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Thread: A means to an end?

  1. #1
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    Default A means to an end?

    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?
    Mike Zanconato
    Web
    | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Flickr | Tumblr

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    Quote Originally Posted by zank View Post
    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?
    For me, first, it's all about designing a thing, creating it, and handing it off to somebody else and say, "take everything you are and focus it with this" and hope it allows them to and they appreciate my contribution.

    Second is to look at something and say "that didn't exist until I made it." Minor deity complex? Maybe, but it's what keeps me at it.
    "It's better to not know so much than to know so many things that ain't so." -- Josh Billings, 1885

    A man with any character at all must have enemies and places he is not welcome—in the end we are not only defined by our friends, but also those aligned against us.


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    A bike company saved my life.

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    it's beyond me how people can make *nothing* in thier lives........hell, from what i see in other's shopping carts at the store most people don't even *make* dinner - just pop it out of a box/can/bag. i've always made things, and tried to excell at all of them. it never even occured to me to stop making bikes, even after i was unable to ride a conventional one. it's just what i do. after i eat lunch, i'm gonna go tack some seatstays.........happy building, ya'll.........steve.
    Steve Garro, Coconino Cycles.
    Frames & Bicycles built to measure and Custom wheels
    Hecho en Flagstaff, Arizona desde 2003
    www.coconinocycles.com
    www.coconinocycles.blogspot.com

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    Quote Originally Posted by steve garro View Post
    it's beyond me how people can make *nothing* in thier lives........
    In the complex scope of modern society, unfortunately not everyone can and should make a physical something, but they should at least create value that can be linked to a physical something.

    I've pondered this point my whole professional life. As someone who has spent most of my career not actually making anything, I've always tried hard to remember the words of one of my early mentors. For those of you familiar with the Toyota Production System, there is an apprentice like program... very Karate Kid. My sensei, Masafumi Suzuki used to remind me daily that because I did not touch something that folks actually pay money for, that I needed to at least "manage" from the Gemba. Gemba is loosely translated as "the place where value is created", or simply the shop floor.

    Even as the President of a $1.5 billion company, I always found safe harbor in the Gemba mindset. The most complex decisions about obtuse business shit like capital and org structure get distilled down pretty quickly when you ground them in the notion of how does it help someone on the factory floor convert stuff into something that consumers will give you cash for, and be happy about it over time.

    The conversion process doesn't have to be physical, but it does have to create a valuable outcome. Doctors "build" successful treatments. Scientists "build" solutions to problems that lead to valuable products and services.

    The recent financial meltdown is largely the result of a pyramid of transactions that were ultimately not linked back to a value creating Gemba.

    I bought into IF because it is a passionate group of folks that just want to make a living building bikes in America. Anything else is just BS. Makes life simple.

  6. #6
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    When i was 23 years old i opened my bike shop. I tried (6 months) working for someone else and it was just not in the cards. I worked in the restaurant business since i was 14. Never did anything but cook and ride my bike. Went to college for hospitality and business management and landed a job at a high end spot in Princeton,NJ. It was a cool job at a place that changed the entire menu everyday. Lots of creativity and freedom. The pay sucked and the boss was a jerk if he was even around. Since this job i vowed i would never work for anyone but the man (TAXES).

    When i started the shop the thought of making the bikes i sold was always there. It however got put on the backburner while i mastered fixing bikes, building wheels, fitting people and understanding the bike as a whole. Once i was there the flame (no pun intended) was lit and i started my 2nd journey on the path of life. I love making things and fixing them. Getting better at it helps me get up in the morning.

    I regret none of it. I still love to cook and am rather good at it. The business school is always helpful. The bike shop can be tough since retail is harder now with WalMart and Web shops but it is all part of my package and i think it makes my situation more unique.

    See most of you all in a week and if you want the whole story you can attend my seminar at NAHBS.

    Cheers,
    Drew
    Drew Guldalian
    Engin Cycles
    www.engincycles.com

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