Recently, there was a Good Man who left Portland, apparently for all time. Mike Muzik took off in a van, headed back east where he’s from. For quite a few years Mike worked as a bike mechanic at the (self proclaimed) Death Star bench at River City Bicycles. He also helped me out at my shop here and there from the very beginning of my frame building career. He was there when I was starting out in the one-car garage that I shared with yard tools and a stack of fire wood.
Together we drank the 12-pack of cheap beer, the box of which became the template for the very first “Half Rack” that I built. After the first 12-pack was empty, we had to go get another one, because an empty box doesn’t have the same specs as a full one, and the rack needed to be built with exactitude, both in regards to size and stability. The whole process became very confusing. But in the end we prevailed, our session of R & D resulted in one of the most popular styles of racks I’ve built.
I’ve had a lot of fun hanging out and working with Mike over the years. He’s one of the best bike mechanics I’ve known, one of the most meticulous and the most ethical. He always had some goofy, witty comment to make, and he was never short on Good Ideas. He’s one of the most golden-hearted humans I’ve ever met, and more than anything, he is a great friend. As much as I’ll miss his company, I also understand that sometimes a life change is needed, and that when it’s time to go, it really is time to go. Fare thee well my friend. Lucky for me, I’ll be heading out east in about a month for the Cirque du Ciclismo in Virginia, so we’ll get to hang out again.
To offset the recent departure of my good friend Mike Muzik is the even more recent return of my good friend and love Ms. Michaels. She’s been off in India for the past 8 months (!), just having arrived back this past week. She’s been traveling around eating mangos and dhal and studying yoga, and is understandably in something of a state of bliss. Her hair’s all sun-washed blonde, her skin is dark, she chants strange words in the morning, smiles a lot, even though she’s somewhat mystified by all the cars and the price of food in America. There are no cows wandering around, no street vendors selling just about anything you can imagine, Bollywood films are very hard to come by, everything here is so neat and orderly and the people don’t smile nearly so much as in India. But, one thing she does have is her really nifty bicycle, which, when she rides causes her to smile so much that the first insects of the year get caught in her teeth. It’s very cute, and I’m really glad she’s back.
Now, on to business. After the North American Hand Made Bicycle Show here in Portland this year, the PDC (Portland Development Commission), working with the Port of Portland, decided to put up a display of hand made bicycles at the Portland airport. The display has 12 or so bikes, all made by Oregon builders. You can read more about the display at bikeportland.org. This is a really cool thing; that we, as bicycle builders, are being recognized by the city of Portland as an important part of the culture and economy of the city and state, enough so to warrant this sort of public display. The display will be up for about 6 months, and an estimated 3 million people will pass by and have the opportunity to check it out. So if you’ll happen to be flying into Portland over the next few months, you ought to make your way to concourse E to see it. I haven’t flown anywhere since the display was set up, and it is on the secure side of the airport, so I haven’t even seen it myself, except for some pictures. You can also watch a short promotional and informational video about the display and the PDC here.
I just received word of another recent piece of publicity from Patrick, a friend of mine who had me build him a bike quite a while ago. Patrick got a devoted single speed 29er, pictures of which are on my website: http://www.ahearnecycles.com/pages/patrickss29er.html
He sent me a picture of his bike, which is shown in the June issue of Mountain Bike Magazine. I think it’s pretty exciting for someone to see their bicycle in a widely circulated national rag. I think the blurb is kind of funny because they head it with “Ahearne Patrick SS 29er,” which makes it sound like my name is Ahearne Patrick. But I’m not complaining. It’s a really cool and unique bike, and press like that can’t be beat.
One of the constant struggles for small independent builders is visibility. None of us has much of a so-called “marketing budget.” In fact, I’d be willing to guess that for a lot of us our yearly gross sales wouldn’t even compare to a percentage of the marketing budget of some of the big-time production bicycle companies. But don’t let that fool you – we may be smaller in the sense that we’re less visible, but we do it way better. It’s like the old Buddhist saying that it’s usually the most vocal ones who have the least to say. Thanks, Patrick, for the link.
A bike I finished recently that I’m pretty excited about is Ken’s green 29er. It’s a straight up fillet brazed frame, uses some really nice, light tubing, has Paragon “sliders” and a really good package of components. Ken is a fairly big guy, quite tall, and he rides hard, getting out on the trail at every opportunity. So far, the word is that he’s really enjoying it, that it climbs and handles better than anything he’s ridden. And, he’s said, with some of the guys he rides with there is definitely some bike envy happening. As a builder, that’s always a pleasure to hear. I wish him many miles of fun this summer, and for many years to come.
A bicycle I’ve put a lot into recently and is nearly finished is Adam Marx’s commuter. This has been a very involved project, since it includes a frame, fork, stem, and a heavy-duty porteur style front rack. Making all these things individually takes quite a lot of time, but in the end it’s so very worth it because it’s all built to work perfectly together, to serve specific needs, and the end result – the complete bicycle – will be far more than the sum of it’s parts, functionally, visually, and most importantly, in the quality of the ride.
Aesthetically, there is no compromise anywhere, front to back, top to bottom. Each part of the bicycle has been built to compliment and enhance the rest. The fork was built to steer with stability even under a load; the rack was built to mimic an older style porteur, and was beefed-up where needed so that it’ll easily carry 50+ pounds, and also has ports for internal wiring to the front light, which runs off the generator hub. The stem was built to accommodate the French style swept back “porteur” bar, and has a boss (the “Dust Stop”) for a single stem shifter and 1 x 9 gearing. The frame has classic style lugs, thinned to a subtle minimum, and has been built with commuter comfort in mind. Strength has been added where necessary to keep the ride stable even when carrying a lot of weight on the front.
We decided to go with the Paul “racer” brakes for strength of braking and the classic style, so the brake bosses are set high and wide, on the outside of both the fork legs and seat stays, and the boss openings were capped with vintage coins (I know, it’s ridiculous; but hey, I’m building the thing, so let me have my fun, as nerdy as it may be…). The bike has fast-back seat stays with an internal seat binder which is almost completely hidden. The components we picked based on function and style, choosing a complimentary mix of the classic and the modern, parts that will work really well for many years to come, and will enhance the overall appearance and theme of the bike.
The finishing touches are nearly complete. I’m very excited to see this bicycle painted and built. And, lucky for me, Adam and I are nearly the exact same size, so that I’ll get to take the bike for a spin when it’s ready and see what it’s really all about. If you have the opportunity to get to Virginia for the Cirque do Ciclismo from June 6 – 8 this year, you’ll be able to see this bicycle in person. You can be sure I’ll post more pictures once this bicycle is painted.
That’s all for now. One of the many optimists around here told me it was sure to be sunny and warm today. I expected rain. Stepping outside now I see that it’s neither sunny nor warm, as I expected. But at least there’s no rain. I can deal with that. I think I’m going to tempt Mother Nature and go for a ride and not take my stinking rain jacket. In fact, I’m going to ride my bike that has no fenders and if I get dumped on I’m going to find the nearest optimist and give them an ear-full. But the funny thing about that is they never seem daunted. They’ll just smile and tell me that the sun will surely be out tomorrow. Sure, OK.