Customer Reviews

The Proteus Framebuilding Handbook: A Guide for the Novice Bicycle Framebuilder

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I own a couple of the Proteus bikes and am very impressed with their construction....and with this book, I can see why they are so well made...this book is way out of print and expensive, but well worth the read!

It was a little disconcerting to spend so much for a book that sold new for five bucks when I was in college. But there aren't many resources available for the amateur builder. It does offer a lot of useful information, but is also out of date in a lot of respects. For example, when the book was written most road bike rear dropouts were horizontal and you could easily compensate for a little misalignment in the frame when you installed a wheel. Today most rear dropouts are vertical and you need to get them right or you're going to have a misaligned wheel.
If one is serious about building your own frame, you should complement this with a copy of Tim Paterek's frame building book. It's oriented towards the professional builder willing to make a significant investment in tools, but is full of useful information. The Proteus book will help you with alternatives to some of the expensive tools and fixtures.
And even if you don't spring for the Paterek book, consider getting a set of his videos. He filmed himself building a frame, and it's it tremendous resource. He shows you how to correct that misaligned dropout, by the way.
Another resource is "Lugged Bicycle Frame Construction: A Manual for the First Time Builder", by Chimonas. Also useful, but it has its own limitations (read the reviews).
That but...? After I purchased the Proteus book, I discovered that I could download a PDF copy for free. It takes a little searching, but it's out there.