Hi, Sam, welcome to the list.
There are probably a million questions we could ask the fellow, but we should probably avoid pestering him to death as he does have a living to make. However, some basic questions might be:
Who is the main builder for Rotrax? When did he start building? How (and from who) did he learn the craft? Who else has built for the marque (assuming the current builder isn't the original and/or only fellow to build for Rotrax). What is his method of construction? Pinned, tacked, jigged, freehand, torch, hearth, etc etc. Do they still do fancy cut lugs? How many frames have been built? What is the future of lugged steel? Favorite sort of customer? Waiting time for a new frame? How would someone contact him to order a frame?
Thanks for doing this, if you can bring it off. I'd love to see the answers posted to the list.
Tom Adams, Shrewsbury NJ
Sam Wise <whinge2me@yahoo.co.uk> wrote: Hi All
First post here. I had come across Rotrax references on ebay, and other sites, but until reading the CR site, hadn't tied that to the Rotrax Cycles shop in Shirley. I live 5 minutes away, and had purchased a variety of bits from him in the past, never realising he was a handbuilder. The shop is properly old school though, things hanging from the ceiling, boxes everywhere, not a bit shiny, old floorboards.....
Anyhow, I phoned up today, and he confirmed that he does still build frames. It occured to me that I could add something to the main site, and that I might go and have a chat with the guy. However, as a bit of a newb (I've owned a couple of nice lightweights, including a Clements, but not read too much), I could do with some tips as to what questions to ask. Feel free to respond either on the list or by email. What would we most like to know about Rotrax?
Cheers
Sam Wise Southampton UK
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