Frame building - what style should I make?

Ok, so for GCSE im undertaking the massive task of making a bike frame :) should be fun, havent decided what sort of style i want it to be, first i need to decided on style and then get fitted, im thinking as i've already got my barron which has nice aggressive angles maybe i should go for something a bit for heavy duty and trick orientated what do you lot think?

crud bucket styles

what?

Go for whatever is easiest and cheapest, I know I don't know you, your school workshop or your skill level in welding/brazing but I'm guessing the answer to all of these is probably going to be less than ideal. I know at the time it seems like a great idea but I'd really reconsider this before you invest time and money in to this project. I've been there and done that (now at uni studying product design) and at GCSE level it really isn't worth it. You'll get full marks by making a coffee table or something simple and making it damn good where as with the the bike frame it will probably cause you a lot of grief and you may not get it built to a particularly high standard as well as leaving you with a not so great grade.

If you really want to do this (which it sounds like you do) either wait until college or uni (if you are carrying on this type of course) and do it properly, You will have more time and better resources. Or spend some cash on equipment and spend the summer doing it in your garage when you will have all the time in the world. As I said before I don't know how much experience you have with welding or brazing but these things are tricker than you think.

best of luck

Go for whatever is easiest and cheapest, I know I don't know you, your school workshop or your skill level in welding/brazing but I'm guessing the answer to all of these is probably going to be less than ideal. I know at the time it seems like a great idea but I'd really reconsider this before you invest time and money in to this project. I've been there and done that (now at uni studying product design) and at GCSE level it really isn't worth it. You'll get full marks by making a coffee table or something simple and making it damn good where as with the the bike frame it will probably cause you a lot of grief and you may not get it built to a particularly high standard as well as leaving you with a not so great grade.

If you really want to do this (which it sounds like you do) either wait until college or uni (if you are carrying on this type of course) and do it properly, You will have more time and better resources. Or spend some cash on equipment and spend the summer doing it in your garage when you will have all the time in the world. As I said before I don't know how much experience you have with welding or brazing but these things are tricker than you think.

best of luck

Hmm thanks moog, well i have done about 5 hours of welding blush hehe not much i know but my DT was suitable impressed that they had been very good first tries, i might just go and make a desk then. . . il have a long hard think about it!

I know how tempting it is to make something cool and that you will actually use but most of the time it's just way too much hassle especially when you can only work on it a few hours a week. I'm not saying you can't do it but I know looking back at my past experiences I'd defiantly go for the desk option and keep the bike frame idea tucked away until I could do a really good job of it.

well really i could put in about 7 - 8 hours a week if i wanted, but i suppose maybe i should be doing other subjects as well hehe! oh well il keep working on the maths and physics and keep researching then when i know alot about bike handling il go about designing a frame :)

plus im only allowed to weld which is a pisser as i wanted to do a traditional track frame with a lugged construction :/

Holy Fuck - I wish i could have done that kind of stuff at GCSE.
It was all about Graphics when I was at school.... the ability to join the dots.
Good luck fella

Maths, physics and DT, nice choice. I'd have thought a lugged frame would be easier as all the angle are already set for you. With your practice welding are you welding thin walled tubes or just lumps of steel?

It'll cost a lot and eat into time you should be using to study on other subjects. Make a simple integrated stem/handlebars setup or something. As long as you can weld and create/follow a design to industry standards etc, that should be enough.

FFS - I even got a A in GCSE DT with a concert arena/stadium prototype design I made out of fucking paper.

welding is difficult and easy to mess up, you only get 1 shot. You could get the first 3 welds right and mess up the 4th. start again-more money, wasted time etc.

you do not have that much time at gcse nor do i think there will be many marks in it as you will not be 'designing' anything original, have much paperwork to go with it either.

you also will not be allowed to take the bike or use it as it will not have been tested and your school will be liable if you have an accident due to the bike.

take moog's advice he talks sense [sometimes :) ]

at the moment just about 2mm thick box section (for a wine rack which i never had the time to finish) and subjects - i think im going to go on at A level with Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Biology and then probably drop biology in the second year

^ have fun with that
you want to do medicine?

^ have fun with that
you want to do medicine?
Nope Engineering :)

@pifko - thanks for the advice, wow you got an A with a paper model, now thats an acheivement! spose your Coursework must of been good!
@Aleksi - again more good points - dont put me off building a frame too much . . . ;)

a geobiochemical engineer?

I totally bit off more than i could chew at gcse dt. built a guitar case where the guitar was in a neoprene bag suspended by bungee cords in an alu frame. Worked but the quality wasn't really there due to lack of time. Only person in the class that actually built what i'd designed but didn't get a great grade as i spent all my time building it not making mood boards and brainstorms. Tolerances were non-existant and i still struggled. Learnt a lot and if i'd taken product design at uni i would have built it again to a much higher standard when i had the time skills. I ended up studying guitar making instead which is equally rad.
Maybe make a lugged reynolds 531 desk? That would be pretty damn awesome and you'd get to practice your brazing without having to ride it on the roads.

build the frame in your spare time, you won't get enough marks to make it worth it for a gcse. from what i remember it was all about the coursework and (if you read the mark scheme) the finish on the 'product' hence all the many hours and hours spent on the frame won't count for shit, they will jsut look at the paint job.

@pilky - 120 marks overall - 15 is for final product (which personally i think is a bit shit)
@edmundro - haha 531 desk that would be awesome!
@aleksi - geo? im no geographer (well currently i am, but i hate it ;) ) more of a physics orientated biochemical engineer haha, i want to go into product design really, spend a bit of time being a bike mechanic in a gap year, off to uni with some type of engineering/product design course (when i come to that point) hopefully get into something to do with bikes (doubt i will but i can always dream . . .)

Save up and go on some frame building courses. Or speak to rob at sargent and co. He's just started building frames with a mate under the instruction of an old boy called eric.
Sure theres someone who'll teach you in your own time before you get to uni so you can focus on bikes once you've got a frame or two done off your own back. Also go on a machining course so you can mill your own parts. Now that would be cool.

Mmm a frame building course does sound very tempting, obviously unrealistic at the moment (due to age/funds etc) i shall keep that in mind :) and ive got 2 lathes in my (dads) workshop among other things so i was going to have a go at machining a few bits and bobs (not for bikes) but getting experience there would help me get a step up to milling :) which ive always wanted to do!

personally, i would recommend doing somehting else for your project and building the bike in your spare time. If your department is nice enought to let you even consider building a frame for your gcse then i'm sure they wouldn't mind letting you ue the workshops after school etc.

also, if you plan on getting a good grade, a frame is definitley a bad idea unless you can give it some crazily nice paint job with a perfect finish as its there that you will get your marks. You will get no marks atall for using lugs you haven't made yourself and just 'attaching the pipes'..

just realised this has been said before but yeah you get the point

Nope Engineering :)

Engineering the long way, a very long way! And the wrong way.