Frame Building Courses – An immersive experience in traditional steel framebuilding

This course offers the opportunity to take part in the traditional craft of steel bicycle framebuilding, working within a long-established workshop using methods that remain in everyday use.

Rather than a training programme or professional qualification, the emphasis is on experience, understanding, and participation. You will be guided through the process of building your own frame at a careful, considered pace, learning how decisions are made, why things are done in certain ways, and what good work feels like in the hand.

The course takes place in Shipley, West Yorkshire, in a workshop that has been building and repairing steel frames for decades. The tools, fixtures, and working practices here are not reconstructions or revivals, they are part of a continuous working tradition that has simply carried on.

Over the course of the week, you will shape tubes, prepare joints, braze the frame, and work through the practical realities of alignment, proportion, and finish. Guidance is given throughout, and while no prior experience is required, the aim is always to build carefully and to a sound standard.

By the end of the course, you will leave with a frame you have built yourself, and with a deeper appreciation of what goes into a well-made bicycle. For many people, that understanding, and the sense of connection it brings, is as important as the finished object itself.

Places are limited, and courses are scheduled well in advance to allow the time and attention this kind of work requires.

5 or 6 Day Course / 10 Day Course

The 5 or 6 day course is designed for those who want to experience the process of building a traditional steel bicycle frame from start to finish, within a clearly bounded period of time. The emphasis is on working carefully, understanding each stage of the build, and taking part in the rhythms of the workshop.

During the week you will be guided through the core stages of framebuilding, including preparation, jointing, brazing, and alignment. The pace is steady rather than intensive, and the aim is to leave with a sound frame and a genuine understanding of how and why it was made.

The 10 day course allows more time for those who want to work more slowly, ask more questions, and spend longer developing confidence with brazing and finishing. It is not a professional qualification, but it does offer greater depth, repetition, and space to reflect on the work as it unfolds.

Both options are taught on a one to one basis, with guidance throughout. No prior experience is required, only patience, care, and a willingness to work attentively.

Deciding what to build

Whether you choose to build a classic lugged frame or a lugless frame, advice is given on the practical implications of each approach. Decisions about geometry, tubing, and construction are made together, based on what is appropriate for the time available and the kind of riding the finished frame is intended for.