Test scores

O.K. , folks. If any of you actually bothered to do the quiz, here are your scores for each answer. The higher scores are awarded to the answers that I feel reflect the reality of building frames and not the fantasy. Pretense and negativity do not merit high numbers, even though so many of you champion both of those questionable attributes.

A one-point score indicates almost complete culelessness

A two point score indicates an almost imperceptable glimmer of grasping the concept.

A three point score shows some understanding , but clearly not the best choice.

A four point score indicates that this answer will work in a pinch.

A five point score means that you get it, whatever that may be.

A zero point score really isn't worth as much print as I have given it.

#1. A= 3

B= 3

C=4

D= 5

#2. A=2

B=3

C=2

D=1

E=5

#3. A=2

B=1

C=1

D=5

E=1

#4. A=1

B=1

C=1

D=5

E=2

#5. A=3

B=1

C=0

D=5

E=0

#6. A=2

B=0

C=5

D=1

E=1

#7. A=3

B=4

C=2

D=0

E=0

F=5

#8. A=3

B=2

C=5

D=0

E=3

In depth explanations of the reasoning behind the scores is something I have considered but I really don't want to waste your time unless there is a groundswell of enthusiasm.

A score of 40 indicates that you have a grasp, or at least my grasp of the framebuilders reality.....well done, bucko.

a score of 30 or more means that while you may have the grasp, you also think that there is some wiggle room with the rules, which there is, just not for me.

A score of less than 20 would say that you and I should never meet, at least not without a moderator or legal councel present.

Don't take it personally if you don't get a high score........taking this stuff personally is what drives the negative shit-circle that much of the chat forums have become. My advice ? Don't stir the shit........it will get on you and eventually all over you.

This is only a test......

So you want to build frames, eh ? Maybe you don't want to build frames.....maybe you already build frames....heck , I don't know why you found me but you are here and you can check out this questioneer I have come up with. This multiple-choice quiz was inspired but the NYC bike snob's Friday quizzes - the difference is that his are funnier. The quiz I am offering up is for aspiring framebuilders or anyone who wishes to waste a little of their time with the following questions. You won't win anything no matter how well you do at the quiz and I'm sure that whatever I believe is the correct answer to any question might be up for debate-then again , this is my blog so I get to be the supposed authority , for what its worth.

So you want to be a framebuider ? Answer me this:

#1. If you were to build frames for a profession , what kind or style would you build ?

A. Lugged, classic style.

B. Welded steel

C. A variety of materials depending on use.

D.The kind that sell.

#2. How would you set yourself apart from the myriad of builders out there in the trade ?

A. Make your shop a 'destination shop' with a nice area with couches and an espresso machine.

B. Get the latest fitting method with all the most modern bike fit equipment.

C. Have a super organized space that exudes an organized , professional approach.

D. Have custom logos and fittings made for your frames that nobody else can use on their frames.

E. Actually do what you say you will do and be truthful.

#3. If a client comes into your shop, how will you go about selling your product to the prospective buyer ?

A. First, point out what notable feature(s) set your frame apart from the other builders.

B. Let the customer know that they really have arrived at the place where dreams are realized.

C. Ask them what they want, then tell them what you think they need.

D. Listen to what they have to say, then offer up some suggestions.

E. Tell them that you have limited time and that they need to make up their mind quickly as you have several years worth of orders to fill.

#4. What do you do if someone asks for some sort of frame that you don't know how to build ?

A. You tell them that they are asking for something really stupid.

B. You refer them to someone you know will build them a total piece of shit and that'll teach 'em.

C. You ask them why hell they came to you with this request and then show them the door.

D. You make an effort to find a compromise between what they are asking for and what you can build for them without going out of your comfort zone.

E. You take the order and learn how to build the frame , even if it means you are getting involved in a potential career-ending time-toilet.

#5. What do you do if someone has issues or a complaint with something you built for them? A. Tell them that you will do anything to rectify the situation except for a full refund.

B. Educate them as to what is proper and what is not proper with bicycle frame construction and assure them that what they are complaining about is not your problem.

C. Hide somwhere in your shop where you are sure they won't find you.

D. Do your best to fix the problem but if the person becomes abusive and/or irate offer them a full refund.

E. Move your shop and don't give a forwarding address.

#6. As a bicycle enthusiast , you would most like to :

A. Build frames all day long, every day.

B. Yell at cars as often as possible and let the world know that they need to share your road .

C. Go for a ride.

D. Spend time on the internet discussing frame building.

E. Smoke cigarettes while riding backward circles on a fixed gear.

#7. If you go on the internet framebuilding forums you are primarily :

A. Checking out the gossip.

B. Wanting to find an answer to a framebuilding question.

C. Wanting to show off your latest project.

D. Looking to argue and be abusive, particularly to the newbies.

E. Needing to show that you are right and that they are wrong.

F. Wanting to exchange useful info with non-deranged like minded folks.

#8. If you don't know a procedure, what do you do to learn how to do said procedure ?

A. Go to the forums and ask the folks at large.

B. Just figure out by trying things in your shop, caveman style.

C. Find a more experienced builder and ask him/her how it is done.

D. Go check a number of sources and authorities , then disregard all the sound advice and figure it out for yourself because you are a genius and they are not.

E. Find a way to live your life never knowing.......

Well, Folks-that is your quiz. I'll be posting what I think are the best answers and there will be point values for each answer. A hig score means you think like I do which may or may not serve you well-it depends on what circles you travel in. Good luck and happy new year to all.

Embarassments of poverty

If you are like me, and if you are lucky you probably aren't, you run a buisness all by yourself.Don't get me wrong.....I'm fine with it and it suits my abilities and inabilities: Ability to amuse myself while working diligently......essential. Inability to work for other companies that will likely have a heirarchy and tyrant boss of some sort......well, it got me here. So here I am, all by myself in my shop building frames. How long can it go on ? How many can I produce ? In the grand scheme of things, not all that many. This is the case with just about every small framebuilder......limited life of the builder and therefore, the buisness-hence , limited number of frames produced. It always warms my heart a little when I see one of my frames on ebay or craigslist described as "rare". Of course its rare, compared to a Trek. For small builders to offer a "Limited edition" is kind of silly.....they are all limited editions ! I can understand the need to produce an "Anniversary" model that signifies a milestone in one's career as a builder-I built one to celebrate ( or perhaps rue..) my 25th year since I built my first frame. The bikes is all assembled and hanging in my shop. Did people line up to buy it ? No.....so the 30th anniversary came and went without my building a commemorative frame.....I don't have the time, I guess. Maybe if I make it to 50........It is because of our short lifespan and miniscule production relative to large companies that some builders attempt ( and some succeed ) to establish an "exclusivity" about thier brand .......just like beachfront property or admission into one of those clubs that only people on the 'list' gain entry to. In reality, the person who writes the check gets the frame-at least that's all it takes to get on my list. My exclusive club has but one requirement.....just pay me for my work. Sure, custom frames are not cheap and the wait can be long, but a $ 350 deposit gets you on the list.....you don't need to be a certain age, you don't need a full head of hair, I won't ask you to write an essay on why you and not someone else should deserve to get the next frame I produce. There is no special handshake , there's no drug test......really, if you want a frame built and have the money and are willing to wait, you qualify. The whole concept of feeling special or elevated above your fellow cyclists because you have such and such's frame makes me a little ill. Heck, if it is a great frame and it fits you well and you are happy with it, definitely be proud of it....just don't expect anyone to bow to you as you ride by. I do make exceptions to my take on things here-there are a few guys who only produce a few frames a year and the artistic content of these masterpieces is undeniable. Even still, these few artisans will insist that it is still a bicycle made for riding foremost.....even if it will someday wind up in the Smithsonian. To end this rambling rant, I'll say this : Shows that promote bike building get a thumbs up from me. Shows and businesses that portray framebuilders as demi-gods and leaders of super-exclusive members only clubs don't even get a thumbs down from me.....they don't even get a thumb.....I need it to hold the welding rod, anyway. To these self-important strutting gasbags I ask " When your career is over, how would you like best to be forgotten ?".........I'll bet you won't be forgotten like me !

Don't thank me...

Every day I come to my shop and get to work , building the next frame or doing some sort of repair or modification. My day started out typically-I had a frame that I had started the day before and needed to finish it today or else I would be falling behind my self imposed shedule. The more efficient I am, the more money I make and the sooner the customer gets the frame-this is why I work many hours without thinking about who I depend on for the stuff that makes my job easier....sometimes making it possible at all. Today was a day where the lightning bolt hit...all of a sudden I realized that this particular frame was coming together really well and inspite of my need for expediency was actually fun to build. This isn't to say that framebuilding is normally not a fun thing , but it is often hard work with many chances for frustration. This brings me to a subject that is often on my mind: Good materials for small builders are not something that large companies want to produce any more. One by one the large companies that used to make quality stuff for the US market are deciding that there isn't enough profit in supplying small framebuilders , now that the large bicycle companies are all having their bikes made in Taiwan or China. With this being the case small framebuilders have a real problem looming in the near future.......the stuff they depend on to build with may be soon an extinct species. The solution ? Build the stuff here-and fortunately, there are a few folks still willing to do this. These folks are heros in my book because they don't care about the bottom line as much as they care about this symbiotic world of suppliers, builders, painters and others. The frame in the picture has yokes and dropouts designed by Mike Aherens. Mike's stuff is what he uses on his own bikes but he sells these excellent fittings to anyone who wants to build with them. I could not build this type of frame without Mikes stuff. Another US manufaturer of framebuilding suppies is Mark Norstad of Paragon Machine works. Nearly every frame I build has one of his bottom bracket shells , made right here in California. Paul Price of Paul Components makes a terrific steel track dropout....it isn't a product he makes a lot of money on -he makes them because builders want them . Kirk Pacenti may have his lugs and BB shells made overseas but he creates them for US builders for the most part. Hank Folsom of Henry James has been having lugsets cast in the US for thirty years and sells the last US made tubing, True Temper. These folks are going out on a limb financially to keep a small industry alive and none of them are getting rich . While large bicycle companies go away from metal frames in favor of carbon fiber ( No need for skilled labor such as welders or machinists ) the folks that make supplies for the small builder see value in sustaining the craft . Carbon fiber bicycles are very popular but they are probably the least green bike available. Metals of all kinds can be recycled and some can easily be repaired. This is not the case for carbon fiber for the most part . Essentially ,every carbon fiber frame is destined for the landfill. Today I though about that.....and the folks I depend on. I hope you all are thinking about it as well.

being there

It's 10:17 p.m. and I just got home from the shop. I got there about 9:15 a.m. - a long day by my standards but there was a time when my days at the shop were often this long or longer. When I still was working out of my garage and didn't have the array of machinery that I now am lucky to posess I would work long into the night, brazing frames together. I was so slow that it took me a week what I can now do in a day. This necessitated marathon work days that could go from 8:30 a.m. until 11:00 p.m. . I remember one night with the torch in my hand looking at the thermometer in my unheated garage one winter night. The thermometer read 28 degrees......I thought that the next time my dad would tell me about bad working conditions that he had endured I would tell him about this night. There was a difference, though....my dad was working a job he didn't like-I chose this job and here I was, reveling in how much it sucked. I could complain about how long the hours were and how low the pay was and the fact that the shop was filthy, unheated and not altogether pleasant.....trouble is I was a victim of myself. While I remain dedicated to what I'm doing still , I can spend the hours, answer the emails and phone calls , think that I'm doing a great job...then I remember-I have a repair hanging above my bench that has been there 11 months. What about that handlebar stem I promised earlier this year that never got built ? How about the bike shows I had to miss because I didn't want to interupt my work routine ? Or today....a brilliant blue sky that I didn't hardly bother to look at because I had so much work laid out for the day ? Or the many bike rides I missed because I was building.................Bikes ?!? This line of work demands that one be present and accounted for. A lot of work does but when you are a one-person operation the pressure to be there is substantial. I have no children. I'm not going to ever have children....nobody to continue the insanity I started, my bike framebuilding buisness. The bikes are my children.....hundereds of them. Some day ,maybe thousands -if I keep at it another ten or fifteen years. I had somebody ask me " How do you keep doing the same thing every day ? Don't you ever want to try something else ? " The truth is that it's not the same thing every day....it changes, challenges, infuriates , trancends , evolves , falls apart , redeems , repels , flounders, defeats , reveals , mystifies , becons. If this weren't the case , a lot less people would want to try it. Once tried , the test will go on and on and one's presence and focus will be the difference between being on the outside or being immersed in the craft . It isn't about arriving somewhere or attaining something-it's about maintaining something. Its work-it goes on only as long as you are willing to be there.

Long time subscriber, first time caller

Every day I, like my brethren go to my shop and do my best to try and build bikes that fulfill what the customer asked for. Of course, it is impossible to make everyone happy who comes in your door for your services but we as builders always seem to try, as if we thought it was possible. So why do we do this ? What personality defect makes us so blind to think that we alone are the final destination for this and any customer , regardless of what they want ? Is it the thought that maybe nothing is beyond our capeabilities as builders ? Is it because we are wanting to have a perfect failure-free 100% customer satisfaction record ? I think not.....it's probably more the fear of failure on the part of the customer and worse, the success of a competitor with the very same customer. So.....when we do fail and get called into question by the customer , why do we get overly defensive ? Why do we forget that it isn't possible to make everyone happy and to go through life without making a mistake or without occsionally pissing someone off ? Again, I think it goes to the personality type that chooses to do this for a living. I recently had an email exchange with a guy who had dealings with several framebuilders as a customer and on the forums. This guys assesment of framebuilders was that they were premadonnas for the most part and if I had had the same experiences as he, it is likely I would have come tothe same conclusion. That said, some of the builders he referred to are top-notch supreme craftsmen and have built amazing stuff over the years. I guess what I'm puzzled by is why most of us get so incredlbly defensive when someone dosen't find us to be as complete and flawless as we want to be ? How come we can't remember something as simple as " You can't please all the people all the time"? What is it that re-enforces our collective insecurities and unrealistic self images ? Is it the fumes from the flux ? Was it how we were raised ? Is it a part of our makeup that also happens to point us in the direction of building bicycle frames ? It is almost as if some of us-actually a lot of us are like feudal lords in really tiny castles , defending ourselves pathetically-I know, it's real stretch of an image but think of each builder as a separate'Kingdom" with its own philosophy, its own set of ethics that must be defended to the death. Builder "A" had a customer who waited X amount of months for a frame and then declared that it wasn't what he wanted, got a refund and then went to builder "B" and had a positive experience. Builder "A" was of course convinced that this customer was in error and that builder"B" was and is a hack. If it sounds like I have experience with this , I do. I have been both builder 'A" and builder "B". I would like to be neither for the duration of my career and try to keep the neuroses at bay-we all need to in my opinion because if we don't, every one of our customers will be going to the large companies for their bicycles....you see, the large companies don't get into the petty stuff that framebuilders do-they just take your money and that is that.

They will find you.

I'm a lucky guy. I have a buisness that I created and struggled with for many years and now it actually seems to be a for real livelyhood. I support myself by building bicycle frames.....just me in my shop with my crazy music blaring all day long, building bicycle frames. It's almost as if I got a pass on the whole growing up into an adult and getting a job thing. I'm still living as if I were and adolescent......maybe a bit more regimented but still like a teenager in a lot of regards. For this privalege I owe my customers a debt of gratitude for making my lifestyle possible. People getting in touch with me to order bikes from all over the world is still something I wonder at and don't fully comprehend. I just keep building 'em if people keep wanting 'em. That said , there are times when I'm found by a person who might not be somebody I can make happy with what I do. I figure that in most cases my website info and reputation will filter out all who might wind up regretting their decision to entrust me with the job of making their rolling dream a reality. Sometimes on the phone or even in an email I will get the sense that the person inquiring might be someone who should shop elsewhere. I have had several instances where I have had to refund a deposit or even buy a frame back from a dissatisfied client. I like to avoid these situations but sometimes I'm blindsided by a person who's motivation for the famebuider-customer relationship might be considered off the beaten path. These folks are what I would call " Psychotic". This is of course a very strong word and I can count the people who merit the description on one hand for my entire career. All the same, these few folks have taught me the most about what I should and shouldn't promise when talking about frames to anyone. About a decade ago I built a frame for a person who was very set on using some hardware on his frame that I was not familiar with. I assured him that what I normally used was superior and that I would build a better frame with what was familiar to me. This did not deter the customer....he wanted his dropouts and other fittings just so. I ordered the stuff requested and had a miserable time building the frame. The end result was not up to my normal standards but the bike was and still is a rideable racing bike. I sent the customer the frame and waited for his opinion on the work and for my payment. I got an email stating that the frame was not what he wanted and he immediately requested that I start on another one. I asked for him to send the frame back and offered to pay the shipping and refund his deposit ( I had not been paid the balance ) to which he replied angrily that I was dropping the ball in the middle of the project. I replied that I had done what he requested with the materials he specified to the best of my ability and was not going to chance having him reject another frame. He was livid but sent back the frame. I sent him his money immediatelty.....this actually impressed him. What I learned is that in rare cases there are a few folks who want the process of interaction with the builder but probably don't want the actual frame at all. What they want is for people like me to keep trying to make them happy while they keep either changing their minds or just become abusive. It's kind of a patrician-servant relationship.......they need to be catered to in ways unrelated to bicycles,riding or anything of that nature. I do not fully understand the motivation for this need and do not feel qualified to fulfill it. Not only that, I really should be building bikes for folks who will ride them , not argue about a file mark in a stainless steel dropout. Do I admit to failing these rare people ? Yes, by all means. Do I intend to get more in touch with their needs as customers ? No F-ing way. As Joe Walsh said ; " You can't argue with a sick mind ".