Small Town Boy Customs

Top day out at the DH national Champs at Revolution Bike Park last Sunday with and

It’s been 33 years since the GT Karakoram’s bare steel saw daylight.
What would you do — stick with the original paint scheme or go wild with the respray?

And that’s the final weld on the 1993 GT Karakoram rebuild. A little cleanup and full strip back to bare metal and it’s ready for paint.

What would you do, stick with the original paint scheme or go wild?

Still a lot of work to do on the GT Karakoram project for but it’s back in one piece! And I’m liking how it looks!

A quick video of my chainstay/BB fixture — simple, solid, and built to work with pretty much anything. Axle size is spacer‑dependent, fits 68/73mm BSA and T47 shells, and the dummy wheel/tyre has swappable profiles (currently a 2.5in MTB). It also helps keep the stays perfectly parallel.

Over the years I’ve really enjoyed helping other hobbyists get into framebuilding — answering questions, giving advice, and sharing what I’ve learned. One thing that always comes up is how the jigs and fixtures are often the most expensive and intimidating part of getting started.

That’s a big part of why I’ve been thinking about offering the jigs I’ve designed for my own builds. Everything is made to be cost‑effective, accurate, and accessible for beginners who want to get into the craft without spending a fortune. If people are interested, I’ve got plenty more fixtures ready: seat‑tube‑to‑BB fixtures, IS brake mount fixtures, and even my full frame jig, as well as a few frame parts like dropouts and brake mounts.

All parts are laser‑cut from 5mm mild steel, slot together or weld for extra accuracy, and use 4040/8040 extrusion plus a few lathe‑machined pieces. The whole system is designed to work together — the dummy wheel/tyre also fits the full jig.

If this is something you’d like to see more of, drop a comment. Bigger batches mean cheaper prices.