In July of 2018, I travelled to Japan with a group of 13 other RISD students as a part of a study abroad course. We spent 3 weeks at the Tokyo College of Cycle Design (TCD) in Shibuya, Tokyo, learning from bicycle building masters with decades of experience. Through a Japanese apprenticeship model, we each designed and built a custom bicycle frame that was fitted to our proportions. The bicycle frames are Chromoly steel with brazed joints.

My original road bike vector design sent to the TCD faculty for approval. 

My bicycle frame after 3 weeks of work. 

(Left) A freshly brazed joint. (Right) A brazed joint after filing and sanding.

We first observed skills through demonstrations by TCD faculty. Afterwards, we would return to our stations and practice those skills on our own, with guidance from faculty and Teaching Assistants.