Re: Subject: [CR] Little known builders

(Example: Production Builders:Tonard)

From: "Diane Feldman" <feldmanbike@home.com>
To: <chuckschmidt@earthlink.net>, <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
References: <3B27FFCF.45C4@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: Subject: [CR] Little known builders
Date: Wed, 13 Jun 2001 16:49:01 -0700


Ever seen one of his football-shaped, super-oval chainrings? David Feldman


----- Original Message -----
From: Chuck Schmidt
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Sent: Wednesday, June 13, 2001 5:05 PM
Subject: Subject: [CR] Little known builders



> 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