Be careful for what you don't wish for

Every year from Christmas until Jan. 1st I effectively close the shop and work on 'fun' projects. A lot of times these projects start out fun and after awhile turn into something else, maybe not as much fun as anticipated. I can deal with that- building bike frames is a bit of work and building one just for the heck of it feels like even more work, even if it isn't. In the case of this weeks project, it felt like more work and it really was more work. It became so much work that at one point I felt like it was not worth the effort . Let me tell you how this particular frame project went to shit in a new and unanticipated way.

Let me give you the backstory. I am part of a generation of frame builders who started in the '70's. There are not many of us left-seems like building bicycle frames does not make for a long life-most of my similar aged builder brethren are gone , most due to heart failure. I have a theory why this happens but I won't tell it to you because I'm not a doctor and I could totally be wrong. Regardless, I have been to several shop/estate sales because of a builder either quitting or dying. I wind up with a lot of materials-some of it easily identifiable, some of it a total mystery.....but steel is steel, right ? Maybe in most cases but not this week. 

In the '80's a company named 'Excell' started making and marketing what they said was the lightest and strongest steel tubes on the planet. I don't remember what all their engineering data was but what I do remember were all the horror stories from builders I knew who tried using it. Word was that it was nearly impossible to cut and that once you built your frame, good luck aligning it- the tubes would not yield, not even a little bit. The steel was so hard  that it was brittle. I stayed the hell away from Excell tubing for decades- that is until yesterday.

What you see in the photos is a lugged frame I built. I just pulled random tubing out of unmarked boxes and chose the tubes based on the wall thickness and length. I knew that the main tubes were Tange prestige and Columbus but I didn't know what the seat and chain stays were-all I knew was they were very light. The stays had the right specs for the build so I used them. They seemed a bit hard to cut but I was able to do it with little trouble. I finished the frame and was only left with the alignment as the last task. I noticed that the rear stays were out much more than any frame I had built in many years. What I didn't know was that the socket for the seat tube on the BB shell was off-center. Maybe this is why this particular  BB shell had not been used but the hands it had passed through in the last 40-50 years of its existence. So, not knowing this I merrily set about banging on the rear end of the bike with the rubber mallet- standard procedure , at least in my shop. No matter how many times I hit the stays, they would not move. I was dumbfounded-I had never run across this kind of stiffness in a steel tube ever. I decided that I had to swing the mallet harder- and harder....still, the stays would not budge. Finally I gave it a really hard whack and hear a pop'. I knew that something had cracked-it was the seat stay. The chain stay on the same side had a buckle in it as well-I was clueless why this frame was acting in a way I had never encountered. 

Very annoyed, I left the shop and went home for lunch, then I went for a short ride. I really thought that fixing this frame was too much work to be worth the effort-I would have to replace the whole rear triangle. I was not up for that-I returned to the shop later but did no further work on the frame and just hung it up. That night I went to sleep not quite knowing what to do- it was the weekend when I typically avoid going to the shop. I woke up the next morning and decided that It was best to fix this frame and take a good look at the tubing that I was replacing. After a good look I figured out that the stays were Excell- the super-hard, super-stiff , brittle as hell tubing that came and went years ago. I though to myself "Why the hell would anyone keep this crap around when they know how unusable it was ? And the off-center BB shell-why would anyone keep a piece of crap like that around ? Is it the curse of the trade that frame builders can't seem to throw anything away, even if it is totally useless ? 

I know one thing for sure-I'm going to look through the boxes of tubing I have and some of the boxes of BB shells and toss all of it that hints of Excell or out-of-spec. What if this was not a little year end project but a customer's frame ? What if the front tubes were Excell and broke because of their brittle nature and the rider got hurt or worse ? Stuff that is made and marketed that is absolutely no good and a product of bullshit engineering and untruthful marketing pisses me off in a very big way-this weekend was a mess because of some stuff in my shop that other builders had -but didn't use- and they were not around to tell me why they didn't use it. They also were not around to tell me why they had not disposed of it. Well, they might not have disposed of it but you know sure as hell that I will -with pleasure.

 

 

State of the sport

Here it is, mid December and cyclocross time for some of us but not many of us. I can gauge the health of the sport by coming to the nationals each year and seeing who shows up and who doesn't. This year's edition is in Fayetteville, Arkansas where the Walton family has spent much money creating a bike mecca. 
 The result of all this money is Centennial Park with its MTB trails but more notably a permanent cyclocross course that a few years ago hosted the worlds- yes, the worlds- only the second time it has been held in the USA. 

"Build it and they will come?" - maybe not this time. Fields are pretty slim by pre-covid standards but the sport has been shrinking for years- less races and as a result less racers. This is not the fault of the Walton family-they are more than doing their part to keep the sport going but they face some headwinds. CX had a golden age about 15-20 years ago-tons of races , armies of participants and a bike industry that was happy to throw money and product to the sport. What happened ? Hard to pin it on any one factor. USA cycling has gotten stricter about regulations and rankings to the point that riders who live in areas where races are not part of the USAC system might as well not exist. No points and you start in the back of the field - regardless of your record in non-USAC events. Also, the entry fees to the nationals have more than doubled since the golden age of CX. To enter the nationals I think it was $ 110 for early reg. Late reg. was $ 200- that would be four entry fees in local races. Add to that travel costs and lodging and you have a sport that is no longer affordable for many racers. 

As for me, I'm lucky-I have a little disposable - and I do mean disposable in this case- income and a team that has some funding so that the members of the team don't have to redline their credit cards to get to the nationals. Without these two factors I would not be here in Arkansas and I am very thankful to the sponsors for the opportunity, not so much to race but to support my team and have the experience. We , along with all the other teams and racers are helping keep the sport alive but we are facing headwinds- gravel cycling has lured a lot of industry and riders away from cyclocross. I'm happy that gravel has come into its own but not happy that so many people have bailed on the sport that I feel has more history, more excitement and a much more cohesive community-it is such and inclusive sport historically. Gravel has a set of requirements - you need to have the $200 for entry , really helps to have a big sprinter van or some sort of camper to spend the weekend in - all for an event that is more like an all day ride in the wilderness and not a short intense race with spectators , beer handups and people cheering for you regardless of how miserable your race was going. Gravel has none of this , yet people are coming to gravel races in increasing numbers. Why is this the case ? For most people doing gravel it appears to be much less about competition and more about the ride. I'm fine with this but it means that for probably the bulk of the riders it is just a ride and a post-ride meal with a whole bunch of people who also have all the same vehicles and gear that you have-kind of a parade of product and in some cases privilage. CX racers will show up to a race in any kind of beat up old car that will get them there. Gravel racers spend some times six figures to create their 'home on the road' to take them to the events. It really is two different worlds- and they are in many cases competing for the same people and the same dollars. 

As a bike frame builder I win either way- I build what people ask for and I get paid. Gravel bike ? -Sure !  CX bike ? No problem. But where is my heart ? That would be in Cyclocross hands down. I can say that my ability to be a sustainable business was because of cyclocross back in the '90's and early 2000's. Maybe Gravel has been keeping me busy as of late so I can't say that it has not helped but the fact that the sport that made me seems to be getting crushed has me pretty conflicted, especially now that I am at yet another nationals that is showing signs of a sport that is not doing well. I understand it and at the same time I don't. People do gravitate to the new but I would think that if the 'new' turns out to not be as fun as the old that people would come back. So far, this has not happened. 

What if nobody cares anymore ?

 I'm not talking about custom bikes-although nobody caring about them would leave me with a shop full of useless tools and metal. I'm talking about the sport that really put me on the map as a frame building operation in the sustainable sense. Through luck and hard work I established a style and brand that has stayed popular for over 20 years. Since 2003 I have never been short on work , and most of the time pretty much oversold.  In the sport of cyclocross I found a community that was very receptive to how I build bikes and my willingness to learn from the people that race- they gave me the suggestions that shaped the bikes over all these years. Some comments were glowing, some were harsh but I learned a bit from all of them, especially the criticism. For the last two decades and more I have ridden the wave of cyclocross and it has been-to use a phrase I really hate- a great ride. 

Now it is 2025 and for the last half-dozen years the sport of gravel racing has been getting very popular. In some regions like where I live, it is crushing cyclocross and taking away much of the people that loved cyclocross the same way I did. People now seem fine getting a huge sprinter van , paying $ 200 + entry fees and going to events where the riding will take up most of the day. It is not an intense sport like cyclocross, even if it is very competitive for the few folks that will be at the front of the race. Most people at the event don't seem to race at all- they are there for the riding, the camping and being with all the other folks in their sprinter vans with outdoor showers, micro-brews and folding chairs. It's a hang way more than a race and I am seeing that it is a real thing now. Usually everyone converges at some big campground and there's a big feed and maybe a live band at night. I have been to a few of these and they are well put together for the most part- but it still ain't 'cross. 

While cyclocross might be withering and dying here, there are places where it is thriving but they are pretty far away. I used to be able to get to any number of races within 1-1/2 hours of where I live. Now most of them are at least a 3 hour drive or in another state altogether. I don't like burning up that much gasoline to go racing. And the grave events ? They are usually far away , too- but people will drive all day to get to them. Maybe I'm just old and not moving along with the times.....every sport in cycling has it's heyday and it's decline years. Right now we are in the decline years for cyclocross and I am having a very hard time accepting it-where have all the good times gone ? They have gone away and changed into something else. Peoples tastes have changed and land access for races has gotten difficult around here in the Bay area. It's a collision of factors that nobody seems to control and what I know as cyclocross in Nor-Cal might be on its last legs. 

So what am I doing about it ? Starting in 2015 my team has been putting on an annual race . Starting about 6 years ago, the team took charge of Surf City cyclocross, the longest running CX race series in the country -it was going to die if we didn't take it over and merge it with our race. The only CX races in the county are ones that we put on. The sad thing is that we as a team are starting , after 21 years to lose people to retirement and other sports. We are getting some great juniors but they have hardly any races around here and it takes a lot of time and money to do a full season now. People are getting priced out of participating like they used to about a decade ago. It's a shame, really- such a great community grew up around CX and it is now getting scattered to the winds. There's only so much a handful of people can do to try to keep a sport going if the public at large is apathetic about its survival. For me, the specter of losing CX is sad but since I am nearly 70, it isn't critical for me. If I were 15 and wanting to get into the sport I would have a hard road unless my parents were super fans and willing to drive me all over the state in search of races. Most parents can't do that. I tip my hat to the ones that do- they are raising the next generation of talent that could wind up on the world stage- it has happened, even out of our little team.

So, I have to say that this decline in the sport of CX is depressing for me and regardless of how it effects my business , I don't want it to die. I do get orders for all sorts of non-CX frames so I think I'll do just fine but I would and will sacrifice a lot to try to keep the local sport alive. Wish me luck.......

Sorry, son.....

My annual visit to the Sea Otter classic just happened and I had the usual experience of sensory overload mixed with running into folks who I did not expect to see- always a pleasant surprise. I went with the mission of trying to see how the tariff situation was being dealt with by all of my suppliers. I had a list of nearly 20 companies to visit-I wound up visiting only 6. What I did instead was just wander around and randomly bump into a few folks who really made my trip there worthwhile. 

So what is the state of the bike industry as of 2025 ? Looks like a lot going on- not much has changed on the surface. There's new people coming up- old folks that either have been relegated to 'brand representative' or maybe they are just somewhere else living out their years in peace - away from the grinding world of bicycle commerce. What is my place in all this ? I'm just passing through , taking time away from what I have been doing for decades- building the bikes. I'm trying to think of anyone else -a frame builder of course- who has had a sustainable shop as long as I have-can't think of anyone who was at the Sea Otter. Sure, there's a few scattered across the country but at this circus , nope. All the old frame builders have quit, died or been co-opted to appear in ads or at events like this - no longer building bikes.....they are building marketing instead. It's a good gig if you can get it. 

This brings me to my experience-one that will stick with me , along with all the great chance meetings with old friends. I was introduced to a young man who, upon hearing that I was indeed that aged frame builder from Santa Cruz invited me to come to the booth where he was working - the Marin Bicycle history museum and MTB hall of fame. I have never been to the museum and have been well outside of the crew of folks who are honored there-I just wasn't there when it all began on Mt. Tam....at the time I was a minimum wage bicycle mechanic and hobby frame builder. I got to ride a very early mountain bike and decided that it was not my thing.......guess I was not very open minded at the time. So...when this young nice man said that I should check out the collection at the booth I told him that I had the first MTB (1984) I had ever built and asked if the museum would like to have it for display . The young man was super receptive to the idea and told me that I should talk to the head man ( Really famous guy in MTB history ) and ask him. 

After walking around for another hour I had forgotten about the whole exchange and was trying to find the exit from the expo so that I could beat traffic home. One friend of mine showed up and said "Hey-have you been to the MTB hall of fame booth yet ?" I had not so we made our way over. At the booth we found a number of folks crowded around a small tent filled with the most primitive and historically significant MTB's in the whole Sea Otter. The curator, actually someone I had met a few years earlier -a meeting that he did not remember- was ushered over to talk to me about MTB # 1. The curator held out his hand to shake mine as if we were meeting for the first time- I guess that is indicator # 1 of my lack of historical significance . Indicator # 2 was when the curator kindly said to me that there was no room at the museum for my MTB # 1 . To me it was just another case of not being one of the cool kids- "Sorry, son. There isn't room for you ......and who did you say you were , anyway ?"  Yes- of course I'm taking this like I normally do- much to personally- but it does feel personal. While these folks who are celebrated in the museum may be historically significant-and they really are- I think that the great bulk of them did their main work many years ago for a short time frame. I'm not asking for an award for my lengthy participation in this line of work but a small nod to my existence for all these decades might be nice. I did start building at a time that few if any were doing it. And those few have not kept at it - I guess I get a bit upset thinking that I have repaired and fixed a lot of these famous people's boo-boos over the decades and that all that I have done is nothing compared to the legacy of a bunch of folks honored at the museum. 

Don't get me wrong-I'm not asking for n award-I don't have any illusion about being in any MTB hall of fame-I never belonged there and I know that. But I think that my first mountain bike does belong in the museum as it is one of the very first from Santa Cruz and represents the start of the second wave of MTB design- the period when cross country racing was really getting going and bikes had to steer and be light and lively and not just a copy of a late '40's Schwinn. Call me crazy but Salsa , Bontrager , Hoover and myself were building MTB's that were in our opinion much better suited to the singletrack of our forests than anything coming out of Marin.....just sayin'. Maybe our bikes would be shit on MT. Tam.....didn't matter-we were not riding there. 

So....I guess my bike will not be in the museum. Am I writing way too much about this ? Yes....after the exchange at the Marin bike history tent I left the Sea Otter in a pretty bad mood-I had forgotten all of the great meetings I had with old friends and had also stopped being happy about how lucky I was to be in such a great community of people who dedicate their lives to bikes and making people happy with them. I own this weakness and inability not to take offense when I seemingly get dismissed by someone of elevated fame status in the bike world. This is me keeping me down - not able to see things for what they really are. None of this matters and it should not matter to me. What does matter is that I'm doing my job to the best of my ability and that the people who keep me working are happy with what I do. There's no museum for that and there can't be- the display is the world at large. The exhibit is a road, a path, a velodrome.....anywhere the wheels touch the ground. That's the big display where all the hand built bikes reside- and it isn't static-it is in constant motion- as it should be. The bikes keep rolling.......and so should we all. 

In closing I really need to urge all to check out the museum-there truly are some great things there and really great stories. The young folks that are helping keep the place alive are motivated and very positive. Without the public's interest something like this collection will wind up going away -it's a slice of bicycle history crowded into a small building that is like no other. Am I bummed not to have my first bike there ? Sure, but it's just one bike out of so many that shaped the sport as it is today. You never know.....I might even go up there to check it out- but not if the trip gets in the way of a good bike ride........

 

One minute you're here- the next minute you're gone..

It's late and I can't stay up all night and write so I'll keep this pretty short. What you see in the photo is a nicely organized set of frame building bits that no doubt were assembled and maintained to be at the ready for a journeyman frame builder. There are lots of pieces that come in handy - not hoarder  quantities but a fairly good supply. The builder who owned this stock was certain that he would be using these bits and was careful to keep sufficient numbers of each part. What he didn't have was sufficient years to use them- this builder died from injuries sustained in a bicycle accident a few months ago. I have written about him- his name is Ed Litton. 

So now I am the caretaker of these bits from Ed and other departed builders who were people I knew and admired. Most of these guys died at the age I am currently or thereabouts. I am nearing my 70th so my decades ahead might be few if any. I have had to sort through the shops of several builders in just the last few years. This makes me keenly aware of my own mortality and also a bit worried about the mess I will leave behind when I go. Will there be someone to sort through all the stuff I leave behind - find places and people who will make use of all the bits- bits that I will not live to use up ? Am I one of the last of my generation who actually gives a crap about this stuff and has the knowhow to make use of it ? These are questions that I can't answer, just as I have no answer for people who ask me how soon I am going to quit or 'retire' .........I once told the departed Bruce Gordon when he asked me what my retirement plan was.I said the following: " Bruce, it's the same as yours- "Found dead in shop" - but he was found dead in his house as he did actually find a way to retire. 

So- tune in next week, next month or next year- I hope to still be here, and maybe if I can empty out these drawers of bits and finish some of the projects left behind..... before all of my unfinished projects are left behind. I'm sure there will be a hell of a garage sale.
 

Promise kept

Not sure when I got the idea but I know it must have been a few years ago. This looks like a really clean Masi frame , doesn't it ? Or- maybe a refinished frame ....either way it doesn't have a suspicious look , at least to me. You might wonder why I am putting a frame that someone else built on my blog. Truth is, this is a frame that I built in December of last year. 

The idea I had that I told a few people about was that I wanted to build a fake Masi. I told Bruce Gordon and got a chuckle out of him.....no mean feat. Bruce did see the humor in many things but he also had a lot of sadness from depression- my fake Masi idea was something I knew he would get a laugh out of and maybe it would brighten his day. I also told Ed Litton about the fake Masi project as I was looking for a few old frame building parts to really make the frame and fork as authentic looking as possible. Ed gave me some good leads as to where I might find what I was looking for. 

Unfortunately, both Ed and Bruce died - now my Fake Masi joke is mainly for me but I'm glad that I spent the time to build the frame and fork and to do the best job that I could with what I had and with what time I was able to devote. Really, I had told too many people that I was going to do it so there was no backing out- not only was I committed , I was duty bound to create a really decent fake. In effect, I had made a promise and I wanted to keep that promise. Sure, there's plenty of people who I had told about this project who are still alive but I wanted to keep the promise I made to Bruce and Ed.....not that they really would care- I no longer have any way of knowing that. To me it just felt really important to keep a promise to two people who happen to not be alive any more. Maybe that's my way of making it seem like they are still around, as if we still have a dialog and can still share this joke that I built a fake Masi that likely will be entered in some concours or classic bike show..........what if it wins a ribbon ? What if scores of collectors are carefully looking it over and arguing about what year it was constructed ? What if there's nobody left to be entertained by the irony.......to get the joke. Doesn't matter- I did it anyway-for Bruce, for Ed, for Seth, For Michael, for Roland and all my departed friends who I am sure would laugh if they could. 

 

You can't plan for death- the de-construction of Ed Litton cycles

One day you are working in your shop. You go for a bike ride with your friend and just riding along you have a horrible accident. You are rushed to a hospital where you are given emergency surgery. Then you are transferred to another hospital for further treatment. Then you die.......that is pretty much how it was told to me about the last week of Ed Litton's life.This was a very humble man who had tremendous skills as a bicycle frame builder. Ed did the kind of work that most builders would not take on- restorations and repairs. I no longer do that kind of work except for one week out of the year and it is only on bikes that are part of my own collection.

What you see in the photo above are some of the many frames in Ed's shop that now must find a new home. Ed's work in this shop is over , probably long before he was ready for it to be over. Now , customers who had work in process will just pick up their frames in whatever state they are in and hope to find another Ed Litton- which there isn't. Ed offered the full service- brazing, blasting, painting and assembly-he did it all in this small space. I, and some other folks that either knew or worked with Ed or were his customers came to the shop to buy whatever they can to help Ed's widow and children .

This is the pile that I took away-lots of tubes , some braze on bits, one frame and fork and some bike parts- none of it I needed but I'm next in line. You see, Ed was next in line when Roland Della Santa died. Ed was next in line when Peter Johnson died. Ed was next in line when Bruce Gordon died. Ed did not get the entire contents of the aforementioned departed builders but he did have a quantity of stuff from each of these other builder's shops. I thought that Ed would be next in line for my stuff ....did not work out that way and its me who is next in line for the materials that did not get used , the collection of stuff that comes with decades of being in the craft and the things that come our way because we can't say no to free or cool shit. 

Ed's Mill, one of two that he used will now be sold. Everything in the shop has to go-there's no apprentice or heir to take over the business-it would not exist without Ed-same story for just about every one man shop everywhere. When the old guy dies, it dies too. 

Here's a box of stamped stainless steel lugs. I get the feeling Ed did not like these but for some reason he could not just scrap them-I think I would feel the same....

Cameron Falconer was charged with organizing the same of all things in Ed's shop and having learned the trade while working for Ed he was obviously the most qualified. To do this kind of final liquidation of the shop where you learned what you do for a living you really need to care about the shop, it's history and it's creative force-along with all the contents.
 

Here's a Schwinn Paramount tandem that has probably been hanging up for decades. 

here's the filing cabinet with Ed's collection of restoration decals that he will never apply -I wonder who will wind up with these and what they will do with what they find in all these drawers. Nearly all the contents of the shop were things that Ed had touched, fixed or painted or was about to fix or paint. There were still two fames in his paint booth in process. He left quite a mess when he left this earth , but then he was not planning to leave as soon and as suddenly as he did- it is like many things .......it just happened. When I hear people say "Things happen for a reason " it makes me angry. The only things that happen for a reason are reasons- people try to pin a meaning to a tragic event as if the outcome has some sort of positive aspect. I call complete and total bullshit on that whole notion- Ed's dying was sad, awful and truly unfortunate- there really isn't more to say about it.