Originally Posted by
zank
I've been working on the copy for my new website and I've been thinking a lot about why I build frames. This question/thought/justification process keeps creeping into my mind. When I first started building frames, the reason was pretty simple. At the time, most people who were racing cyclocross were doing it on converted touring bikes or mountain bikes with the barends taken off or even on their old road bikes with 27mm Tigres that just barely cleared the caliper. Only a handful of people had real cyclocross bikes. I wanted one too. That was my reason.
Aside from just wanting a bike though, I was curious about geometry and fit as well as all of the little bits that get brazed on to do “stuff”. Actually, it was the lack of braze-ons that really intrigued me. Single ring bikes were getting quite popular, so why not leave off the FD cable stops entirely? We don’t use water bottles, so why would there be bottle braze-ons? Runkel levers were becoming popular and some guys were running two sets of cables to each brake so that these brake levers mounted on the tops could be used. Wouldn’t it be cool to have an extra set of stops for this purpose? (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, go find an early edition of Simon Burney’s book. And no…Tektro top mount levers haven’t existed forever). So, I wanted a cross bike, and I wanted to experiment with how to make them handle nicely, and I kind of liked the idea of building something. So let’s say one part necessity, one part curiosity and one part self indulgence. Yes, the first bike I ever built was a cyclocross bike. Building a frameset was a means to the end of having a cyclocross bike.
Through the years, especially early on, I struggled with an identity for this thing I created. Notice that nowhere in my listed reasons did the word “lug” or “brazing” enter into it. Yet, I started trying to appeal to people by selling a look rather than continuing to focus on simply selling the ride. I came to my senses about 4 years ago and things have come back full circle since. Yes, I want the bikes to look nice and I have refined the aesthetic of the bikes to the point where I get a real kick out of looking at them. But it’s the rider’s need and the purpose of the bike that really captivate my attention (cyclocross and road racing in particular). The fabrication, and even the frameset itself, is a means to an end. I don’t apologize for it. And now I’m not shy about saying “I don’t do that” if a customer comes to me with a request for something I don’t know much about or know I won’t like the look of.
So,Telai-istas, why the heck do you do it? What brought you to this point? Where does the fire come from?
