I passed along Kevin Sayles' note about frame-making classes to Doug Fattic at Cirque, and he can speak for himself if he chooses. But, Kevin, my own experience resonates with Chuck Hoefer's term "Rite of Passage." I think there are more than a few passionate amateurs, people who make a decent living in something white collar, who want to build their own frameset. They've been building wheels, doing overhauls, and all that great "stuff," so this is the last step. From that perspective, the cost is comparable to the cost of vacation trip, and the experience very intense. With something really unforgetable as the "souvenir." It's a different demographic from the great craftsmen who traditionally built frames on the eastern side of the pond. And probably a different demographic from the dilletantes who bought all-Campy bikes in the bike boom years.
I've done a number of frame repairs, and have had tubes and lugs (and a torch) at home for decades. The actual build may wait until I retire, and I might just choose to do it with Doug's guidance, or that of another master.
harvey sachs mcLean va
Chuck Hoefer wrote <but I snip liberally>:
I like what everybody has said about the five day frame building class.
Over the years, two employees at my bike shop undertook building a frame, did so, and made useable bikes. <snip> The two hombres adventurous to build their own frames, Brian Lucas and Mike Varley, bought some tubing, lugs and such and used the shop's torches, vises and files and mostly on what they read, and the influence of being around the bicycle shop environment, made frames.
Both of these guys are still in the bicycle business. They are the only two who ever worked for me who started their own bike shops and that is what they still do <snip>.
Both of those first frames were a rite of passage in the lives of dedicated bicycle men. I would say that the workmanship of both of them was at least as good as a 1970's Raleigh International. Remember, these guys did not take a class. They didn't have a sophisticated shop at their disposal. They built usable frames, first try. "Desire fans the fire." That small poem is the summation of my thoughts on this subject.