Small Tooling

WHAT BUILDERS HAVE TO SAY

Having built thousands of bicycle frames using several different kinds of frame fixtures, I find the Sputnik frame fixture to be the most intelligently designed, accurate and easiest to use. With its precise scales and tool-free adjustability, the geometry of a bicycle frame can be set in less than two minutes. It is an indispensable tool for the custom bicycle maker.

Jamie Medeiros, Firefly Bicycles

I have used a number of fixtures for building frames over the last 37 years. They all have their good and bad points and none are perfect, just like the frames that come out of them. That said, there are some fixtures that work with my particular style of building better than others. In the past I have had to design my own primitive fixtures and have them made. They performed very well for many years but they eventually became worn out and were making production slow.I went through a succession of fixtures for about 4 years and was not completely happy with any of them. I was fortunate to get the Sputnik jig about 16 months ago and have been using it exclusively. All my older fixtures have either been sold or de-commissioned. The adjustments on the jig work easier than any other fixture I have used and the accuracy is the best as well.

Like I mentioned before, there is no perfect fixture for building a bicycle frame but this is the closest to perfect of any I have used. It’s a pleasure to work with every day.

Paul H. Sadoff @ Rock Lobster cycles

Working with your hands and mind is a real joy. Using tools that work and feel good to use only adds to this joy. Bicycle framebuilding tools are no different. You want to use the kind of tools that do what you ask and do it well. Sputnik Tool has both the features and quality that you want if you are going to work with your hands. They move smoothly and accurately. They locate parts where you intended and most of all they are very robust.

The most enjoyable of all the tools is the frame jig. I have tried others but none made me feel like I could trust the fixture as my go-no go gauge. If something is funny in the Sputnik, it is not the jig, it is the part. Having a tool that you can trust to this extent really helps with repeatability. I really love my Sputnik jig. It is the best there is IMO and there is no substitute for great design and quality.

Drew, Engin Cycles

The Sputnik frame fixture is a pleasure to use. The jig is directly indexed with easy to read measurements that represent the actual frame dimensions. This makes it a breeze to set up for one off bikes and easy to return to a design if you are making a stock product. It is not reliant on outside parameters such as fork or headset dimension. I’ve used a number of different fixtures over the years and this is the first I’ve used that (if I did my job right) allows me to pull either sub assemblies or complete frames off with no need to fidget or tweak, which I find particularly helpful for multi-bike runs. I also appreciate that the frame indexes off of the drive side of the bottom bracket shell. I use this as my starting point for both frame design as well as later alignment and QC checks; having it as a physical reference during construction removes one more place for introduced error. Jeff makes a wide range of head tube, bottom bracket and axle interface parts that cover the range of contemporary frame design. Like all good tools it’s easy to use, easy to read and adaptable for the product- it just works.

Eric, Winter Bikes

Hi Jeff,
Did my first seat stay cuts today. Got the jig dead nuts on center and the two miters match each other perfectly. Some that I chased and chased on the old jigs. And it’s so rock steady. I love it. You are saving me 30 minutes per bike I bet.

Mike, Zanconato Custom Cycles