Benana's bikes, attempts at frame building and bag making

I've wanted to build a frame for a number of years and after seeing a few people on here doing it I decided to give it a go.

I really want to make a touring/adventure bike but advice seems that your first bike might be a bit shit so going with something a little simpler to start.

So this bike is going to be a fixed gear winter commuter. I'm interested in trying this low trail thing as well so have bought a fork with a fair bit of rake and braze ons for rack.

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Made myself some tube blocks

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I'm pretty happy with the progress so far. Did the head tube a few weeks ago and then the bb and seat tube last week.

I started mitering the top tube and hopefully braze that in this week.

I worked out the geometry a few months ago and bought all the tubes. I can't remember what I was thinking when I did but I am slightly doubting my decision. Might end up with some rogue geometry but to late to change the front end now.

Nice one, looks good :)

I have access to a tig welder and originally thought i would go down that route but after blowing loads of holes in some practice tubes I soon lost faith in my ability to do that. Respect for learning that.

Thanks man, yeah it was a bit of a pain, i still blow holes in tubing though haha

I did a half day yesterday and managed to do in the internal cable routing and then braze the top tube in place.

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I think the final angles are a half degree steeper than intended but maybe for the best as it has a 72° seat tube now. Was a little worried it was a too slack and the seat would be too far back.

awesome!

Cheers man, exciting get the front triangle done. Starting to look like a bike

I haven't done a very good job at keeping this up to date but I have finished the build and been riding it the past few weeks so I thought I would show the rest.

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Decided to use brass to braze in the dropouts. I wanted to fill the ends up to make them neat and water tight.

I also laced up a rim from a geared wheel set on to a fixed geared hub for this build.

Added a threaded inserts into the seat and chainstay bridges for mounting mudguards.

The nice people at 56a crampton street let me use their tool to tap and face the bottom bracket.

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I have decided to use cantilever brakes because the touring fork I bought for its higher rake had them. It will help for clearance for bigger tyres and mudguards too.

I was going to paint it black but found an old tin of a really dark green while looking for the black.

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And how full build looks like? Great feed.

Looks fantastic. Frame ends look really neatly spliced in.

Is that your own brake boss jig? Looks good.

Think I’ll copy your 2 axles idea next time I do a frame, the ends on the frame I’ve just built are slightly out of sync.

Tried to keep the cost down and use parts from the bin. But had to buy bars, stem, headset and brakes. First bike I've had with 1 1/8 steerer.

I don't know if it is just me but I have always found riding a bike you have been building an anticlimactic experience. The only disappointment is the seat tube angle and getting the seat far forward enough. I think I will get an inline seat post to help.

That all sounds negative, after a few tweaks on the fit i'm loving riding it. It is a great feeling.

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Thanks, really pleased with how they went. Been loving your work too.

Yes built it for putting brake mounts on to an old touring frame. A little fiddly to set up buy works well once you have.

There still was a little play in them but must have helped. I found they want to rotate with the tightening of the nut.

I have some bits of aluminium (used to a fairly chunky straight edge) with holes drilled 80mm apart that I’ve been using for holding canti bosses. I’d really rather have something slotted. I’ll get around to it some time.

Hey it's Dan from 56a - just seen this thread. Lovely stuff. What forks are they? Thorn?

Hello, thanks again for your help!

I'm not sure what they are. I got them on eBay on a listing titled 'good quality steel touring fork'. Just looked at thorn forks, they look pretty similar and they do seem nice quality. Would be sweet if they were.

Going to plug 56a Crampton Street better. If you are need a community bike work shop for advice or tools. They are great and open Wednesday and Friday 3-7. Located just near Elephant and Castle.

Ah cheers :) We're not much help with frame building though.

The build looked really great in person, very impressed. Looking forward to seeing plans for the tourer unfold..

I'm bringing the disc calipers today btw if you're still looking.

As I mentioned earlier I really wanted to make a touring bike. I have been on a few tours with my grandpa's old claud butler. It is great but even after upgrading to 10 speed wheels and other bits it (I) struggles to keep up with my mates modern bikes. Mainly on the off road /gravel stuff but that is the best bit so a new bike capable of doing that was on the cards.

A bit more back story to go with this bike. Two of my mates who I have been on cycling holidays with had planned a 6 month trip to South America, to Patagonia in Argentina and Chile. I had wanted to do a longer cycling trip for a while and also had been thinking of stepping down from full time work to be freelance. So when I got the invite, I had to do it. And I knew I had to make the bike.

I wanted the bike to be capable of handling some decent off road, so pretty big tyres (the biggest I could manage) and then all the braze ons for touring/bikepacking. I wanted to go for over over size tubing so it was solid and I only (barely) know how to make a lugged frame and to keep it in style with lugs, a horizontal top tube. Basically what I was going for, was something similar to a crust nor'easter but with a little slacker head angle.

I'm normally all about second hand and a bit of a bodge but I decided as I'm going to put a lot of effort into making the frame it deserves going all out on and it could last me years (yearight). So although being a classic lugged look it needed to be up to date component wise with thru axles etc. I also wanted to try get some flashy features in so I would be really happy with it and not wishing I had added this bit or done that. It means I definitely pushed my abilities, maybe a little too much but you don't know until you try.

There was a big project on at work before I left and it meant I only had 2 weeks from finishing work to flying to build it. I started drawing it out full size to help me not make any mistakes but also to get a custom frame bag made. That also had a 2 week lead time.

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I've always thought that lugs with holes in them look great. I wanted to make that a feature. I probably should have paid more attention that they usually have longer points. So I drilled a few holes and then filed it out. While tweaking it slightly to get the right angle I heard a loud crack and there you have it. Lesson learned.

I've always thought that lugs with holes in them look great. I wanted to make that a feature. I probably should have paid more attention that they usually have longer points. So I drilled a few holes and then filed it out (is this how they even make these lugs?). While tweaking it slightly to get the right angle I heard a loud crack and there you have it. Lesson learned.

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