A few weeks ago, I went to Johnstown PA to learn how to build a bike frame with Megan Dean of Moth Attack. The course was designed around teaching with traditional, fillet-brazed construction and focused primarily on the use of hand tools. Over those two weeks, I measured, mitered and brazed a set of tubes together and ended up with a semblance of a bicycle frame. I also learned that there is an incredible amount of work that goes into a single fillet brazed frame. The whole experience was amazing, from the work we did, to the rides we went on. I’m very excited to finish the frame, build it up and ride it!

For this class we used a hacksaw, a drill and some files to get the tubes cut and mitered. After finalizing our designs in BikeCAD, we inspected and prepared our tubes. This meant marking centerlines, finding butts (haha) and labeling every part of the tube. Click through the gallery below for a much abridged step-by-step process of building the frame.

I would be remiss not to include pictures of Johnstown, Pa, from the Center for Metal Arts to Hope Cyclery to the wonderful places to ride.