Dale,
Thanks for that great writeup on Dave. I believe I know most of Daves' history in the bike biz and a bit about his prior life in the Navy and other things. I will try to put together a piece on Daves memory that will also serve to inform those who are unfamiliar with Dave, the "Manic Master", a name I have never heard. It did not originate with me for sure. It may be an East Coast phrase.
The reality of Daves' passing has hit me finally, and I am sad to tears now. This year has seen 3 super depart our world in a far too untimely manner. Chris Beyer, Dave Staub, and Dave Tesch. How is this fair??
Thanks to those who have sent me private emails in sympathy. I will try to repay the list by comming up with something significant about my true friend. There never has been nor will there ever be again a person like Dave Tesch. Our relationship over the years was kind of up and down, but overall we both had a tremendous respect for one another. Rest in peace Dave, those who really knew Dave are most certainly saddened by the loss.
Brian Baylis La Mesa, CA I may attempt to put the final finishing touches on the one and only Tesch tandem frame ever built, for display at Le Crique, 2004.
Well, I waited to be certain that a mistake hadn't been made...
Dave & I went way back.
He always made me laugh as he was indeed a funny and occasionally outrageous guy. He took joy in creating a sensation. His personality was strong and sometimes a bit self focussed but he was also sensitive and considerate. (That is a fairly constant characteristic I have observed in all the best artists politicians, actors etc. I have hung around.)
The nick name the "Manic Master" says some of it! Ha! (wonder who gave him that nickname? Do you know, Brian?) He loved bikes and riders and the flash & fury. In any event, he was always a hoot to hang out with, always entertaining.
Maybe someone can do an honest, properly researched Dave Tesch biography, as he had a roller coaster ride in life. I first met him way back in the earlier days at Trek. I was their first south east sales representative and he was working inside. He then went full-on California... to Masi and later to his own brand frames.
Oddly, I distinctly remember him showing his new brand at the New York Show at the same time he was at Masi. Can that be right? Maybe he had just quit Masi and was hanging out in the Masi booth... Any way, his bikes always looked hot and had great mojo. Those cool top eyes, the full-on race persona he promoted. Very cool.
He got a good bit of press, which was an object of discussion between he & I. By that time, I was selling his frames through CDO and he came out with the oversized tubing frame ("S-22). That was a bust in my shop.. no lugs, fat tubes (Looks like a Cannondale! Yuk!)
Then, in an interview in Bicycle Guide (I think... maybe Bicycling mag) he talked & gave readers the impression about how fast he could make them and how it was all done by machinery rather than by hand.. I called him and raised hell as he had said all the things that removed rather than added mystique to this rather anonymous looking frame model! How could I sell them to customers who wanted "hand crafted" and hours of labor-of-love? He, typically, argued back vociferously ... and he & I went a few years before we talked again...
Later I heard from various sources he had lost the legal use of his name for use on his bikes through business stumbles and possible mismanagement along with a Partner. Who knows exactly what happened there as clear unbiased reports were hard to come by..
Anyway, he and I finally reconnected through this list and him having found the page devoted to him on the CR.. He was flattered and happy to see it. He obviously had mellowed over the years and was interested in making some more bikes. Despite making his living in the automotive world for the past 10 years or more, he still had the love.
Dave Tesch was a crazy, fun person who enriched our lives with his nutty and imaginative zest for life. He will be missed!
Dale Brown
Greensboro, NC