Back in 1995, one year after some bastard stole my Specialized Stumpjumper Team and the insurance had finally come through, I was in a bit of a quandry about what bike I should buy as a replacement for the Stumpy. After all, the insurance had only paid out £675 and you don't get a lot of bike for that kind of cash (not even in 1995). Added to that was the fact that I'd already owned a few of the nicest off-the-shelf lightweight-XC bikes ever made (Scott Pro Racing, Alpine Stars CroMega, Kona Explosif, the Stumpy, etc.) I wanted something to outshine them all. But how?

There was only one way to improve - have a bike custom made!

At the time there were only a handful of custom frame builders in the UK that were making the kinds of bike I wanted (super-light XC racer), with the two best-known of them being Dave Yates from Newcastle and Chas Roberts from Croyden.

Chas had recently released his D.O.G.S. B.O.L.X (Dirt Oriented Geometry System using Butted Orthogonal Lightweight Xtra strength tubes), to which Dave responded by introducing his D.O.N.K.I.S.N.O.B (Dave's Oversize No Kompromise Interactive System. Never Obviously Beaten!!!) - two dream bikes, despite the naming conventions.

Anyway, after many weeks of deliberation I decided to shop local (Croyden and Newcastle being a very long way from Leicester) and opted for a Webster MTB, built in Columbus Max OR tubing, to my own specifications.......

......and it's a dream of a bike. It flies uphill, skips downhill and is a beautiful bike to ride generally.

So How Do You Improve on a Custom Built Bike?

Back to the present day. I've saved some cash and want a new bike for long distance off-road touring (I sold my last MTB tourer a few years back and have been missing the biking holidays with my good lady). I could buy one off-the-shelf but then it might not be be exactly what I want, or I could go for custom built which would cost a fortune. Either way I'd like to be as involved in the process as possible, to ensure the bike meets my requirements so custom is probably the way to go. But I've already got a custom built bike, and I want something better! So how do I improve on a custom-built steed?

Well, whilst browsing t'Internet looking for the perfect ride I naturally went back to my favourite frame builders, and it was then that I spotted that Dave Yates now runs a framebuilding course.

1 week long, with tuition and guidance from the man himself, and a complete frame to take home at the end of the course. What could be better? I signed up immediately!

So, what is it like to build your own bike? Below is my description of the process......

	Start with a box of tubes. Mine are Reynolds 525 tubes for the frame as this is a nice Chromoly tubeset suitable for touring. Matched to these were some straight Columbus fork tubes (I'd be building the first MTB frame/fork combination on any of Dave's courses). A pressed bottom bracket shell and a few dropouts and other braze-ons complete the kit. The fork dropouts are particularly nice as they plug into the ends of the forks tubes.
	The first step is to fit the seat tube into the bottom bracket shell, mark the excess internal metals with the scriber, file this off and then braze the tube into place.
	With the seat tube fitted I made a start on the chainstays - filing and cutting slots for the dropouts to fit into. The chainstays are 17" long - should be just enough to clear my heels when the panniers are fitted. The ends of the chainstay tubes are mitred to create a natural slope when brazing which can then be filed to provide clearance for sprockets. It'll also look pretty!
	The dropouts are then brazed in place and filed. (You can see here the slope of braze created by the mitre on the end of the chainstay. By ensuring that you get plenty of brass into the tube you have plenty of room to file the end to suit later)
	With the head tube and seat tube positioned in the jig at the correct angles, it's time to cut and file the down tube to fit. The trick here is to ensure that the mitres at each end are at right angles to each other (marking a line along the centre of the tube helps) and that there's as much contact between the tubes as possible to improve the strength of the joint. Lots and lots of careful filing then.
	The head tube and seat tube are positioned in Dave's MKIII jig and the down tube fit is checked. More careful filing.
	The top tube is next - same procedure: cut, file and fit.
	Flux is added around the joints before brazing so that the braze flows easily around the joint during the brazing process and to prevent oxidisation of the metal.
	Yours truly doing the plumbing. Here I'm using a No.5 tip which Dave recommends for most things, plus he's fitted a gas-fluxer which also helps to prevent oxidisation occuring. You can't see it here, but it provides a small shadowy outline to the flame tip when in use.
	With the main tubes now in place it's time to build up the fillet welds. This is done in 4 stages (1/4 circumference of the tube each) in order to build up the weld with some degree of control. The aim is to get a perfectly smooth curved join (as shown!) - working upwards from the horizontal in small steps is the way to do it and the whole fillet can be smoothed with the flame so reduce the amount of filing required. Tip: file the brass whilst it's hot.
	Whilst the frame cools it's time to start on the seatstays.
	Some bending is required to give the necessary clearance for the tyres. This is determined by the required tyre clearance - I figured I'd be using a 2.1" tyre.
	Once bent, the seat stays are filed and fitted into position, and that's the frame nearly completed.
	Time to add the finishing touches: rear stay braces, brake bosses, bottle bosses, pannier rack mounts and cable guides are brazed into position. (Here you can see another of Dave's jigs used to ensure the brake bosses are located correctly - these are adjustable for different wheel sizes). Bottle bosses are fitted by drilling 1/4" holdes into the frame using another of Dave's jigs to ensure the correct spacing. I've fitted bosses for 3 bottle cages - one under the downtube to carry a fuel bottle on extended tours.
	Fittings such as brake bosses (which will be under force during riding) are brazed using brass, whilst the others (cable guides, bottle bosses) are silver brazed. The lower temperature used whilst silver brazing affects the tubes less, but doesn't provide the same degree of strength.
	With the frame now complete it's time to start work on the forks.....
	The fork tubes are cut and filed to fit onto the steerer.This and the previous pictures show the steerer column fitted into Dave's fork jig which is adjusted to give the required rake. The it's just a matter of cutting, filing, filing, and a bit more filing to finish off.
	The fork crown race is brazed into place and is then faced off on Dave's lathe to give a smooth parallel surface for the headset.
	Next the fork tubes are brazed into position. The fillet is then built up as on the frame joints.
	Finally the brake bosses and pannier rack mounts are fitted.....
	....and the tubes sealed.
	The frame and forks, now completed are then tracked into alignment, the internal threads cleaned (bottom bracket) and the head tube ground ready for a headset. Finally the frame is shotblasted. Voila, a completely built frame and forks ready for spraying! (even though Jack doesn't believe me!)

About the Dave Yates Framebuilding Course

Dave Yates is one of the UK's premier frame builders and was (almost) single-handedly responsible for bringing MTBing to the UK (I know, I've seen the pictures!).

He's been building bicycle frames since the 60's when he was racing alongside Joe Waugh (pronounced Woff apparently), worked as head-builder at M-Steel cycles for about 25 years and then went solo last year after moving to Lincolnshire.

The workshop he's in is setup specifically for teaching - there are a number of workstations with all the necessary tools to hand, alongside the 'Mark III' jig he built himself to complement his building methods.

He's a top fella to work with - a true down-to-earth guy with a no-nonsense attitude to bikes and biking, and a good sense of humour. Be warned though - If you're like me and you like talking bikes, you're in real danger - Dave could talk the KNOB off a DONKI given half a a chance, and you'll soon find yourself in deep discussion whilst your part-built frame languishes forlornly on the bench. Well, something like that.

With only 2 students on each course you get all the attention you need from Dave - he's there to look over your shoulder and advise on technique whilst you're welding or to point out how to correct that dodgy angle you've started filing into your head tube! He evens makes the coffee (sometimes!).

I suppose I'd been surrepticiously looking for a course like this forever without really realising it. Now I've completed the week, built myself a beautiful new bike, and had one of the best experiences of my life. So, all in all, not a bad course then!

Cheers Dave!

Turning the Frame into a Bike

With the frame and forks built it's time to get it rigged with all the componentry to turn it into a bicycle, but first it needs to be painted. I could have sprayed it myself in the shed but I don't have the equipment required to get the finish I want on such an important piece of kit, so I sent it off to Argos Cycles in Bristol, opting for a simple black enamel finish.

Enamelling seems to be popular in the UK, as opposed to the US where powder coating is more widely used. The differences are that enamel is applied as wet paint in several coats and then baked to cure it. Powder coating, as its name suggests, is sprayed as negatively charged powder which is attracted to the metal of the frame. During subsequent heating the powder melts to give a smooth finish.

Getting your frame painted is a pretty straightforward task: find a painter, pick a colour, send the frame and wait for it to be finished. Sourcing or producing graphics for the frame is a whole different kettle of fish.

There are a number of methods to get your name on the frame:

* Masking and spraying: Cheap and good for fairly simple graphics or nice fades - you spray the frame in the logo colour, apply precut masking tape (or frisket paper if you want really fine detail) in the shape of the logo and then spray the frame colour. Fades can be achieved using some skillfull spraying and multiple colour sprays.

* Have some decals made: there are a few places on the web (such as Lloyds that will produce a nice set of decals for you. Simple lettering can be bought from print shops, and some shops can also cut custom artwork from a customer-provided computer files. A local signwriter might also be able to produce some decals for you - you'll have to ask to see examples of the stuff they can produce.

* Make some yourself - Suzy's Little Fish Bicycle web site gives a great description of one method.

I wanted a nice wheelsim logo, similar to the image used at the top of the website, and I like to play with pictures so I designed the graphics in Gimp (an open-source graphics package) and sought a decal producer to make them. Now this should be an easy task, but I contacted several over a number of months and didn't have any success. The cycle forums recommend 2 US places (Victory Circle Graphics and Screen Speciality Shop) but only VC Graphics got back to me and then only once. A tour of local print shops also proved futile before I finally discovered a solution in the shape of signwriter John Les of Glan Conwy, North Wales. John and his son Guy couldn't have been more helpful, explaining what the problem was with the graphics I'd produced (only 72 dpi with alien fades!), the limitations of what could be done (their kit works up to 600 dpi) and redesigning the logo to make it more snazzy and printable.

So, with the frame back from the sprayers, here's the final product!

So, with the frame now painted and decals applied it's time to start building. Here's the process:

First things first - get your frame painted and fit a headset. Now you have the starting point for your build.

Now, a quick explanation before I start: I have one week to build this as I'm intending to cycle it around Ireland in 8 days time! So, some parts will be new, and some will be bits from the shed or scavenged from my other bikes. Some might say it's criminal to spend so much effort on a new frame to lace it with old bits but there are design reasons as well as cost and time that make it a sensible choice. I'll explain as we go!

	First things first, I want to get some handlebars and wheels on so I can move the bike around and lean it on things without scratching the frame. First step is fitting the stem onto the fork steerer tube: the star spangled nut fits inside the headtube and with the stem fitted there should be about 1-5mm of headset overlapping the top tube to allow for adequate compression when tightening the steerer bolt. Here I have a little too much but I'll be changing the stem later to one with a smaller stack height.
	With the stem fitted I add some bars so that I can handle the bike a bit easier. Again these aren't the bars I'm intending to use, but they're what I've got until I've been to the LBS so they'll have to do. With the bars on I can now add wheels and I've got a frame that isn't going to get so bashed about as I add components. Once again, the wheels will be changed later!
	In order to make sure I have all the required bits it's useful to add stuff at this stage - here are my brakes, gear and brake levers, front and rear mechs, seatpost and saddle (all from the shed). The gear levers are some old Shimano XT thumbshifters - they're almost indestructible and the indexing can be switched off (great for touring), and they'll happily do 7 and 8 speed changing. (I've been collecting "thumbies" for years - they don't make 'm like this any more!)
	I've made it to the shop now, so it's time to fit the correct stem and bar. I've chosen an adjustable stem for comfort (as this is a long distance tourer it'll allow me to sit up a bit if (when) I get neck ache!). A flat bar gives a nice wrist angle and will allow me to fit bar ends for some extra hand positions (good for both comfort and for climbs).
	A good tip for fitting grips: pour some cold tea inside them first. It'll provide a bit of lubrication but will dry like glue! To get them off again, slide a small screwdriver inside the grip and squirt with GT85. The bottom bracket and chainset are fitted next. Here I've opted for the new Octalink/Hollowtech versions from Shimano as I want to see what they're like, but for a long distance tour I'd go back to a more standard square taper bottom bracket (shown in the bottom left pic on the right) and associated chainset, as these would be more widely available across the world. Fitting the bottom bracket is straightforward, screw it into the frame (making sure you've got it the right way round - they're usually marked or you can just look at the threads) and then screw in the opposite cup and tighten. The cranks should spin freely with no discernible play.
	The difference in weight between the Hollowtech and standard set-up is quite noticable , but I'll have to carry a hefty Allen key for the Hollowtech anyway!
	Now, with the shifters and levers correctly positioned (I set them up for comfort and to give enough room for bar-ends and grips) it's time to fit my brakes and gear mechs, and then I can sort out my cables and routing. I designed the frame with all cables passing along the top tube - it keeps them clean and out of the way when I have to lift the bike, but it doesn mean I need a top-pull gear mech for the front. The key when fitting cables is to cut the cable outers to length in order to get nice smooth curves in the cables whilst keeping them as short as possible, also ensuring as little frame rub as possible. Turning the handlebars to each side whilst measuring ensures that they're not too short! The outers are measured before the inner cables are fitted and a quick squirt of GT85 inside each of the cable outers to help keep them shifting nicely for a while. Once the inner cables are threaded I clamp them into position lightly and leave plenty of slack for adjustment later.
	Position the front mech on the frame so that when it's in the position shown there's a 6-7mm gap between the guide rail and the outer chain ring. Tighten it up on the frame ensuring that the guide rails are parallel with the shain rings.
	Set your front shifter to its middle ring position, pull the cable tight through the mech and tighten it. The outer screw (on top of the mech) sets the maximum reach of the mech, so shift to top ring and ensure that the mech sits correctly over the ring (the ring should be visible centrally between the guide rails). Not all mechs work the same so some fiddling to figure out which screw does what might be necessary.
	The same is done for the inner ring.
	With the new wheels on (a pair of black Mavic XC717s on XT hubs with an 8 speed XT cassette from Merlin Cycles - I always use Merlin: all the wheels are nicely handbuilt and the wheelkits are very reasonable), the brakes can now be adjusted (more on that later), the chain fitted, the shifting checked and some pedals attached. Finally I have a complete and rideable bike! Click on the image to see it in more detail.
	After fitting the front and rear Blackburn racks, adding the panniers, tent, plus fuel and water bottles I have a fully loaded bike ready for a big tour. Unfortunately I haven't got any money left so it's a 200 mile ride around Ireland instead!

I'm now working on another bicycle build - come see how I'm getting on!