Quote Originally Posted by Tommy Nash View Post
Hey Drew,

Your shop is a real inspiration for me and my crew in terms of what a complete bike shop should be.

As a fellow retail/repair and fabrication shop, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on the benefits and hurdles of doing both. Do you find that people will come in looking for a Dragon Pro and leave with a Engin deposit receipt?

Do you think you'll ever pass on what you've learned from Jamie to another builder?

See ya in October!
Tommy,
Thanks for the props but I am hardly the first and hopefully won't be the last to have a bike shop the way it was back in the day. Good for you and for seeing that a full service bike shop is just that. Belmont Wheelworks was my inspiration.

Since my lead times are about 1 year, it is rare (essentially never) that someone would be interested in a bike out of a box and then buy an Engin. It did however drop our I.F. and Moots sales dramatically. It took years to establish those lines and about 15 minutes to kill the momentum. The dust has settled now and we are selling them a bit more and with time I think it will all go back to what it was and I will have added the 50 or so bikes I can make each year.

Jamie Swan is my mentor for all things machine tool but not as much framebuilding. I have built way more bikes than him and have my way of doing things which is totally different to the way he builds a bike. This past year when we did the frame exchange he said it was a very educational thing for him because I would constantly be asking him why he does something that way and after he answered I would tell him why I don't do it that way and often it would lead to a change in his ways that would save time and speed up the process. I feel my way of giving back is that I am really open with my ideas and am always willing to help someone if they contact me or call.

Thanks for the comments again.

-Drew