Over the last few years I’ve developed a passion for steel bicycles. I love that despite the technical advances bicycles have seen over the past century, many manufacturers (including some of my favourite builders) are still creating beautiful two-wheeled machines out of this timeless alloy.

At the end of 2019, I decided to enrol in a frame building course. I had some unused vacation at the end of the year, and was keen to learn more about how bicycles were made. So, I drove down to Rifle, Colorado for two weeks of instruction under Koichi Yamaguchi. During the course, I discovered that I really enjoyed creating something with my hands — not something I do in my regular job.

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When I returned home from the course, I knew I wanted to build more frames. I had (and have) no intention of making any kind of business of frame building — strictly a hobby that I can chip away at as time permits. So, I started tooling up my shop, and ordered a few tube sets and frame building parts. Now I just needed to figure out what I would build, and who I would build it for….

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In January 2020, my dad had a pretty serious heart attack. He was playing recreational hockey one Sunday evening with some friends, and stepped off the ice when he didn’t feel well. He was off the ice for longer than expected, so one of his teammates went searching for him, and found him sitting on the floor of the dressing room. Dad said he thought he might be having a heart attack, so they called an ambulance for him. Right when the ambulance arrived, Dad tipped over and went into full cardiac arrest. The paramedics brought him back with the defibrillator, and then rushed him to the hospital in an ambulance. He went into cardiac arrest 2 more times that night — once in the ambulance and once in the hospital.

Our family was all pretty scared that night — we didn’t know if Dad was going to make it or not. At 59 years old — with a wife, 3 children, and 5 grandchildren — it was too early for him to go. By some miracle — and with a little help from the local paramedics and the talented staff at the Royal Alexandra in Edmonton — Dad was given a second chance at life. The blockage was cleared from his left anterior descending artery, and a stent was inserted to restore the flow of blood.

While Dad was in the hospital, the doctors told him that if he wanted a long life, he would have to make some lifestyle changes. Specifically, he needed to improve his diet and start exercising regularly. I knew that Mom would be all over dad on the dietary improvements (she’s been ruthless), but I wanted to support him on the fitness element. What better use for my first set of steel tubes than a bike for my dad?

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Over the next few months, I worked away on the design and build of Dad’s frame. Dad was part of the process too — he came to visit a couple times while I was working on the frame. We’d go out into the garage to cut, file, and braze those steel tubes into something that would eventually resemble a bicycle. I showed Dad the methods that Koichi taught me in his class — or at least the methods I could remember. Much of the time I was just floundering about the shop. I spent a lot more time than I expected working on tasks I thought were simple. Turns out the learning curve was steeper than I had falsely concluded it was during the two weeks while I was in the incubator of Koichi’s classroom. It’s a lot harder to find answers to your questions when you don’t have direct access to the master. I learned a lot though. I expect I’ll still flounder about the shop for my next build, but perhaps I’ll flounder a bit less….

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The tangible (and obvious) outcome of the building process was the bicycle. But during the process, something else developed as well — my relationship with Dad. I’ve always been close with Dad, but I believe this endeavor made us closer. Dad would call, often daily, to ask, “any updates on the bike?”. I’d send him pictures of the process, and he would reiterate how eager he was to ultimately ride it. We also learned more about each other’s characters. I’m a perfectionist. Dad is more selective about which areas to demonstrate perfectionism. When he was in the shop, he’d look over my shoulder as I was checking the angle on a mitre, “That’s great, Nick. Close enough.” But it wasn’t. When Dad would go to bed, and I’d spend another two hours mitring the tube to the tolerance I was seeking. I wanted this bike to be perfect for Dad. He deserved it.

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Well, I finished the bike. Turns out it isn’t perfect — but it’s solid; everything is straight; and it rides really nicely. And most importantly, Dad loves it. So I’m happy with the result.

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