RideEatCamp

Frame and fork complete

Framebuilding

It snuck up on me. After brazing some water bottle bosses to the underside of the down tube, I put down the torch and thought about the next step in the process of building Carrie’s new touring bike, but there was no next step. Am I done? I went through my mental checklist and saw tick marks in every box. Well how about that! My fifth frameset finished in ten years. That’s how you spell p-r-o-d-u-c-t-i-v-i-t-e-e.

But I wasn’t content to just build a frameset. Carrie’s bike deserved more. It needed some custom accessories to take it from ho hum to hidee ho. So I made a rear brake cable hanger from a spoke and brake cable stop and started on a small front rack. If the front rack works I may even attempt to make a complementary low rider rack. Then the bike and accessories will get a powdercoat and be ready for the big leagues.

The finished frameset could use a final scrub to remove the surface rust. Otherwise, it’s ready for a powdercoat.
The bike will wear Paul Racer brakes for good brake performance, tire clearance, and easy adjustments. The arched bridge helps prevent the stays from flexing under hard braking. It looks nice too.
The mid-fork eyelets are reinforced with a star I filed down into a tear drop.
This brake cable hanger hangs from the seatpost binder bolt. It’s lighter and stiffer than a dedicated braze-on. It’ll get the same powdercoat color as the frame.
The front rack for a randonneuring bag is still a work in progress. Unlike most front racks of this style, the tombstone stands perpendicular to the main platform. It doesn’t look as nice as the tombstones that parallel the angle of the head tube, but I believe it’ll make taking the bag off a bit easier.