Lately I've been consuming quite a bit of framebuilding related content. I've been reading, watching, taking notes, and absorbing absolutely everything that I can, and what I've learned is that there are some killer builders out there who are awesome enough to share their work. While there are many more that I've yet to discover, here are a couple of people that are pretty dang inspiring:
In the cycling world, Icarus has become synonymous with lovely, unique frames and beautifully crafted bikes, and I still maintain the bike below is one of the most stunning ever made. On his Flickr, Ian shows off beautiful brazing and some of the coolest designs I've ever seen.
Bishop has been crafting classic frames with a modern flair for quite some time now, and does a wonderful job of documenting most of the process. I love the usage of vintage tubing and parts mixed in among the modern, such as a DI2 compatible fillet brazed stem. The frame below is crafted with Columbus MS tubing...check out those chainstays!
Though only recently introduced to me, I really dig the designs of A-Train Cycles. Doing everything from road to fat bikes, A-Train photographs everything from the beginning to shots of bikes in the wild. Beautiful frames with attention to detail, and every headbadge is carved by hand!
Continuing to be an inspiration to every aspiring framebuilder (and also an all around nice guy), Stanridge Speed consistently puts out drool worthy frames. Amazing fillets and miters about as tight as you can get them are just some components of these frames - they also always come with a pretty great paint job.
These builders all worked hard to get to where they are, and it takes much, much more than just oogling over photos and reading The Paterek Manual to make someone a builder. But I am glad that these builders chose to share their work an continue to inspire cyclists and other builders alike. I've got a long way to go, but I'll get there!
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