Could anyone spare some time to answer a few questions?

[fortyfour]

So after a ride this morning, and thinking on this whole "why" bit I wanted to add this: The recession has really created a scenario where people don't have as much disposable income (or at least a certain share of the market), and the money they do spend is being spent more wisely. When they make a purchase, they are making an investment in a product that has a bit more history to it, a bit more perceived quality to it. If they do spend, they're looking for things that are a bit more personalized, a bit more unique and a little less "mass-produced". The American market, I feel, is starting to create a new market based on smaller, niche brands with a more personalized feel to them. Perhaps "intimate" is more appropriate. But I'm seeing this business model, smaller, more niche, hand crafted goods, as a new model that we're going to see more of and it's not going to be a flash in the pan (IMO). I'm talking 10 years or more at least. As cyclists, we're just seeing the cycling end of the spectrum, but there are a whole host of company's, smaller company's with smaller staffs with a keen eye for product and how that is made/showcased, where it is made, what materials are being used, etc. is rapidly becoming a new norm. The recession also showed the cracks in a system of "More, More, More" " bigger, Bigger, BIGGER" which is not sustainable in the long run. Hence this resurgence of "artisan" like products, and company's that are centric to this new movement - perhaps a bit of a reaction to the latter. And also hence a clientele who are keen for something more unique and not something that just anyone can walk into a bicycle shop and purchase. That's a huge advantage that I can offer that larger brands just can't.

[e-RICHIE]

Good afternoon e-RICHIE and thank you for your reply.
While there may not be a tidal wave of resurgence. I believe there is a greater interest from those outside of the craft, certainly in this country. The craft is certainly not in decline as it once was. It may be smaller than in the past but there is evidence in the number of people exhibiting and attending shows for example, that it is growing. This may likely be a result of media attention, but what I’m trying to discern is why is this? and if this attention is in relation to the ‘authentic’, ecological, ethical culture that is popular at the moment and indeed if this is in response to the disillusion with the ideology of mass production and disposable culture. I realise that this industry is looking forward and moving with the times, materials and consumables are anything but stuck in the past, but I know some people look at steel bicycles with nostalgia and think these are a throwback to some rose-tinted, simpler, more honest way of life as with a lot of crafts. This is why I’m questioning whether the level of interest is sustainable.
Thanks again for your response
Simon

It IS because of media attention, and the internet. Framebuilding is, essentially, manufacturing. Now that manufacturers have found other ways to do what used to be done by hand, they embrace it. Why? Because it's a better way to make money. All framebuilders selected their trade to make money. This is not an art form, or a product needed to keep society from sliding backwards. If anything, folks look to it because they want to make something by hand. But when you take into account the responsibility that comes with producing a vehicle that will be used on the open road, you soon(er or later) find out that, while it all may seem quaint and back-to-the-land-y, it's a trade and a profession, not a pastime.

Ya, some folks have dome well with it despite starting since Y2k. There are far fewer peeps now looking at this as the next coffee bean roasting or home brewing craze than there were 5-10 years ago,

[Rayburn Shaun]

I'm not building someones first bicycle. I'm building a cyclists next bicycle.

There you have it.

(Love that quote BTW.)

[Too Tall]

Doglog - Thanks for your patience. Too often folks are put off by a sharp report from the field ;) We don't bite. I'll take a stab at one of your questions: "The numbers of attendees at the NAHBS, and it’s British equivalent BESPOKED, have steadily risen every year." <<< This is perhaps misplaced perception of why people attend NAHBS and BESPOKED. There are many reasons why people come however the overarching reason attendance rises is because the show(s) are promoted as a annual bicycle art show. Most of the folks who attend will see these shows advertised and make it a destination to see something unique and exclusive and much fewer are there to "seal the deal". You can prove that to yourself by surveying the builders and asking how many new orders result from direct attendance OR from publicity at the show. Thoughts?

Last observation. I invented the term "Authentic MoFo" (TM pending) and plan to parlay that into a sanctioning body...sort of a Angie's List for handmade ;)

[Simon Taylor]

It IS because of media attention, and the internet....folks look to it because they want to make something by hand.

These are the hot potatoes I'm trying to dig up (I think I might have just made that phrase up). Why the media attention? Is the internet the single biggest factor? and why are more people looking to produce (or consume) something by hand? Again, many thanks for your reply e-RICHIE.

[e-RICHIE]

These are the hot potatoes I'm trying to dig up (I think I might have just made that phrase up). Why the media attention? Is the internet the single biggest factor? and why are more people looking to produce (or consume) something by hand? Again, many thanks for your reply e-RICHIE.

Why? Because we live in times when the concept of "Original Thought" is almost impossible to find, and "Critical Thinking" even less so. For the former, media attention focused on my trade is less so the media and more so just attention. Any story that goes viral doesn't make it a story, or even make it news. We live in a cut and paste world atmo. Regarding the latter, just because someone tries to make something by hand isn't, by extension, a validation that we are moving to an era in which more hand-work is being brought back to the trades. Most of the newer framebuilders can make a frame because they either took a class, read a blog post, or followed a build sequence on Flickr. But that doesn't translate into building frames. For this, some training (lots of training...), a knowledge of history (what worked, what works, and why - or why not), and critical thinking are lacking. You can't go forward without these components. So, I am not seeing the resurgence that you may be seeing. What I see is basically the media (and not even the mainstream media at that) looking for page visits, and writing about bicycle making scratches that itch now.

[bencooper]

It's a bit like homebrewing - lots of people start up at home, mess about a lot with mash runs and heaters and coolers and other gubbins, but they never really make anything better than they can buy in the supermarket - and they don't start their own commercial breweries.

Making stuff is fun. Having a workshop full of frame jigs and lathes and tools is a lot of fun to potter in - lots of people do it for a hobby, making model boats or working 1/20th scale V8 engines. Quite a bit of hobby framebuilding is like that. And there's nothing wrong with that - freed from the requirement to make a living, you can take as long as you like to make a frame and experiment with ideas.

[Rosko]

These are the hot potatoes I'm trying to dig up (I think I might have just made that phrase up). Why the media attention? Is the internet the single biggest factor? and why are more people looking to produce (or consume) something by hand? Again, many thanks for your reply e-RICHIE.

[steve garro]

and why are more people looking to produce (or consume) something by hand?

I reckon it is to try and bridge the disconnect with reality created by the WWW.

"This - this here is real. It was made by a human. I feel the connection"

We are above all a social animal.

People still want the connection provided by a handmade knife, bamboo rod, bike, recurve bow, kayak, beer, an awesome meal.

I think it's hard wired culturally and that while it's maintained in much of the world the "1st world" has lost the connection and longs for it.

We long for the days where we bought the bread from the hand that made it, shook the hand of the ferrier and the cobbler, the taylor and the farmer.

Misguided?
Vain?
Disconnected?
Reconnection?

I do not know.
- Garro.

[echelon_john]

I read an interesting opinion recently about the resurgence of interest in "hand made" and the writer described how, up until the 1980s or so, both children and adults with any interest were able to learn how things worked. I.e. even sophisticated machines had functionality that was visible to the human eye. Between watching a machine function and, perhaps, looking at schematics and exploded view diagrams, it was possible to gain at least a sense of how it worked.

But as computers have made the leap from programmer's tools to consumer goods, and permeated everything from our cars to our homes to our cameras, we live in a world of "black boxes" whose mechanics and root functionality is hidden from us. As kids in the 70s, everything from cars to telephones to radios could be taken apart, played with, analyzed, and produce learning. Now it's impossible; specialized tools, diagnostic computers, and non-openable cases keep us outside.

I think a core reason we all (most of us) love bicycles is that there's a simplicity of function and a beauty of mechanical design, both of which even a relative layperson can understand. At least at the enthusiast level (as distinct from racers or casual consumers) there's a pleasure that comes from maintaining and tinkering with bikes that satisfies something in us that isn't being fed in many other areas of life anymore. Obviously, frame building as a living involves understanding and practice at a higher level, but this might hint at the popularity of handmade vs. machine made (even though that's a poor distinction) bikes.

I recently saw a mental health screening test that contained the question "Are you very interested in bicycles, even if you do not ride them anymore?" Very thought provoking; it was used in the assessment of attention deficit disorder, but maybe it speaks to how "we" relate to the mechanical items in the world around us.

[bencooper]

That's certainly a big part of it for me - I used to work for IBM, and even though I grew up with computers, programming ad making robots and things like that, I hated the job. Because I wasn't really doing anything - I was one of about 20 mainframe systems programmers, looking after systems on an insurance company's computers. There was no sense of a job done.

[e-RICHIE]

I have to say that I never equated making bicycles by hand with any movement or zeitgeist that involved doing things by hand - particularly the way it's lumped in with other pursuits and creative endeavors. Yes. We use hands. But we are making tools. Vehicles. Machines. Not art, or pot holders, or coffee mugs. I get the move away from a corporate world, or one in which someone wants a sense of connection so goes off to make something rather than buy it at the mall. But the rest of the connections? I'm not seeing the tie-in with any trend atmo. Personally, I see a lot of fetish tied with framebuilding, but that still doesn't make me a believer wrt this resurgence topic we're discussing.

[echelon_john]

Perhaps the resurgence, in broader terms, is simply people craving a connection with what they consume, in a way that's been largely absent for the generation(s) who now have disposable income and time to think about it? (in other words, the lucky few, really) We're so far removed, as a society, from much of the hands-on 'doing' that was commonplace in previous generations, so we substitute elective tasks (like roasting coffee, or brewing beer, or building bike frames, for anyone who isn't a professional) that offer us some connection...to the materials, to the process, to the mindset of 'doing' rather than simply 'buying.'

I have to say that I never equated making bicycles by hand with any movement or zeitgeist that involved doing things by hand - particularly the way it's lumped in with other pursuits and creative endeavors. Yes. We use hands. But we are making tools. Vehicles. Machines. Not art, or pot holders, or coffee mugs. I get the move away from a corporate world, or one in which someone wants a sense of connection so goes off to make something rather than buy it at the mall. But the rest of the connections? I'm not seeing the tie-in with any trend atmo. Personally, I see a lot of fetish tied with framebuilding, but that still doesn't make me a believer wrt this resurgence topic we're discussing.

[Will Neide]

. But we are making tools. Vehicles. Machines. Not art, or pot holders, or coffee mugs.

I've heard/read this sentiment quite a few times, and I have to say that I respectfully disagree. I don't have the time at the moment to throw my thoughts out, but I want to voice my dissent with this opinion.

[e-RICHIE]

Well I can see that, but it doesn't speak to any resurgence in making them, and I thought that was what the questions were about. I don't connect a guy here, or three guys there, all making their second bicycle, or even their twentieth, with a movement. Maybe I am looking at it through a different lens. Bicycle making, for me, entails a client. All of these newer folks who may be shining examples of the OP's resurgence really shouldn't be having clients, at least based on their new-ness we know they're experiencing. Make a pot, or roast a bean - the liability is quite low. Not the same for bicycles. Even though there are no listed standards doesn't mean they shouldn't be high. And for that bar to be reached, you need more than the basics.

Perhaps the resurgence, in broader terms, is simply people craving a connection with what they consume, in a way that's been largely absent for the generation(s) who now have disposable income and time to think about it? (in other words, the lucky few, really) We're so far removed, as a society, from much of the hands-on 'doing' that was commonplace in previous generations, so we substitute elective tasks (like roasting coffee, or brewing beer, or building bike frames, for anyone who isn't a professional) that offer us some connection...to the materials, to the process, to the mindset of 'doing' rather than simply 'buying.'

[e-RICHIE]

It's been my tune for at least my adult life. I'm on standby waiting to get
to Boulder, so chime in when you can. I am interested hear a counterpoint.

I've heard/read this sentiment quite a few times, and I have to say that I respectfully disagree. I don't have the time at the moment to throw my thoughts out, but I want to voice my dissent with this opinion.

[chasea]

The resurgence is in the popularity of high-end metal bicycles. It is no doubt tied to the resurgence of popularity to all things made and consumed locally. Carbon bikes have become synonymous (although that's not entirely fair) with cost-cutting, outsourced labor.

"High-end" is used loosely, as the quality is dependent on its manufacturer.

This is not a framebuilder, but watch this.


Now that you've seen how it's done, you try it, and call yourself a drummer.

[echelon_john]

The resurgence (if there is one) is powered just as much by the consumption side as by the production side. That gets back to my point (which I probably didn't flesh out clearly) about connection. As you (e-R) have long said about your customers, "They're not buying a frame. They're buying me." (Or words close to that effect) That's a lot different than buying an iPad or a car. There's connection there that satisfies something, even if the product is a parity product on some levels. People can buy a nice, straight, safe, responsive, light, snappy, stable, etc. bike anywhere. They're buying connection with you, or with any custom builder.

Back to the OP's OP, question 3 in particular seems focused on the issues we're talking about.

[steve garro]

I have to say that I never equated making bicycles by hand with any movement or zeitgeist that involved doing things by hand

We are denizens of a bygone era, Sir.
- Garro.

[e-RICHIE]

We are denizens of a bygone era, Sir.
- Garro.

And I think we (you and I) are producing contemporary versions of designs we know are proven.
We are not copying, or making replicas atmo. I think that's the difference between learning how
to do what you do, and being shown how to do it and then trying to repeat it.