I build bikes full time, previously I was an Engineer in telecommunications and before that I was a lineman. Building bikes is the hardest I’ve ever worked, for the least money, but life in my previous position was not sustainable. I needed to make a big change and leaving what I had known for the last 16 years for something completely new, and unknown was the change I needed. I don’t regret the decision one bit; I can truly say this is the most gratifying work I have ever done.
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I’m the Sr. Product Developer for a helmet company.
Actually, we just launched the helmet I’ve been working on for the past 18 months . . . like yesterday.
Before that I was a Product Manager for a bike company.
And before that I taught fine art at the univ level.
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I’m a hobby builder who aspires to eventually recuperate my tooling investments and have a small build que for the winter months. Or work for a bike company as a welder, but that’s not likely haha.
I spent nine years working seasonally in a remote area of Alaska at a very small mining operation, three people myself included. Each winter I’d return to Oregon find a part-time job and do some traveling. Eventually the migratory life got stale (hard to maintain relationships), found a job at a production shop building CNC plasma cutting tables (filthier than mining!). Always kept an eye out for a job where I could TIG weld, and that’s where I am now. I fabricate sculptural fountains, I work with copper and stainless primarily, occasionally bronze (we also do foundry work).
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That trade is rough on the body. By school I’m a mechanical engineer but have found myself working for a firm that is a contractor in the power industry (mostly civil engineering work). I’ve been doing distribution design work since the beginning of 2020.
Before that I worked in a machine shop designing automated equipment, various production equipment, and check fixture’s for different automotive suppliers. Some experience working in automated manufacturing environments and other factories. It sure is nice to be out of the automotive industry. Utility work surely can be hit and miss depending on the company but the margins aren’t as razor thin as automotive and I’ve found it to be much less stressful.
To me framebuilding is a great hobby that lets me maintain and improve on my mechanical design and fabrication skills, as of right now I’m not really interested in selling any bikes. Although friends do ask sometimes, so maybe if there’s enough interest from my buds I’d consider getting insurance and doing a small run of frames.
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I actually got out of it in pretty good shape, but a lot of that is just luck. I fell off my share of poles but working coastal Northern California the ground was luckily always pretty soft.
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I build bikes because it’s fun. I worry if I turned my super fun hobby into a job, it might not be as fun any more.
I work for the largest water district in Utah doing electrical controls and automation. Some days I’m designing PLC cabinets in CAD and then building them, other days I’m splicing fiber optics. One day I’ll snowmobile into a remote site, the next day I’ll spend the afternoon in a 24” pipe installing a flow meter. I could climb a radio tower one day and work on a hydroelectric generator the next. I love the variety of my job, but it’s still working for the government. Sometimes the politics and mismanagement are maddening.
In another lifetime, I was an automotive technician and I built rock crawlers on the side. I got really burned out on working on cars/trucks. I was really good at it, but I can barely stand to look at a car project and it’s been fifteen years. That’s why I make sure bike building stays fun— I already ruined one hobby when it got turned into a career.
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^^^ This ^^^ is perfect! Amazing work! This one would sell if you made prints!
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Thanks coco, it’s not mine anymore.
Easy enough to paint similar ones
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Awesome thread. I am really impressed by some of the non-frame stuff people know how to do on this forum!
I work as a manager at A+E Television in NYC.
As a side note, I would be surprised if there are even 10 people working as full time independent frame builders in the US and Canada.
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I actually work for the french Canadian version of the OSHA, checking for safety on construction sites. This is the equivalent of looking at an adult kindergarden. 
But it is fun and I work outside most of the time.
Before that I was an inspector for petroleum equipments for the government as well, gas station, big generator systems, oil heating systems and refinerys. 10 years was enough to see it all and I was bored.
Before that I was doing CAD work and quoting for a stainless steel manufaturer. We mainly did custom dairy and pharma equipment. It was nice but I was asked to work more than I was paid for. I left after 6 years.
And before I worked at a big ass bicycle factory in Quebec doing CAD and QC stuff, then for a snowmaker factory, then I worked for Hawley-Lambert a bike parts distributor, that was before I had kids so it was a little bit chaotic.
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That is fantastic!
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Back in the late 1990s I was a full time frame builder and co-owner of Rigid Cycles, a small BMX freestyle company. I cranked out tons of bikes, but it was too challenging to make enough money to make ends meet (especially considering the target demographic is teens with limited funds)… so our bikes didn’t turn enough profit for the work involved. I went back to finish college and got a degree in Imaging and Digital arts (another challenging career path for income)… But then taught myself to code. I ended up doing software development for about 20 years and saved/invested pretty well and about 5 years ago “retired” early. It’s taken me a few years just to get caught up on house repairs and upkeep and I like to ride quite a bit (mostly gravel these days), but now I’m thinking about picking up some equipment to just do some one off custom frames and parts again out of my garage. Building frames was so much more fun than writing code and I realize that I’ve really missed building just for fun even if it won’t produce much/any income.
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I’m dddddddefinitely not a full time framebuilder. I’m an environmental engineer and currently work for for California’s Air Resources Board - mainly testing whether hydrogen fueling stations meet the SAE fueling protocol and some certification work on gasoline vapor recovery equipment. I’m a big EV nerd!
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Bmx frames are tough to make money on. Sure they’re a bit simpler but many of the steps take the same amount of time. I am always impressed by what Chris Moeller was able to do with S&M. Mike Laird seems to be having a fairly successful go at bmx frames too.
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I work as a mechanical engineer at a company that makes diamond turning machines. Only been there about 9 months, before that I worked for an aero/automotive casting facility doing cad work and fixture design. I’ve been building bikes for friends slowly on the side, but I would always rather be riding.
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Precitech? We used them at my last job. I think they just got a new one and are up to 3 of them.
Nice machines.
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Hobby builder. Repair trains for living
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I move been working in film doing construction in Vancouver for the last 16ish years. Pretty over it at the moment.
I started sweeping the floor when I was 18 and now I’m the head of my dept. but I much rather be on the tools.
Going to try to make a move out of Vancouver, and film, in the next year and do more residential as well as free up time for more side projects.
Building frames is just a hobbie for me at the moment, maybe one day I’ll try to recoup some costs but the bar for entry (insurance) is hard to amortize over the quality of bikes I have time to produce.
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