Frame building.
I had to learn the basics. So when at the BESPOKED in London I saw my chance. Off to Downland Cycles in Kent for a weeks training then. Its good to see how and why things are done. Enigma also teaches frame building. The advantage with Downlands is you live there in the countyside outside of Canterbury.
You start with learning to file tubes to the micro millimeter folowed by welding practise. I have welded at factories before but it always needs to be refreshed.
Then frame design. I had already a frame design based on two frames I owned at the time. One was a Cinelli Nautilus and the other a frame by Andrea Pesenti. I had the design on BikeCAD which is what Downlands used. You have to buy BikeCAD and you need Java to be installed. So on my Mac at home I have rattleCAD. From the computer you can print out how to file the tubes. First you need a centre line on the tubes.
I used Columbus Spirit niobium main tubes. Columbus head tube with Columbus stainless inserts. Bottom bracket is Reynolds 853. A handfull braze-ons from Cinelli. Rear forks are also Columbus. Not sure what as I used what looked best in my fantasy (nivacrom or cyclex). Rear ends are Paragon. Front braze-ons for the gear cables are ordinary 5mm nuts. The rear bridge is just a piece of thin tubing I found and welded on at an angle.
Tubesets and braze-ons come from Ceeway. Also this frame and fork were painted in Bristol by Argos Racing.
