Re: Subject: [CR] Little known builders

(Example: Framebuilders:Tony Beek)

Date: Wed, 13 Jun 2001 16:16:04 -0800
From: "Chuck Schmidt" <chuckschmidt@earthlink.net>
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: Re: Subject: [CR] Little known builders
References: <3B27FFCF.45C4@earthlink.net>


DOAH!!! And his bike had the enormous, single elliptical chainring, of course! How could I have left that out?

Chuck

Chuck Schmidt wrote:
>
> Hey, I've know of one... (he said, waving his arm around at the back of
> the classroom)
>
> Roger Durham (of red anodized, sealed-bearing, aluminum pulley fame; aka
> Bullseye). Kind of a rocket-scientist type frame builder and rider.
> Asthetics were not his strong point.
>
> Back in the mid-70s I met him at the Rose Bowl training race (fast,
> _serious_, twice weekly, 32 mile crit that dates back to the mid-30s).
> He would show up in his khaki long trowsers with brogans riding a large
> diameter tube, tig welded, aluminum frame of his own making, with
> plastic faring on the front (early Brown Zipper?), a _seat_ faring, and
> wood platform pedals (no toeclips) and proceed to hang in at the Bowl!!!
>
> He taught a class at his home on building your own large diameter tube,
> tig welded, aluminum frame like his. I think the class was free. He
> lived in Silverlake (suburb of L.A. near Griffths Park) that was always
> a pretty Bohemian area with a lot of artists.
>
> Roger was a bachelor then and worked on his bikes in his living room. I
> remember the rug was pretty much soaked with oil in the middle! This
> was before he turned Bullseye into a real business with the pulleys,
> cranks and hubs; I think his wife was pretty much responsible for
> whipping him into shape businesswise.
>
> And yes, he was building these Klein-lookalikes before Gary Klein and
> the MIT thesis; at least as early as the early-1970s.
>
> Chuck Schmidt
> South Pasadena (breezy 82°), California