I'm looking to build my first frame this winter. My dad does a lot of welding and has torches and equipment that I'm planning to take advantage of. I've talked to a local framebuilder here who has offered to give me some scrap tubing and cheap lugs to practice on.

I was thinking I would build a touring 29er frameset (sort of a Salsa Fargo knockoff) as I already own 3 road frames (a tourer, a winter fixed gear and a 650a conversion). Is this going to present me with undue stress as a first time builder? I was thinking of using this tubeset:
https://www.cycle-frames.com/bicycle-...-X-969-DT.html

I'm presuming that with a lugged frame I'll be restricted to building with a horizontal top tube. Is this the case? Is working with the tire clearance on the rear triangle going to be very difficult with only improvised jigging?

Also does anyone know if it is possible to get a custom fork into the free online version of bikecad? I was planning on just using a salsa fargo fork that I have but am having some trouble getting bikecad to display it even after entering in the dimensions.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

No, there are lugsets for sloping top tubes, usually 6 degrees or so. Silverbraze posts here and he designed the lugset I'm building my current frame from.

You're going to have difficulty finding a lugset for that 35mm down tube, though, and those pre-bent chainstays might cause issues with standard bottom brackets. I would suggest going with a 9/6/9 road OS tubeset (unless you're big or plan on carrying large loads), the Nova stuff would be fine for your first frame.

The free version of bikecad doesn't give you tube lengths (unless I missed something). Try rattlecad (https://sourceforge.net/projects/rattlecad/) instead.

Pete

Ah. Glad to hear that there are lugs available to accommodate a sloping top tube. I want to build this for comfort rather than aerodynamics so that's a good way to get the handlebars up a little higher.

I'll try rattlecad tomorrow when I'm at my home computer.

Do you think if I went with an OS road tubeset that I would have to bend the chainstays myself if i wanted to fit 29x2.2 tires?

Yeah, definitely, unless you're ready to do some of your own chainstay bending. Perhaps you might look at a combination lugged/lugless construction, using fillet brazing and the other s-bend chainstays at the bottom bracket, and lugs elsewhere?

I'm only on frame 2, so perhaps someone with more experience fitting larger tires will chime in.

Pete

35mm dt is a good choice for a 29er. You can get lugs to fit from Ceeway and the sloping tt set from LLewellyn that was mentioned above is available in those sizes.
Bending the chainstays won't be the issue though, the problem is that none of the available bb's have chainstay ports at the right angle for a 29er.
The same issues were discussed here: https://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=663665

Hmm, so perhaps I could use something like this Henry James Cleanline Mountain Bike Shell: https://www.henryjames.com/productmtn.html#mtn and fillet braze just the chainstays while keeping the rest of the bike lugged.

Given that a 29er kind of throws the classic handbuilt bike look out the window anyway I'm mostly trying to build with lugs because it seems easier to jig.

I am trying to do the same thing as you, though not a 29er. Im trying to make a crosscheck-ish bike but with room for 2.1 - 2.2 also. Trying to figure out the best way and what bb to use. I too wanted to go with lugs all around since I am jiggless too. If you are fillet brazing does it matter what bb shell you use? Can u use one of nova's mtb lugged bb shells or will that mess up too much of the other geo? I was hoping not to fillet braze this early on but...

Also what is a good tube set/size for a 250 lbs rider who will be cx racing this bike too? I like OS tubing but mudbay mentioned the unless you are big thing? What chain stays would you suggest, s bend road, zona cx tube set at nova or s bend mtb stays?