All that was old will be new again
Have some sleuth work to do. Moved the Newton Historical Society out of Storage and into their nicely re-vamped site on Waverly St. last week and got a second chance to photograph a really early, full on (as in I doubt there was an off the shelf part available at the dawn of cycling) hand built bike with some really familiar “innovations” that have only reappeared on... Read More
Relocation engineering (or) Salesman are always in the black column.
Waylay ed from my ideal day by relocation engineering SNAFU caused by lack of due diligence of a sales associate, no respect, so bummed I missed the swap. Clients who appreciate how hard you are pushing against adversity and tip, even just enough for lunch, can make this kind of day feel more worthwhile though. It’s kind of strange to me that the new cultural norm to give... Read More
The first bike of the last year (or) until the what pays for the how
In the deluge of information from the globally consequential to the utterly inane, a bit of news that may have escaped some folks daily feed was that Budd Bike Works intends to take a hiatus and close it’s doors. It’s hard to know where that kind of line is drawn though, when the door to your business is turned with the same key as your home, so while divesting myself... Read More
NAHBS Photos (or) Low Snow Packs in Colorado
That time of year again folks, can’t wait to see what everyone has up their sleeves. Sounds like conditions are less than ideal for skiing in the rockies this year, the theory I heard that fat bikes’ll be the only way for what were once winter resorts to stay afloat in warmer weather is shaping up to be spot on, I bet they’d even handle well in ashes,... Read More
Support your local Bike Racer
Would there still be a bike race in Philly this Summer if Bart Bowen won? Probably about the most inconsequential of “what if’s” to ponder on inauguration day 2013, still, I’ve got to wonder if had Lance not won a million dollars in 1993 at the National Championships in Philadelphia, what would cycling look like today? All the people that came to the... Read More
Humble Bikes goes Silent (or) Talk Talkers and Walk Walkers
Hanging a shingle as a framebuilder in a place with as rich a tradition of manufacturing these blessed conveyances as the Boston area was a foregone conclusion. I’d already built my first dozen frames when I moved back here in 2008 to a sprawling old funeral home owned by an old cohort of Gary Helfrich and Chris Chance, the landlord’s soft spot for bike building and... Read More
Marking the time (or) Getting Wheelie Excited for Providence
Yup, It’s OCTOBER as of Monday, the Harvest moon is upon us. Even as an urban dweller without a true stake in the season as our farming fore bearers might’ve, there is something to the air as the temperature drops that sparks a command in a part of the brain that goes too often ignored, the need for a flurry of activity that you hope will be enough to pull you through... Read More
Enemablamatic of Freedom (or) Happy B’day ‘Mer’ca
Holy smokes, it’s high summer already and my cup runneth over. At the dawn of Mercas 236th year and Budd Bike Works 6th I’ve the following slices of pie on my plate to celebrate. 1. Another MTB proto out the door and into the hands of T. Berg the terrible of Team Stampede for testing. 2.Still have prime showroom space at the BSA Space with the 1st iteration buggins... Read More
It sure beats blabbing about religion, politics, or sports (or) The man it’s fast though manifesto.
It took the Socks sort of sucking, the Celtics wilting to the Heat, and the end of hockey season for Boston to get to the topic but alas, Last Night the BSA space on the historic Atlantic Wharf was ready to Talk About Bikes. It took some real talent for the over,under crew to translate the mouth foaming proselytizing of full time bike zealots like myself into something digestible... Read More
Super Tuesday (or) Curated for Performance
The rest of the day was spent parsing through the catalogs of my parts distributors to come up with this. It takes all this and then some. The parts list for the complete Trail Bike I’ll be building this month, it is no small amount of decisions to make when you are selecting each component of a bicycle individually. Glad to have this bit of the process nearly over with... Read More
