the other hand, I know that around here there are a lot of cyclists living a car-free lifestyle (including me), who would be inclined to give business to a shop that they can cycle to or that's easily accessible by transit.


As I look into other options (teaching, MBA/mgmt, journalism/writing, my own software business), I can't shake the idea of going to a good frame building school, getting a jig, torch, and collection of files, and setting up shop in a small space in the Junction somewhere.

I would have no expectations of putting out a shingle and having customers line up - my intent would be to just start building as many lugged steel frames as I can at the most common sizes and sell them on ebay or etsy, or on consignment with a local bike shop. I would expect to lose money doing this for a while as I practice and hone my skills to the point where I could move up to higher end bespoke building and figure out a specialization that would let me differentiate my products from other builders. My intention would be to stay focused on frame design and builds, and team up with a good mechanic for fitting and tuning everything else.


My questions:

1. Are there full-time frame builders in Toronto that I'm not aware of? I don't see any since Mariposa closed.
2. Why are there so few builders in Toronto? Does it all come down to high rent and taxes?
3. Is it plausible to think that someone with my background and skills could make a go of it in a one-man operation like I describe?
4. Do frame builders have to carry any specific liability insurance?
5. What do you see as the pros and cons of taking this route? Here's how it looks to me:

Pros:

1. Working with metal and fire is rewarding.
2. People buying bikes are excited and happy, custom bikes even moreso.
3. Opportunity for some artistic/design expression.
4. Chance to do at least a bit of engineering (in addition to being a hobby mechanic, I studied physics).
5. Radical career change. Life change, really.
6. Spending my days mediating on bikes and bike-related stuff would be good for my soul.

Cons:

1. Non-trivial startup costs.
2. Rent & utilities must be paid every month, regardless of customer demand.
3. Seasonal/whimsical demand.
4. Customer excitement and happiness dampened by what you have to charge to pay the rent selling hand-built frames.
5. Spending my days in a small shop by myself could be bad for my brain. Lot of opportunity for cabin fever.

Any info, advice, or insight would be much appreciated.

Thanks.