Re: [CR]Hi there

(Example: Framebuilders)

From: "ternst" <ternst1@cox.net>
To: "Charles Schmitz" <ctschmitz@earthlink.net>, <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
References: <30725277.1122690305032.JavaMail.root@wamui-huard.atl.sa.earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [CR]Hi there
Date: Fri, 29 Jul 2005 19:51:33 -0700
reply-type=original

Thanks Charles. The old shop had gravel on a large part of the floor, and kids used to come in and let the gravel goes through their toes while in the shop. Yes, there was a tree. It was a fun place and when we built the new shop it was just as much fun but easier. Every week someone stops by to say hello and reminisce. That's really nice after 45 years and it shows how great cycling is and the great memories folks have and what impressions and impact it had on their lives. Vive le Bicycle! Ted Ernst Palos Verdes Estates, CA


----- Original Message -----
From: Charles Schmitz
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Sent: Friday, July 29, 2005 7:25 PM
Subject: [CR]Hi there



> Hi all -
>
> I'm not a collector; I don't even own anything collectible, but I do enjoy
> the reminiscing and discussion of the old bikes. I've been reading CR off
> and on for a long time and thought I'd subscribe to make it easier to keep
> up.
>
> I've been riding for about 35 years or so and began with a UO-8 and ran
> through a quick succession of hand-me-down Peugeots, Gitanes, and
> Motobecanes in the early 70's. There was an odd Bottechia and Steyr thrown
> in the mix, too.
>
> I had a girlfriend in High School (in Manhattan Beach, CA) who lived
> around the corner from the best shop in town. An old building, (and I seem
> to remember there was a tree growing right up in the middle of the shop -
> could be wrong about that) with the smells and sounds I associate with a
> "real" bike shop. She took me into the shop for the first time to have her
> bike fixed by a certain very knowledgeable and kind gentleman, and oh,
> the bikes in that shop! The things dreams are now made of - Olmo, Legnano,
> Bianchi and such. There was stuff hanging on the walls that I had never
> seen before! A whole new world to me. Her bike, a lowly Schwinn, had a
> problem that was preventing us from going for a ride and it was attended
> to straight away while I drooled about the shop.
>
> A few years later I, nervous and with trembling hands, went into his new
> shop (no tree) and ordered up an Eisentraut frame. I had considered long
> and hard what I wanted (read everything Fred DeLong had written many times
> over, and Eugene Sloan, too) and had a scrap of paper with a drawing of
> the frame I wanted, complete with dimensions to the last detail. That
> certain very knowledgeable and kind gentleman gently explained that
> Eisentraut knew a thing or two about designing and building frames and
> that I could trust him to build the frame I needed if we were to tell him
> a few key details, but we didn't need to send him a drawing. I think the
> deal was that I had to pay about 10% down (about $35, probably a fourth of
> my net worth) and he let me pay off the balance as I could and when I
> could as long as I paid it off before the frame arrived from Oakland.
>
> I rode that Eisentraut until 1996, when I sent it back for a new paint job
> and a couple of new braze-ons. It's gone through a host of components over
> the years, so you couldn't call it "original". Thirty years later I still
> take it out for a spin now and again, though it has been largely replaced
> by a small stable of (mostly) more modern bikes.
>
> I still ride every day, to and from work, and manage to ride most weekends
> in the local hills, and take an occasional long tour.
>
> Thanks Ted.
>
> Tom Schmitz
> Redondo Beach, CA