The VCU Bike Fabricators Club

I started a framebuilding club here at school with my engineer buddy Landon.

We're having the first meeting Saturday, March 1st, at 4 pm in the Commons, Virginia Commonwealth University, 907 Floyd Avenue, Richmond, Virginia, United States, North America, Earth, Milky Way, Universe, Reality.

Local framebuilder Ed Jones of Cycles Ed in Ashburn, VA, will be on hand to answer questions and talk about what he does.

All are welcome, especially anybody who can wield a torch.

We're not officially able to teach anything...our future events will probably be "open shop" times, so you'll be able to experiment on your own, use our tools, and exchange ideas with other folks.

Everyone who wants to work will need to at least possess basic basic shop know-how, especially regarding safety. In order to use a tool like a lathe, torch, or mill, you'll need to show that you know how to run the thing.

Also, we're talking about co-sponsoring a lecture series/symposium late this year/early next, possibly on frame design, possibly involving non-local framebuilders. So, basically what I'm saying is that we completely have everything planned out completely.

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Google group/email list
Facebook group
the Facebook event for Saturday

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Guess what I'll be wearing to the meeting?

(see previous post)

Signal Cycles

has some sweet-ass t-shirts available for purchase by emailing the oh-so-helpful Matt:



I got mine for $19 delivered. It seems kinda long. Then again, this is as close to framebuilding chic as it gets, so I'll quit bitching.

Signal's blog is also recommended, but lacks an RSS feed...so you have to keep checking their site directly to get updates.
Puh-leeze. What is this, 2001? I want my sweet, sweet framebuilding content shoved directly down my throat.

Correction: they apparently do have a feed, but my Firefox wasn't picking up on it. Thanks, reader.

Sheldon Brown

I need to take a minute here.
Sheldon Brown died yesterday evening.

I found his website when I got my first real adult bike, in the summer of '06. His info got me started on bikes, and so much has been an extension of those hours spent in the basement of my sister's townhouse--studying that beat-up old Peugeot, then Sheldon's site, then the Peugeot again.

Sheldon's blog, updated yesterday. And his inspiringly upbeat take on MS.

It was always a little odd to communicate with him by email. He had his own way of getting a point across, which was always direct.
Now I can see that I was a little nervous whenever I wrote him--I was simply starstruck.

Sheldon was an example of the kind of man I hope to be one day. He loved his family dearly, as his website shows. He was a thinker, an intellectual even, but he also had a knack for practical and the mechanical. That combination has become rare these days, and there is a generation of folks like me that are lucky to have had Sheldon around to share with us.

To my mind, no one individual could claim more responsibility for the popularity of fixed gear bikes. Sheldon preached the fixie sermon. Enough bike geeks tried it, and liked it, that a couple of the cool kids caught on. Now young folks in skinny jeans crisscross this town and every other. Some of us are going to grow up and become the next generation of bike consumers, and it will be interesting to see how Sheldon continues to influence us in 20 or 30 years.