Props to steel and Don Walker

[Haldy]

I have a couple of reasons for this post. I would like to give my most heartfelt thanks to my framebuilder, and also maybe provide a reason for those on the fence of buying a custom bike a little push towards the custom side of things. The other is a topic Don and I both( as I think many builders here on the Forum) agree on. Steel is still the way to go!
I met Don Walker at Industry Day at the 2008 NAHBS in Portland. By trade I am a bike mechanic and am the Service Manager at a large bike shop in Seattle. I am also a Cat 2 trackie here at Marymoor Velodrome and have been racing road and track since 1988. At the time I was riding a Bianchi Pista Concept I bought through the shop as I had just returned to racing having “retired” for a few years while my children grew up. Having seen his work up close and talked to him there at the show…I was hooked. I have had custom track frames in the past, and seeing the beauty of his personal track tandem I decided that I was at some point going to ride a Walker.
I started emailing Don about getting a frame, and a finally deciding to pull the trigger I received my new beauty this past April. Bear in mind…through my shop I have access to a lot of different options…all at screaming deals, so this is the first time in 20 years I’m paying full pop for a product. Even before I finish this story let me tell you, I have gotten FAR more than my money’s worth.
All through the process Don and I bantered about handling, events and such to come up with the optimal design for a bike I can use at weekly racing here at Marymoor as well as travel to Master Nationals and do the all the events there. During this process we became friends and we almost daily harangue each other via text, email, FB, or even just call each other.
This past weekend at the FSA Grand Prix, my beauty and I had an incident. There was a crash in my heat of the Elite Keirin. I flipped…tied to be a good bike racer and land first and save the bike. It worked for the most part. Save for the big dent I put in the down tube. Now up to this point of the year, I have been giving Don updates on my racing and feedback on how the frame is performing. I’ll get the occasion nudge to do well on a Friday as he knows that I’ll be racing that night. I kinda feel like a sponsored rider, and yet I paid for the frame.
So after getting up, rushing the EMT through checking me out( I had to get back to the start line for the re-run for the heat!), I got back on the bike thinking it had escaped all damage. I rode the heat and no problems with the bike. It tracked straight as an arrow and still took all the fury( my now damaged) body could try to run through it. Once I got to the infield and back to my tent I found the dent. A big one about a 1/3rd of the way down the downtube. I immediately called Don and consulted with him. We both agreed( he was trusting my years as a mechanic as much as I was trusting his knowledge of the tubing) that the frame would hold me through the night. So I soldiered on. At the end of the night I got home and took some pics and emailed them to Don. Next morning I awoke to find a response and what a response. First…in my somewhat jarred state from the crash I didn’t seem to get across how big the dent was. No worries still on getting through the weekend, but we gotta get it fixed before Natz.
So Don offered to LOAN me a frame he has there at the shop. He’s going to put together another matching frame to what I have and powder coat it so we have a back up ready to roll just in case he cannot get my baby fully repaired and repainted in time for Natz. The loaner frame is already on it’s way to me so I can race this weekend on it.
Remember…I’m just a 41 year old Cat 2 racer who bought a frame…I am NOT a Don Walker sponsored rider or even talented enough to really warrant this kind of effort from Don. He is just an awesome person who wants to help out. Yes he wants me to do well on his product, but I think we can all agree this goes above and beyond what most would do.
As far as my point about steel…if I were on an aluminum or carbon frame, forget it, my weekend would have been done the moment I crashed. I have ridden aluminum track frames( the aforementioned Pista Concept) and have tested many carbon ones. Sur e they ride well, and are stiff, but my Walker is stiff, handles fantastically, and yet is super smooth. It is the most comfortable track frame I have ever raced on.
So if you have read this whole ramble to this point, and are contemplating a custom frame purchase…do it. If Don is one of those you are considering I can guarantee you will get a phenomenal product, as well as a new friend.

[Tom Byrnes]

Wonderful story! Thanks for sharing it with us.

[Peter Polack]

Great story! You should somehow post a copy of this in the VSalon Gallery as well under Don Walker's Frame. Experiences like this serve to sell more frames, and that's what it's all about.

[Too Tall]

Most excellent write up. Thanks much for that and putting a point on why making significant connections between customers and builders is what it's all about.
That Don, he ain't so bad ;)

[srice]

It sounds like Don is taking care of you - that's great and he just moved up a few notches in my "maybe this will be my next frame list." It is great to hear how these custom builders will work take care of you. e-Richie has taken care of me in the past and I'm back on his order list because of that.

[Chance Legstrong]

nice read to start the day!

D-Dub is most excellent.

[Slapshot]

Thanks Haldy! I appreciate you taking the time to write that up.

The tracking number will be emailed to you in a bit.

I really don't think Matt is any different from any of my customers. Any/every one of them would get the same service.

DW

[pruckelshaus]

Great story, but...PICS???

Totally agree with you on the idea that steel lets you finish the race. Al or CF are done, finished, kaputt once they have that sort of crash. Steel is real. It's heavier than the alternatives, but as I told a young jedi at the school where I teach, you can't win if you can't finish.

[Haldy]

What pics do you want? One of the dent? I will post later today. ( I have them on my computer at work)

[Archibald]

Nice story all around. The Extra Big D (I'm "big D", but he's bigger than me) has been knocking them out lately. Every few days there's a new frame in the fixture on his Facebook page.

[Jklash]

Nice story, Don Walker is good people.

[Haldy]

Here's the dent. :-(

[Tom Kellogg]

Ya see? Custom is where it's at. And Don was right to suggest that you ride it for the rest of the night. Track builders see this sort of stuff all the time. It is likely that you would have made the rest of the season on that bike. Yup, that steel stuff is gonna stick around, pretty good material. AND, when it does start to fail, it gives you lots of warning. Props to Don. No surprise, but a thumbs up anyway.

[ides1056]

When you wrote dent, I expected dent, not a crushed tube. Wow! I would have had second thoughts about riding it, the builder's approval notwithstanding- after I stopped crying. Thanks for taking the time to tell the whole story.

[pruckelshaus]

Keeeeeee-rikey! Now THAT is a dent! Was the bike pulling a bit to the left when you raced it afterwards?

[Haldy]

Nope! Still rolled arrow true! No pull in any direction at all. That's why I'm putting up my props to Don and steel here. My steed was still strong enough to withstand all the ultra fast racing I put her through. Including the Elite scratch race that NEVER went below 30mph for 40 laps. I survived the first 15 laps before I got gapped and couldn't hold on anymore. I was told we never went below 27 second laps right from the gun til I got dropped. That equates to around 32 mph.

[caleb]

Glad to hear you're okay.

Your story speaks to me not only about the virtues of a good builder and a good material, but also the beauty of buying first hand. Sure it's expensive. But when crap breaks, it's a lot nicer to call someone like a builder or shop for a crash replacement than to have to head home and start trolling eBay for the latest cast off.

10-15% of my teammates have already broken the frames that they started the year on. Use this stuff the way it was meant to be used and the lifespan is frequently short. It's cool when breaking/denting/tweaking a frame doesn't turn into a catastrophe.

[Haldy]

Here's a little follow up. As promised Don sent me out a loaner frame and it's a damn sweet one! Here's a photo from last Friday night of me racing thanks to Don's generosity.

[Blue Jays]

Enjoyed reading your narrative.
That's great to read about Don's approach to conducting business!
Hope that you have a quick and painless recovery yourself.