Other Frame Building References

• Notes on a frame building class by Terry Zmrhal, archived at the rec.bicycles info server run by Mike Iglesias.

  This long writeup, posted in several parts in 1993, was one of the catalysts that got me moving to make my own frame. Terry Zmrhal took a frame-building class at Ti Cycles in Seattle, taught by an experienced frame builder, and took the time and effor to share his experiences with on-line cyclists everywhere.

  Unlike Talbot, Terry Zmrhal's notes deal with modern frame building processes -- power sanders, milling machines, etc. This equipment makes the process faster, but isn't truly necessary.

• Damon Rinard's Tech Site has his carbon fiber frame building page that details his work home-building carbon fiber frames. Once again, when you strip away the mystique you'll find that carbon fiber is not rocket science to work with. Any mechanically-competent home builder should be able to follow this procedure.

• Chris Root at Dartmouth has a page of framebuilding references and information on his own amateur framebuilding progress.

• The Bicycle Forest now has a fascinating set of free frame CAD tools available. Plug in your proposed dimensions and they calculate stability and show a simple CAD drawing on thie screen. It's not something that will give you final working drawings for your frame, but it's quick and easy to play with when mulling over your design.

• Bronze Welding for Lugless Bicycle Frames by Mark Stonich gives a good introduction to this alternative to lugged construction.

• The United Bicycle Institute's Frame Building Class FAQ addresses common questions about their excellent courses on framebuilding.

This page written by Josh Putnam. Please feel free to email questions, comments, corrections, suggestions, etc.

© Joshua Putnam