Framebuilding as a career path?

xxamr_corpxx said:

After doing a few minor drivetrain upgrades, shifter upgrades, etc, I've come to realise i quite enjoy tinkering with bikes.

As an outlandish thought, becoming a framebuilder looks quite appealing, but there are nagging questions.

1. How much can a good framebuilder with his own brand/company earn?
2. How much training is required? Any specific education?
3. How much capital outlay?
3. Any chance that a decent framebuilder would find his business eaten by a similar guy in China charging half as much?

if you want to end up with a small fortune in the cycling industry...

start with a large fortune.

question 1. not very much
question 2. no requirements
question 3. start in your garage on the side, i happen to know a cyclist who would be more than willing to build up a frame and test it for you. "he" does 36 miles on way commute 4 days a week, rain or shine. the ultimate test of strength.
question 4. more like 80%

xxamr_corpxx said:

As an outlandish thought, becoming a framebuilder looks quite appealing, but there are nagging questions.

Click on the curriculum button on the left menu bar.

bikeschool.combikeschool.comOpen ↗

You might pose your question on the following site. They have a forum dedicated to Frame Building.

bikeforums.netforumdisplay.phpOpen ↗

Success will have a lot to do with how passionate you are about this.

lw

xxamr_corpxx said:

After doing a few minor drivetrain upgrades, shifter upgrades, etc, I've come to realise i quite enjoy tinkering with bikes.

As an outlandish thought, becoming a framebuilder looks quite appealing, but there are nagging questions.

1. How much can a good framebuilder with his own brand/company earn?
2. How much training is required? Any specific education?
3. How much capital outlay?
3. Any chance that a decent framebuilder would find his business eaten by a similar guy in China charging half as much?

Take a look at the australia and new zealand regional forum,"the thread about nothing" and ask Thylacine.
🙂

No, don't do that. 🙂

For starters, I'm a 'Designer' not a 'Framebuilder', and anyone who follows what I'm doing or even looks up to it is clearly insane.

Save up a lot of money, build for fun, and if it gets bigger than your day job, quit it.

That's about the only advise I can give that's worth anything.

One of the co-owners of my LBS builds nice frames for sale.

bicycleframes.combicycleframes.comOpen ↗

He also operates the LBS, is one of the mechanics and still isn't rich... other than in name. Rich's frames are sweet, and I wish I could afford one, and he is pretty reasonable for a custom builder.

It seems that it is the kind of job you do because you love, and if you are fortunate you can make a living. If you are exceptionally fortunate, you ould make serious money.

I see careers like this in the same boat as entertainers and artisans.

I am sure there are actors as good as Tom Hanks that have never been noticed. I am sure there are guitarists as good as Carlos Santana that were never discovered. In the same way, I am pretty sure that there are frame builders as good as Sacha White at Vanilla that are not known outside their own neighborhoods...

With that said, if you don't follow your passions, you will never get to the point where you make it. Do not avoid the path if it is your passion, just know that it may not be an easy road. Enjoy the journey!

dgregory57 said:

I am sure there are actors as good as Tom Hanks that have never been noticed.

Tom Hanks is an actor? 🙄

You could take a fresh look at how custom handmade frames are distributed.

Anyone who fully commits to anything for a business runs into a few inherent problems, such as possible bankrupcy if the business fails and high unit cost due to the necessity to make a wage.

That said, I believe if you do get the tools/workshop/jigs in place and do it on the side at the start, you could post a design or several designs on ebay and LBSs and make frames to order.

Taking for granted you have a day job, you can do frames on the side till you bust through a threshold, if it comes, then go fulltime frames.

Baum make a wonderful carbon titanium bike (Ristretti Ti) that weighs in under 7kg without pedals and when teamed with the top of the line campy groupset, will cost well over 10k. Now joe average only wants to spend 1/10 of that.

Having a frame handmade and indiviually numbered would be a dreamy thing to have, and if you could knock one up in a couple of weekends for like, 1k, then let the legend spread.

Other than the risks involved in any business, I'd encourage you to give it a go, even if its part time...

One other thing I've noticed, at least about myself. I enjoy eating pizza, always have. But when I worked as a pizza delivery driver, I found myself despising the stuff. Some people have true passion for their "labors of love" to the point that the money isn't too much of an issue. I decided early on that I would do something that I could tolerate and make a decent paycheck at. I wouldn't want to work in the cycling industry because I find that when I turn my fun hobbies into a job, they lose some of their appeal to me. Just my thoughts, maybe you're different and would just grow more passionate as you toughed it out. Either way, good luck.

fauxpas said:

Having a frame handmade and indiviually numbered would be a dreamy thing to have, and if you could knock one up in a couple of weekends for like, 1k, then let the legend spread.

The legend of how stupid you'd be if you attempted to turn that into a full time job, or some other type of legend?

Legends? What about the Thylacine? Extinct...

Your name is the zooalogical name for the extict tasmanian tiger... are you hinting any custom frame builders would become extict?

Thylacine custom cycles... hmmm... you tried doing this before?

I hear the sound of fauxpas Googling....