Never say ever....

What if someone created a bike show and didn't charge the exhibitors ? That's what these pictures show. New jersey transplant Anthony Mangieri , once a pizza superstar in Mahattan has recently put down roots in San Fransisco. As it turns out, it isn't all about pizza with Anthony......it is about bikes and riding as well. I was lucky enough to be participant in this party last Sunday put on by Anthony and Sean Walling of Soulcraft. Was it competition for the other hand-built shows ? No. Was it a society of like minded builders gathering to raise the bar of the craft ? no. It was pizza , bikes and people having a good time.
This brings me to the subject : What do we do this for ? Why are we involved in building bike frames, a pretty unlikely way to make a buck ? Is it for the presitge ? Is it to elevate ourselves in the social strata ? Hmmm.............shit, no. After this particular party my conclusion is that it is what we do and it is what brings us together as a community. No trophies, no societies , no presitge-just a good time and a way to work at something we like.
One of the things I don't really connect with is the idea of a 'guild' of frame builders. Sure, it is great to have standards and group buying of materials and meaningful exchange of info is a great thing , but there seems to be very little of that coming from the places that it should come from.....the internet chat forums. All I see are petty pissing matches for the most part and occasionally a real gem of info from someone-and it usually gets ignored or dismissed by some predatory internet moron on a campaign of wrongness. I find it really amusing when folks go out of their way to prove a point and they show in the process that they are totally full of shit.
Here is my point, for those who need a reference: I feel that there is no need to separate ourselves as frame builders into 'sub-groups' or guilds, or whatever. I like to feel that we are all in the same game at one level or another. We may disagree about certain fine points but at our core, we all build bike frames because we love it. It is for this reason that I have not entered into any of these sub-groups ,whether I was invited or not. Sure, you might say that this last party was all about Nor-Cal. frame builders. Of course it was-we all live here ! It isn't a sub-group , it is a geographic factor that brings us together. The same thing could be said about Portland or New England. It isn't that we think we are special.....it's that we know each other, live within a couple of hours drive from each other and that pretty much covers it. Oh yeah, we like pizza and having a good time with friends.
So.....I'm a Nor-Cal frame builder-so what ? Really, first and foremost I am a frame builder - one of many all over the world and I might have my feelings one way or another about my bretheren , but I do feel that there is no need to divide into 'cliques'. We are much stronger as a community at large and the sooner we all realize that the sooner we will be able to benefit from each others experience and wisdom.