To start with… My Grandfather's name on my Mother's side is Wilbur and my Grandfather's name on my father's side is Orville. I was destine to be in the bicycle world.
Born in 58' in Madison Wisconsin, the bicycle capital of the U. S. At the age of four I received my first trike to race circles around the furnace in the basement. My father died of Leukemia in 66', but before he did he gave me a converted Schwinn cruiser that had a banana seat and some monkey bars for steering for my birthday. I rode that bike till I turned 14, giving it to a friend to deliver his newspapers. By then I was designing 10 speed frames in high school drafting class. Got me a Sears FreeSpirit and started touring. For folklore of the Desperado, I was 15 in the beginning of June of 74’. This is when the Eagles rock group came out with the “Desperado” album. I began singing the songs at an early age and if you venture into the “The Adventures Of Jalon Hawk”, you will find reference to this! I went to college and increased my knowledge of architectural and mechanical design. This was not the first place that I found my ideas to be visionary. Taking a long look and where I wanted to go with my career choices, I started a service shop in Madison, forcing the quality of service to new standards. I brought in some frame builder's work to fulfill the needs of my clients for the boom of ATB's. This is where I got very well known for my talents. In 1987 I designed a set of wheels that broke the mold of anything before, setting the standards for custom wheels. When my independent builders took different directions in business, the right circumstances came about for me to begin my frame-building livelihood. There was a day when I remember that you had to be certified to build with Reynolds 753 tubing. Silver solder was the choice of discriminating builders. Chris Chance changed the bicycle world when he TIG welded a frame together. In an industry where profits are the main concern, TIG has become the standard because of it's quick joining and no clean up. There are still some that understand the virtues of silver brazed frames. My first jig was home made. I had my first frame 'set' when a gentleman came in and we began discussing what was going on in my Shoppe. He indicated he was the head of the engineering department at Oscar Myers and told me that they did everything in silver brazing and asked why I decided to brass braze when I could silver braze. The Queen of Hearts was born with silver, and everything since then. A Henry James jig was purchased with the help of Steely Turner's ability to see the need for this industry to have a visionary. He also showed up one day to deliver a floor standing drill press. My skills have sharpened to the point to have True Temper and Henry James to recognize them, as well as Universities, and enthusiasts all around the world. Areas of my web page have become bookmarks for many, and my ISP indicates that I have averaged 60,000 hits a month. Business: I was over purchasing Imron activator the other day and got upset that the price has over doubled in the last 12 years. I discussed this with the owner of the business and he indicated that I should pass the increase to the customer. I got to thinking about this and thought about the cost of living. If the inflation rate is 4% over the last 12 years, then the value of the dollar is 48% of what it was 12 years ago. This being the case, then custom frames that cost the consumer $1200 12 years ago would cost approximately $2400 today. Wow! Or think of it this way: The average price of one of my frames is $1200 today (I have not changed the price in 8 years). If you think about that, you will find the value of today’s custom frames against the value of the American dollar. My property taxes before my move were almost five times what they where 12 years, from $380 to $2100 and talk of a 30% increase next year. This cannot continue for the independent builder. Ten years from now you should be paying 40% more, and you won't because there will not be any more independents. If you were ever considering a custom frame, now is the time! With the new generation of riders out there, I know you cringe at the price of a custom frame. If you could only understand what you are missing. Soon all your custom frame builders will give up on their passion for the masses. Corporate America has control over your purchasing and you will wonder why your bike is so generic and does not perform like you want. It is your choice, just watch out for being marketed. Make a wise investment in your riding pleasure. Enjoy the reading. It is constantly growing. I mostly do my changes with this web page in the fall season. The bottom line is that regardless what the direction this industry takes, I will remain focused on the line that my front wheel is taking, visions of the next advancements in cycling. After all, I am in it for the ride! |