In reqading the thread on making a frame in your own garage, I remembered something a frame builder in Seattle used to offer.
It was R&E Cycles who marketed the "Rodriguez" brand. They made custom, scratch built frames and they also had a line of frames which were factory made in Europe but were finished out in their shop. "Finished out" meaning all braze-ons, alignments, threading and final finishing was done in their workshop.
Does anyone know if such "semi-finished" frames are available? R&E Cycles still exists but both Rodgriguez and Erickson are long gone. I had heard that Holdsworth had been making these frames frames for them but I don't actually know.
I'm comfortable with painting and doing the final aligning and can learn to put a few braze-ons on. I could take the fr4ame to a builder for the BB finishing and threading.
I'm comfortable with painting and doing the final aligning and can learn to put a few braze-ons on. I could take the fr4ame to a builder for the BB finishing and threading.
raoul
No framebuilder in his right mind will supply you with a frame to finish yourself for the simple reason that finish is 95% of what people see on a frame and if you do a poor job the builder's rep will be tarnished. I know that you'll explain that you finished it yourself but after a while you'll get tired of saying it and stop. Phil Brown
Check NYCBikes. They were selling some on eBay recently. Apparently, they sell quite a few unfinished frames. -- Typoes are a feature, not a bug. Some gardening required to reply via email. Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.
Neither Angel Rodriguez nor Glenn Erickson are connected with R&E Cycles any more. Erickson still builds frames and leads European tours. I do not know what Rodriguez is doing.
No framebuilder in his right mind will supply you with a frame to finish yourself for the simple reason that finish is 95% of what people see on a frame and if you do a poor job the builder's rep will be tarnished. I know that you'll explain that you finished it yourself but after a while you'll get tired of saying it and stop.
I imagine a company such as Giant would sell unfinished frames, as long as you were willing to buy them by the shipping container.
In reqading the thread on making a frame in your own garage, I remembered something a frame builder in Seattle used to offer.
It was R&E Cycles who marketed the "Rodriguez" brand. They made custom, scratch built frames and they also had a line of frames which were factory made in Europe but were finished out in their shop. "Finished out" meaning all braze-ons, alignments, threading and final finishing was done in their workshop.
Does anyone know if such "semi-finished" frames are available? R&E Cycles still exists but both Rodgriguez and Erickson are long gone. I had heard that Holdsworth had been making these frames frames for them but I don't actually know.
I think Torelli (www.torelli.com) imports bare frames from Italy and paints them in the U.S. Maybe you could persuade them to set aside a bare frame for you. (On the website, they offer the option of saving money with an Italian paint job, so it sounds like they're used to a certain level of customization of service.)
Quoted message said:
I'm comfortable with painting and doing the final aligning and can learn to put a few braze-ons on. I could take the fr4ame to a builder for the BB finishing and threading.
No framebuilder in his right mind will supply you with a frame to finish yourself for the simple reason that finish is 95% of what people see on a frame and if you do a poor job the builder's rep will be tarnished. I know that you'll explain that you finished it yourself but after a while you'll get tired of saying it and stop.
How, exactly, would anyone know who the builder was?
