Bicycle Crafting - balancing the tried and trued with new trends - PBE18 Seminar
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- čas přidán 21. 07. 2024
- Recored at the Philly Bike Expo Saturday Oct. 27th, 2018
Steve Potts has been called one of the best bicycle frame builders of the past 35 years. In fact, Steve is the only one of the original mountain bike pioneering Repack group of the late 1970s who still builds his own framesets. His refinement of steel and titanium tubing is legendary. Steve himself is a product of Marin County, California, birthplace of the modern mountain bike and the epicenter for innovation for over 30 years. Today, Steve crafts his signature road, cyclocross and mountain frames from grade-select titanium in his meticulous shop in Petaluma, California.
I don't know this man but this video was gold, what a knowledgeable and kind person, he's so excited to share his knowledge and experience.
Thank you so much!
I’ve no idea who this chap is, but wow, what a cool dude. Such knowledge and joie de vivre. Hope he keeps at it until he’s 100.
This is gold knowledge from a legend himself
Really enjoyed this..kept my attention and very interesting listening.
Ya, totally agree with you. I stopped cycling since mid 90s. Just returned to cycling sport last year and I quickly realized cycling become a luxury sport and you need to pay tons of money for decent quality parts which not so durable😢
When I talked to my bike builder the first time I told him straight away that I want cantilever brakes. He was relieved that he didn't have to talk me out of disc brakes. I would like to offer my kind of bikes because they aren't available besides custom builds, but I don't know if the market is big enough for that. People want disc brakes nowadays because they think they are safer. And they think they don't need a front rack because they either use no rack or a back rack. My idea of a randonneur which can rinko and might have a single speed and fixed gear or an internal gear hub will always be the most expensive option and it can't sell you that it's clutter-free like the typical fixed gear bikes. Only people who have some experience can appreciate why someone might prefer a bike like this.
@Steve Potts I have a tip for you: learn what a rinko bike is. You don't need to split the frame to transport the bike.
Legend
We should elect Steve president of bikes.
So epic
The theme of epic. I've had a few specialized epics. All full suspension have been a total nightmare. But hardtail carbon epic has been epic. A pointless comment but a msg to a cyclist 2 another cyclist 😊
WTB used to be exceedingly rad. Steve, Charlie, and Mark were geniuses, when working as a team. Not sure that WTB has done anything truly innovative since 2000.
If I were wealthy, I'd buy a Potts custom....
Why do titanium bikes usually have carbon fiber fork, why not titanium also? I have a Basso titanium bike that came with a carbon fiber fork. Wonder if the bike was made by Litespeed?
As I've gotten older I found that older mountain bikes with 26 inch wheels are very comfortable, and stable because they have longer top tube and take bigger tires. They even have rack mounts and work as touring bikes. Custom bike is just too pricey, for me any way..
Two reasons for the carbon fork. There are specialist manufacturers that make them vey strong, stiff, and light. The carbon can dissipate high frequency road vibrations, and track straight because of the stiffness that can be highly directional depending upon the weave and layering and mold shape. Titanium is more flexible than the steel that makes good forks, and so even though it's less dense, you have to use either significantly thicker walls in the tube, or use larger diameter tubes, which are both much more expensive because the material itself uses a LOT of energy to refine, and is thus very expensive per weight. Also, to control the stiffness, it's relatively easy to buy tapered steel tubes with varying wall thickness along the tube, and easy to bend the tapered tube into a nice shape that flexes the way you want it to. It is very rare to find any manufacturer that makes such tubes out of titanium, because they have use in bicycles and not much else. And now that there are cheap-ish carbon forks everywhere, there is no financial incentive.
breaking down the multiple bb issue.....
Bike making in the USA by a one man shop is a hobby for 95%... as a guess. Enjoy it as a hobby, make a living elsewhere.
This is the kind of advice I always heard from friends and family back home. Such bs. Everyone who thought this way stayed broke and unhappy.
The two best builders I've known for many years both love riding and bicycles more than money.
If you're smart, learn from your mistakes and careful, you can make a decent living building bikes, but it's not easy by any means.
Being happy at what I do for a large percentage of my lifetime is lots more important than money in my opinion. Like anything else, a healthy life has balance.
A man should buy any bike and bike stuff without consultation and approval of their wife or girlfriend.
In my experience, unilateral decisions erode a relationship. Compromise and negotiation takes more effort upfront, but it leads to better outcomes.