oTm  bikes

oTm bikes is a small independent european framebuilding workshop started in Italy in 2008 and now based in Copenhagen, Denmark. I make custom steel and titanium frames. No doctrine or marketing, just handmade with passion and precision to satisfy the needs, the style and the daily (ab)use of their owners.

If you have a specific project in mind or need help with a custom fit contact me, else if you need some inspiration, you can browse the gallery or the blog for ideas. If you don't find what you seek, don't hesitate to ask, you'd be surprised what quality tubes and craft can do for you.

For the bike "aficionados", I also offer frame building classes where you can build your own steel or titanium frame with more or less assistance from me. See below for more info.

Philosophy

Framebuilding is not rocket science but it requires the right set of skills for a reliable and precise fabrication, an extensive cycling experience for a good design, some taste and imagination to give each frame a personality, a lot of patience and self-judgment for improved results and a touch of folly to make it all happen.

Beyond all that, bikes should be fun to build and fun to ride, that's my approach to framebuilding.

It's pleasure and passion that brings together the artist, the engineer and the cyclist to become craftman and give life to unique bikes.

Bikes

I love all bikes and I'm happy to build every kind, based on my own experience in mountain biking, trial, road/cyclocross, commuting and touring. I probably have an unconscious bias for the "less ordinary" bikes, the explorer and the utility bikes and the simply beautiful bikes, but I'm surely no preacher of one type of bike over another.

In the Blog and the carousel below, you'll find some pictures of the bikes I've built since 2008.

Framebuilding classes

It's a great satisfaction to learn to build your own bike frame. If you dream of welding or brazing your frame yourself and learn the craft of custom framebuilding: it's possible. I'll take one or two people at a time, during a week and offer one-on-one tutoring to build your custom project in steel, stainless steel or titanium.

I offer you the possibility to build your own bike, from start to finish, very few builders do that, but I like to share that experience and show that it's within reach. If you're interested, just contact me for discussing your project and choosing the dates of your stay.
Check Calendar:

Tooling

When I started framebuilding I was eager to build bike frames and I paid a high price for getting the tools (mostly from the US) and start building.

I realised, after a few years of building bikes and teaching others, that tooling is a problem for someone who wants to start, so I looked at how to make simple yet professional and versatile jigs & tools out of standard components. I started with a Frame jig, then a Chainstay/Seatstay jig, a Fork jig, and an Abrasive tube grinder. Occasionally I make heatsinks, tube blocks and lately I ventured into making a desktop CNC tube notcher.

In the Blog, you can find pictures of these tools and a list of components to build them. I can also build & ship them to you.

Pricelist

  • Steel
  • Titanium
  • Paint/Finish
  • Classes
  • Tools
  • Repairs
Steel Frames     ( Unpainted - See the Paint/Finish tab for details )
Standard Cr-Mo (Columbus Cromor/Zona - Deda Zero1 - Reynolds 631/725)from 1500 €
High Strength Steel (Columbus Life/Spirit - Deda Zero - Reynolds 853)from 1700 €
Stainless Steel (Columbus XCR)from 2300 €
Plain Gauge 4130 / 25CrMo4 (BMX, trial, cargo, dirt)from 1400 €
All prices include Danish 25% VAT and are for a TIG construction. For lugged or brazed construction add+ 200 €
   Options
  Special dropouts (Sliding, Rocking, Flatmount, etc...)from 60 €
  Stem (brazed or TIG)from 120 €
  Fork (brazed or TIG)from 250 €
  S&S couplers (top tube/down tube)from 450 €

About

I started framebuilding in 2008, taking Jim Kish's Titanium Framebuilding class at the United Bicycle Institute (UBI) in Ashland, OR, USA. At the time, I was living in Italy, just north of Milano, a region known for its illustrious framebuilding history. That year I had met Darren Crisp in Castiglion Fiorentino, also a UBI alumni, and bought a titanium frame from him. I caught the bug and before the UBI class was over, I was already gathering tools and tubes to build my next frame. In 2010, I met Tiziano Zullo in his workshop in Castelnuovo del Garda and picked up brazing.

Around that time, I also started sharing the framebuilding experience with other wannabee enthusiasts, offering framebuilding classes. In 2014, after 10 years in Italy I moved to Copenhagen with my workshop and started a family. The workshop slowed down for a while, but I'm now the happy father of two active young boys and the workshop has picked up steam again, ready for the next chapter of this framebuilding adventure.

Contact

You can Email me at:

otmbikes@gmail.com
I will gladly answer all your questions, as soon as I can.

Tom

Framebuilding Classes Calendar