I made my girlfriend a frame as a Christmas gift. It came back from being painted today, and I thought some of y'all might be interested in checking it out. It's pretty scrappy, so please keep the following points in mind:

1) Before starting to build this thing, I hadn't touched a torch of any sort since my Jr. High Industrial Arts class 16 years ago.
2) The only things resembling a "jig" or "fixture" that I had access to were a bench mounted vise and a wobbly Park stand (which received a few good meltings).
3) I made it for my girlfriend for Christmas. It has the power of love on its side. Be nice.











Here's a picture of the frame and fork, pre-paint, with some wheels so you can get an idea of the geometry and (teensy tiny) size.



Tech specs:
Seat tube (c-c): 42.5cm
Seat tube (c-c): 48.5cm
Seat tube angle: 74°
Head tube angle: 72°
Tubing: Columbus SL
Lugs: Long Shen
Fork crown: Everest
Fork tips, track ends, BB shell: Kalavinka

Basically, the geometry is fairly relaxed and the chain stays are fairly long to give a nice, comfortable ride. It takes 650c wheels and has clearance for fenders (but no eyelets...). I had a poopload of fun and learned a whole lot making it and I am looking forward to the next one. Thanks, and sorry for the photo overload.

Wow! Good job! Looks pretty professional to me!

very nice

how much did everything cost you?

dude, that is SO awsome (and the color rocks).

Gorgeous frame, and an even better gift. What sort of build out plans do you have? Where did you build the frame? My birthday is in a few months - can I get one too?

jay-sus thats nice, as far as I can tell thats beautiful, I dont know if thereare any flaws thatonly a frame builder can see, but I sure as hell dont.......if your taking orders.....

xvx
wes

i love everything about this

That looks fantastic!!!! The fact that it was handbuilt makes up for any imperfections it might have in my opinion... the thought always counts (especially since it's a gift). The craftmanship looks really good as well!! This just makes me want to try to build my own frame all the more!!!

this is amazing. i'm guessing this is not your first handmade frame?

i love the fact that no jigs were used, and that it was a gift.

if i was talented enough to build such a machine, it would be MINE!

wanna make me one?

Amazing. Simply amazing. I'm very impressed and I hope your gf likes it.

That is awesome!! where did you source the material from?

you're going to grammar jail for verbing 'source'...

Beautiful frame. If the girl don't like it, dump her and I'LL go out with you.

(only calvin is allowed to weird language).

/derail

oh man! you get +1,000,000 points for having that reference handy!!! Verbing words!!

looks great. the only thing that seems weird are the seat stays. the bottom angle looks a bit off or something and the top seems sort of flimsy. that said, you should really give yourself a pat on the back for that one. first frame, no jig?! you oughtta look into doing this for real.

have you posted this in the framebuilders forum? i'd be curious as to what the pros would have to say?

i was gonna say something about how high the BB shell is, but then i read the part about the 650s...

the power of love took you a long way... well done...

You have inspired me I am gonna buld one one day....
I havn't done much brazing, but I MIG off road bumpers and roll cages for fun and quick cash

I would live to know how much it cost you, and where you got the materials and build info from.

Fantastic! I hope your gf appreciates it. I have a Columbus SLX tubeset in my garage from the 80's that I keep meaning to do something with. Please, share with us your build secrets...

great job. how long did it take you?

+more than i can say. a little off topic, but i think calvin and hobbes are worthy of their own thread.

that frame looks very nice. i like the really clean aesthetic of the lugs. and the track ends are nice too. hot. very very hot.

Damn man, that is a complete stunner. Can I be your girlfriend. And it's gray so you know I'm swooning.

I can hardly imagine how much action you've been getting since christmas.

Thanks, everyone, for the kind words! I really appreciate them.

matthavener & jtenright: The total for parts and materials probably came to about $300 and while I didn't keep track of the time I spent on it, I would guess that it took between 40 and 50 hours over the course of a few weeks.

gregg: As far as the build goes, I don't think she has anything too elaborate in mind. The wheels are built - 650c Sun Mistral rims and Nashbar track hubs - and I also picked up a crankset for her (a set of fluted Campy Pistas that had been milled down to 155mm for a jr racer). I think the one fancy bit of flare might be a sprung Brooks. I have a pair of teensy chip n' flops coming in the mail (thanks, Fugazi Dave!) as she's interested in giving bullhorns a whirl, but we'll probably just play the whole thing by ear.

RhinoRiot: It's not really a question of talent so much as it is perserverence. I was lucky to have access to a brazing torch and a friend who had built a frame to offer some guidance, but when it comes down to it, if a mechanically inept ass-clown such as myself can do it then anyone here can certainly do it too.

aj2four0: The tubing came from Kirk Pacenti, the lugs came from Nova Cycles, and the Kalavinka parts came from Kalavinka.

andy_is_me: While I would probably choose "delicate" over "flimsy," you're spot on about the seat stays. Getting them on nearly gave me an ulcer. When I ordered the parts I didn't realise that the tubeset I had ordered came with double tapered seat stay tubes and I ordered the wrong size stay plugs to finish them. Rather than go back and order the right sized plugs, I tried to do fastback stays and totally botched them. My salvage job was to cut the stays down to a point where the plugs I had ordered would fit and not be wider than the tube itself. I had already cut and slotted the other end of the tube to fit over the track ends, so they ended up being a little on the short side. The joint is solid, and my girlfriend weighs about 100lbs, so I'm not too worried about it failing. There's at least as much cotact as there would be with fastback stays, so I think it's OK. As far as the bottom angle goes, it's actually surprisingly on. The apparent askew-ness is probably a function of the incredibly uneven floor in our bedroom.

dolface/ImOnCrank: The colour is from an '06 Ford. I think it's called "Medium Titanium Pearl" or something like that... it's kind of the colour of an apple powerbook, but glossy - it looks a little more purple in the photos than it does in daylight. I really like it too.

Again, thanks for the props!