Frame building....

Lately I've had a hankering to try my hand in a whole new part of the bike world: framebuilding. Now, for those that don't know, this would entail welding together my own bike- maybe sounds simple, but to keep everything in line and to have good strong joints is much harder than it seems. Using lugs to join the tubes helps both of these problems, but the construction still isn't simple at all.

I just got the Paterek Manual, a pretty through resource written for beginning frame builders. In order to keep the idea of building a bike even within the realm of possibility, I need to limit myself to steel, and use lugs. TIG welding required for aluminum and titanium (Ti is much much further complicated even than Al) is much harder than the type of welding required for brazing the lugs and tubes together.

Here's my dilemma, though. I have a desire to race the track at some point.... and the one thing I'm afraid of there is finding a bike that fits me just right. Now I'm sure I could make a stock one work, but maybe I could really ensure I'd get one that fits me right if I just built it?

I've also been thinking about touring at some point, but with my road or cross bike, I can't get panniers on there. This issue might be mute if I just use a BOB trailer, but it'd be cool to have a custom built touring bike too though...

So, even though this project is likely at least a year away... what should I build??