bikes

Instead of a tube which has a consistent thickness, butted tubes are cut in a way where the center is very thin and the edges are thicker. A good steel frame is actually a bit lighter and much more durable than aluminum.

Quote from: devnill on July 11, 2017, 05:22:58 pm

Quote from: here cums the fuck truck on July 08, 2017, 09:10:58 pm

yardsale bikes are often really good deals, heavy fucking steel frame bikes from the 50s-80s that last forever and have bearings that can be repacked by hand. they weigh a ton, but last forever.

Its really hit or miss. Road bikes started to get really big in the 70s and a lot of manufacturers started making cheap shit to fill a gap. The trick is to look for butted steel tubing: http://www.reynoldstechnology.biz/materials/how-butted-tubing-is-made/.

What's the difference between butted tubing and non-butted tubing? Why do you need to look for it?

I always wondered how they made those weirdly shaped tubes of varying thickness. Now I know!

Hey lads, building my own bike out of steel tubing has been a goal of mine for many years. If any of you have any experience or advice I am down to listen.

Hey lads, building my own bike out of steel tubing has been a goal of mine for many years. If any of you have any experience or advice I am down to listen.

i am so curious why you want to do this! please answer these questions, should only take a moment

- why do you want to build your own frame?
- why out of steel?
- is it a conventional two wheel or something more?
- do you have any steel fab experience?
- do you have any bike assembling/building experience?

Quote from: ThePedalMan998 on April 27, 2024, 09:49:01 pm

Hey lads, building my own bike out of steel tubing has been a goal of mine for many years. If any of you have any experience or advice I am down to listen.

i am so curious why you want to do this! please answer these questions, should only take a moment

- why do you want to build your own frame?
- why out of steel?
- is it a conventional two wheel or something more?
- do you have any steel fab experience?
- do you have any bike assembling/building experience?

I am hoping to start building my own frames because I hope to start creating my own custom bicycles. I am hoping to eventually gain the skill to deviate from the typical bike frame design and build something more exotic, such as a velomobile. Rachel has also given me pictures of exotic pedal powered vehicles seen at Burning Man. There are also facebook pages like freakbikers Unite, which show people making highly exotic pedal powered creations. I have found these pages and resources to be extremely inspiring. I hope to create similar vehicles in the future, but I have been told I need experience building more conventional bikes first.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/freakbikersunite/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/115024628543289

 As for steel fab experience, I do have some limited experience with TIG welding steel, but I am hoping to get more practice with the thin wall 4130 chromaly tubing, which is what I have been told most bikes are made out of. As for bike assembling experience, I recently built a bike from spare parts at a bike store. I also recently attended a bike frame building course held in Colorado by a lad by the name of Walt Wehner. I am very serious about making this happen because cycling incorporates a mix of mechanical aptitude and physical exercise. I am also hoping to do this to gain metaphorical "brownie points" with my friends who are also into cycling, some of which have expressed a desire to make custom tandem bicycles. I would post pictures but I am not sure how the post picture and post video options work on these forums. Anyway, I will also be the first to admit that I still have a long ways to go, but I hope through determination, grit and asking for help I will eventually be able to make custom bicycles.

Also, steel chromaly tubing is also relatively easy to source. More exotic materials like aluminum, titanium, carbon fiber, etc are very expensive and typically not recommended by a beginner, though learning how to make custom bikes from such materials is possible.

Does this answer your questions Mr.Truck?