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I've been riding my own home built bike frames for a long time. I built this steel road racing frame back in 1995 and it's still going strong!
This frame was silver brazed using an oxy/acetylene torch and all the tubes were mitered by hand using a file and a hack saw. I made a simple jig from wood to hold the tubes in place while the frame was tacked together. The frame is a mix of Reynolds 531 for the chainstays, Reynolds 653 for the top tube and down tube and 731OS for the seat tube. The finished weight (not including fork) came in around 3.75 lbs.- not too shabby for a 56cm frame with an oversize top tube. The lugs came from Henry James and the dropouts came from a friend that is a frame builder. The dropouts are kind of neat as they have a deep socketed joint for the chainstays and seatstays.The fork is a carbon fiber Kestrel EMS Pro.
I tend to build my road bikes with pretty relaxed geometry since that's always worked well for me. I have a long femur and I need the seat to sit far back so this bike has a relaxed seat tube angle- 72.5 degrees. The head tube angle is 73 degrees and with a 56cm top tube length I can get a really nice comfortable ride and still get a good handling bike. The oversize (1.125" OD) top tube makes a big difference in handling- the old 1" diameter top tubes made for a pretty flexy bike with this relaxed geometry.
I've ridden a lot of carbon fiber bikes but there is something that is just so nice about the ride quality of a hand made steel bike (I do like carbon forks a lot.) Maybe if I manage to build myself a steel cyclocross frame in the future I can do a full detailed instructable that shows the entire process start to finish.
For more information about building your own frame check out the framebuilder's forum- http://www.frameforum.org/forum3/index.php
This frame was silver brazed using an oxy/acetylene torch and all the tubes were mitered by hand using a file and a hack saw. I made a simple jig from wood to hold the tubes in place while the frame was tacked together. The frame is a mix of Reynolds 531 for the chainstays, Reynolds 653 for the top tube and down tube and 731OS for the seat tube. The finished weight (not including fork) came in around 3.75 lbs.- not too shabby for a 56cm frame with an oversize top tube. The lugs came from Henry James and the dropouts came from a friend that is a frame builder. The dropouts are kind of neat as they have a deep socketed joint for the chainstays and seatstays.The fork is a carbon fiber Kestrel EMS Pro.
I tend to build my road bikes with pretty relaxed geometry since that's always worked well for me. I have a long femur and I need the seat to sit far back so this bike has a relaxed seat tube angle- 72.5 degrees. The head tube angle is 73 degrees and with a 56cm top tube length I can get a really nice comfortable ride and still get a good handling bike. The oversize (1.125" OD) top tube makes a big difference in handling- the old 1" diameter top tubes made for a pretty flexy bike with this relaxed geometry.
I've ridden a lot of carbon fiber bikes but there is something that is just so nice about the ride quality of a hand made steel bike (I do like carbon forks a lot.) Maybe if I manage to build myself a steel cyclocross frame in the future I can do a full detailed instructable that shows the entire process start to finish.
For more information about building your own frame check out the framebuilder's forum- http://www.frameforum.org/forum3/index.php
To answer your question, tube sets are sold in different lengths to cover building different size frames. Typically the the tubes are butted, meaning the wall thickness changes over the length of the tube. You have single butted, double butted and triple butted tubes. Seat tubes are usually single butted, so they are thicker only at the bottom bracket shell while top and down tubes are usually double butted so they are thicker at the lugged joints and thinner wall thickness in the middle. The length and thickness of the butted section varies according to the overall length of the tube and whether the tube was designed for brazed lug construction or TIG welding.
So according to the final length you need the tube to be you order a specific tube and then cut it to the proper finished length at the butted section. Some builders pick and choose individual tubes from different tube sets in order in order to change the feel of the frame according to rider weight and style of riding.
Lugs can be ordered in a few different angles/tube diameters and they can sometimes be modified up to around 1/2 degree by either grinding or bending them. Dropouts also come in different angles/styles- some have tangs, some have sockets and some are designed specifically for TIG welding.
If you have any other questions just let me know!
Know of any place that sells lugs with a triathlon geometry? I can' seem to find any so I might have to do without for my future frame build.
http://www.timpaterek.com/tpmanual_pdf.htm
Tim has a newer version for sale on his website as well- for aspiring frame builders it's worth every penny.
I hate these "modern" bikes having curved tubes, I think they are the "how not to do".
Yours is perfect!
I've been really wanting a cyclocross bike so maybe later this year or next year (funds permitting) I'll be able to build one. I've got a couple of new suspension bike designs I want to try out as well. :)