Build & Brand - 30 days
BUILD YOUR BRAND
It takes way more than a torch and some tubes to make a living building bicycle frames. This course is designed to fill those gaps. It’s meant for those of you that don’t just want to build a frame or two, but for those that want to TRANSFORM their lives and continue building for years to come. You don’t just need help with the frame building aspect of the business, but need help with the soft skills that are essential to getting your business up and running in the least amount of time possible. It builds on our three week B2B course (Beginner 2 Builder) and adds another 3 Weeks. Our goal with this course is to get your brand up an running in just 6 weeks. Your own brand, with a website, with photos and video from at least one of the three frames/bikes you built yourself. In addition to the three weeks of frame building from the B2B course, we will cover:
- Branding and Positioning, Logo Design & Creation (1 Day)
- Website design and creation with WordPress (2 Days)
- Frame painting basics & More (3 Days)
- Photography Basics & More (2 Days)
- Video Basics & More (2 Days)
- Complete Bike Builds (3 Days)
- Success in Social Media – Instagram & Facebook (2 Days)
BUILD YOUR BRAND.
The goal of this course is to transfer everything we know to you in just 30 days. All of the skills that we feel are essential to running a business based around building custom bike frames. This includes painting, building complete bikes, photography, video, website, and social media. While three extra weeks (in addition to 3 frame building weeks) is not really enough time to get you to achieve an expert status in all of these areas, it does get you a jumpstart in all the right directions, a solid foundation to grow your business in far shorter time than would otherwise be possible. Nowhere else in the world can you achieve these results in such a short period of time.
Challenges
To build your own frame takes just 5 days in our workshop in Potsdam, Germany. Here's what your (first) week will look like...
DAY 1 - Geometry, Tube Selection, Getting Started
The planning for your new bike usually starts a few months before your course starts, normally we have a rough draft of the geometry before you arrive. Monday morning starts with a coffee and a chat about the bike you’d like to build, so everyone is on the same page. Then we’ll test out the geometry of your new bike on the frame-sizer, and perhaps do a bit of fine tuning so it really fits you right. After a bit of practice with basic metal work skills, we’ll get started mitering the main tubes in the afternoon.
DAY 2 - Main Tube Mitering, Bottle Boss Brazing
Usually we start day 2 with your introduction to brazing. We’ll braze two tubes together, and try to break the joint (which never happens!). This will give you the confidence you need to know that what you’re creating is actually going to hold together. When the main tubes are mitered, you’ll put them in the frame jig and do a bit of fine tuning so that everything fits how it needs to. Now it’s about to get hot! We will drill the holes for the bottle bosses and braze them in the tubes.
DAY 3 - Chain Stay Prep & Dropout Brazing
We’ll get started on the chain stays. They usually need to be bent for crank arm clearance, pressed for chain ring and tire clearance, and slotted to accept the dropouts. Perhaps we also need some holes, if the cables are guided internally. After getting everything fit up, we’ll braze the chain stays to the dropouts, and then they are mitered at the same time to the bottom bracket. With the front triangle finished, we’ll check the chain stay fit, which might need a bit of fine tuning. Now you’re ready to tack the frame in the jig! After tacking, the frame is brazed, and now you’re ready for a good night’s sleep.
DAY 4 - Brazing the frame, checking alignment
After brazing we need to chase and face the bottom bracket, so we can check the frame alignment. The heat from the torch causes a bit of distortion, and the frame needs to be straightened. It’s actually a pretty simple process when you have the right tools. Then we get started on the seat stays, they are mitered to the seat tube, shortened and slotted at the dropout side, and brazed in place. Now your dream is really becoming reality! We aren’t done yet, but the end is in sight!
DAY 5 - Finish Work, Details, Sanding
Friday, last day! Depending on which type of bike you are building, you might need or want bridges between the seat and chain stays to increase the stiffness of the frame or so you can easily mount fenders. Perhaps you need bosses to attach a rack as well. The seat tube and head tube need to be reamed, you need a slot in the seat tube, and a drain hole in the bottom of the bottom bracket. At last comes the frame number! You can choose your own frame number, up to 9 letters or numbers. It is stamped in a piece of brass, and we braze it to the frame. And you can also braze one of our small brass trees to the frame if you like as well. That’s it, you did it!!!
It could be yours.
This is what you get.
1. Time & Place
The Build & Brand course lasts 30 days (6 weeks). The course takes place in my workshop in Potsdam-Babelsberg (only 30 minutes from Berlin via the S-Bahn). We are currently accepting applications for the time frame of fall/winter 2025. To enquire about booking this course please send an e-mail to info@bigforestframeworks.com, as it is not possible to book this course on-line. There are a maximum of 3 students.
2. Possible Bikes
Most people first build a lugged single speed or road bike, with rim brakes. Then a fillet brazed road, gravel, touring, or mountain bike. If you prefer, you can also build two lugged frames, or two fillet brazed frames. The third frame is a fillet brazed frame made of stainless steel, and is limited to a road or gravel frame.
3. Difficulty
For the first frame we’ll build a frame with lugs. The second more difficult fillet brazed frame will be built in the second week. In the third week we will build the fillet brazed frame from stainless steel tubing. We don’t necessarily cover new skills, but rather try to leave you to yourself, to hone your technique and understanding, allowing you to develop as a frame builder, to further strengthen the retention of what we have covered in the past two weeks.
4. What you do
Everything. Some frame building courses concentrate more on the theory. In some courses tubes are already cut before you get there. In my opinion cutting and brazing is the bread and butter of frame building. In my courses, under my direction, you will build the frame completely by yourself.
5. What I do
I have all the tools you’ll need to build your frame, plus thousands of hours of experience building pretty much every kind of bike you can think of. Working together, you can build your own frame that you will go home happy with.
6. Extras
Material costs are not included in the course fees. The material cost can vary quite a bit from frame to frame. The typical material cost for a fillet brazed frame is around 350 – 700 Euro. Material cost for a fillet brazed stainless frame (Columbus XCR) is around 1500 Euro.
Did you ever think about building your own bike frame?
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Who We Are
At Big Forest Frameworks it takes a team of three to make your dream become reality.
Robert.
Founder and visionär Robert Piontek is still teaching courses after more than 10 years at Big Forest Frameworks. His dream started just like yours. Bored at work and wanting to do something different, he took the plunge and managed to build a lugged fixed gear frame. He finally found what he was looking for, the experience of creating, which had been missing from his life for far too long.
Konrad.
Master mechanic and the frame builder behind many of the bikes you‘ve seen here recently, Konrad has been working in the bike business for more than 25 years. In his earlier days he raced road and CX at the highest level in Germany. He also owned and ran his own bike shop for many years, before joining Big Forest Frameworks in 2022.
You.
That’s right, you! Our team wouldn’t be complete without you! Our course participants are looking to get away from the daily grind of their day jobs in front of the computer. They want to experience the pleasure of building their own frame, creating something with their own hands, that they will enjoy for a lifetime to come!
Happy Faces. Beautiful Bikes.
Daniel Helbig.
“Thanks for the awesome week! The frame building course was awesome, I can’t think of a better way to spend my vacation. The ‘work’ was really fun and I learned a ton. I’m really happy with how the frame turned out, and super proud that I actually built it myself. The geometry fits me perfectly and rides even better than I could have imagined!”
Olaf Kopp.
“Thanks again for the awesome week! The course was really fun and I am really proud of the frame I built. I think you are a great teacher. Always patient, you explained everything really well, and the ‘work’ of building the frame was never really like ‘work’ and I had a great time! :-)”
Wolf Kansteiner.
“Sorry for bothering you with pictures from my bike. I tested it today for the first time and it was fantastic. I usually do not tend to be super-enthusiastic and there were of course some minor issues (like getting the position of the saddle right etc) but this was by far the most convincing test-ride ever. Super stable, yet agile, very direct. I loved every second with it.”
