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My UBI experience

Toddre

Chimp
Oct 23, 2007
78
0
Good Ole CT
Hey all... lurker here, I usually post on that "other forum but it's getting pretty lame there.
Anyways I just thought I'd share my frame that I built out at UBI these past two weeks.
Welds aren't the greatest (thank god for powder coating) but it'll get the job done.
Lots of practice is in order.







 

MMcG

Ride till you puke!
Dec 10, 2002
15,457
12
Burlington, Connecticut
Nice job on those pictures. ;)

You should take pride in building that frame yourself - that is super cool.

Tell us about some of the geometry and tube choices you went with to customize this a bit for what you like in a frame.

Decide on a color yet?

How are you going to spec it out? New bits or existing stuff?

Good work Toddre!!
 

Toddre

Chimp
Oct 23, 2007
78
0
Good Ole CT
Glad you like it M...
Here's some #'s
25.5 top tube
143 mm head tube (was supposed to be 145 but I screwed up)
12" BB height
and with the longer head tube I decided to slide the bottle bosses higher on the down tube so my 6'5" frame can reach it better
17.5 chain stays
25 mm DT to HT clearence so it "should" clear a Reba
I based the fork length on a 480 a/c length, I plan to run my BW .8 and if i swap to something else it will slacken a tad.

No idea what to paint, probably a grayish blue with some decals
 

MMcG

Ride till you puke!
Dec 10, 2002
15,457
12
Burlington, Connecticut
Glad you like it M...
Here's some #'s
25.5 top tube
143 mm head tube (was supposed to be 145 but I screwed up)
12" BB height
and with the longer head tube I decided to slide the bottle bosses higher on the down tube so my 6'5" frame can reach it better
17.5 chain stays
25 mm DT to HT clearence so it "should" clear a Reba
I based the fork length on a 480 a/c length, I plan to run my BW .8 and if i swap to something else it will slacken a tad.

No idea what to paint, probably a grayish blue with some decals
Understated paint will look good IMO - let me know how it turns out from that PCer in E. Hartford.

Cheers,

Mark
 

-dustin

boring
Jun 10, 2002
7,155
1
austin
how much experience with welding did you have prior to the class? did you really learn or just go through the motions? do you weld on a fancy jig?

i debating whether the $2gs is worth it. i don't want to take the class then come home and be like "oh...well ****. i don't have a $1g jig...how the hell do a tack and weld a frame now?" it's a 2 week class, right? building my own frames would take out so much of the frustration. not to mention it'd be so badass to ride your own frame.
 

Toddre

Chimp
Oct 23, 2007
78
0
Good Ole CT
I have some stick welding experience but little to no tig. They show you the basics of tig, but you're mostly on your own learning wise. I think that's the nature of learning to weld. A few days of practice then right to your frame.
I nguess there are two trains of thought when it comes to jigs. We just did tube fitting and tacking on the jig. I think that might be the best way. Easier to get to those hard to reach places.
Others though say to weld the whole thing on the jig. I guess neither is the correct way, which everyou prefer.
The problem with just tacking though, is that you spend 3 grand on a jig an only use it for about 10 minutes per bike...LOL
 

MMcG

Ride till you puke!
Dec 10, 2002
15,457
12
Burlington, Connecticut
Is the cost really only $2Gs for 2 Weeks? The reason I ask is that Hot Tubes in Worcester offers a 5 day frame building "class" and they charge over $2Gs!
 

Lumberjack

Monkey
Jan 24, 2003
633
0
PNW
UBI's classes are great. Student to instructor ratio and hands on time. Haven't been there in forever. Several members of our family have been over the years. Is Ron still teaching the frame class? In their classifieds you'll see slightly used jigs come up for sale at OK $$ if you are interested.
http://www.bikeschool.com
 

ByStickel

Chimp
Nov 8, 2007
38
0
WNC (via nj,ca,tx,in,&va)
I didn't go to UBI but I did learn from someone who went. Much cheaper!

I thought that they used to do brazing only in the course, but offered an add-on course in TIG, no? It's cruel and unusual punishment to ask someone to weld thin-wall tubing when they're just getting started. The most important thing with welding is poise. You need to be calm and know how to react as things happen, and that comes with experience. Heck, it took me a long time to stop holding my breath as I welded!

I don't know the student-to-teacher and student-to-fixture ratio at UBI but the last thing you'd want is to be rushed. A one-on-one situation would probably benefit the student more and could be worth more. I'm not sure what I'd charge to have someone come in for instruction, but it'd be quite a bit over the regular frame price.

And look around at the alternatives for fixtures. There are a few really clever, functional fixtures that you can put together for hundreds, not thousands.