Shut Up and Build Bikes Podcast

Daniel Yang has been working with Nick Neuhaus to design and build the best bicycles they can in Marin, California. Daniel comes from an engineering background and has embraced 3d printed metal frame components. We also talk about his other ventures and projects.

Dward Design is based in Bath in the UK. Ed Mason has taught framebuilding at The Bicycle Academy and lately he's focused on CNC machining with his two small Syil mills in his home shop. Listen along to his story!

Zach Geller started building bikes in Pine Colorado in 2019. In this episode we talk about what he has done with Acoustic Cycles and the bikes he is building.

Devin Bodony runs Lichen Precision -- a CNC machine shop just outside of Seattle, Washington. Devin started building full suspension bikes and eventually transitioned his work primarily toward CNC machining. He has a product line including bike framebuilding components and a disc brake mount fixture. We discussed his story, CNC machining, automation, the bike industry and more.

Tom builds fillet brazed and TIG welded steel bicycle frames from his small shop in Philadelphia, PA. With roots in BMX, Fixed Gear Freestyle, and MTB, Tom builds some really excellent bikes. We talk about his story, construction methods, tooling, his machines, and the difficulty of finding suitable workspace as a builder living in a major city.

This week I'm talking to Adam "Prosauce" Prosise of REEB Cycles in Lyons, Colorado. Adam machines and welds a ton of beautiful bicycles at Reeb, while riding like a maniac and still managing to run his own side hustle - Prosise Metal Works. He is a much stronger MTB rider than most framebuilders and we discuss how his riding and racing inform his fabrication and design work. We talked a lot about how a job he held for 5 years prior to REEB prepared him for success. I'm always interested in the Full Suspension bike design discussion and that was no disappointment either.

Buckle up, it's a long one!

Zach Small runs Amigo Frameworks in Nashville, Tennessee. In this episode we talk about his story, from working with Rob Roberson and Joe Bell in San Diego, CA, to Comrade Cycles in Chicago, and the bikes he has built along the way. We discuss his time in trade school and how it relates to making bikes. Zach tells us about Champ Ramps, his venture in the works to make sick, cnc-cut bike ramps.

This week I’m interviewing Sean Handerhan in Pittsburgh, PA. Sean works as a prototyping CNC machinist and has been building steel bike frames in the corner of that shop for the past few years. We talk about his career, about the framebuilding community, about his bikes and his cool wishbone seatstays, about Pittsburgh’s cycling culture, and other perspectives surrounding these things.

Sam Whittingham has been building Naked Bicycles for over 20 years in Western Canada. We talk mainly about the career phases of a framebuilder and the huge lessons he learned about where his business fits in the landscape of the bike industry. I think this discussion is one of the best I’ve ever had on this show. We also had a super valuable discussion about forward geometry mountain bikes.

Brad has a long and interesting history in the handmade bike world and we discuss his story. From the days when he made Nemesis Cycles until more recently as he has transitioned the work to the W.H. Bradford brand, we talk about what inspired him and what the challenges were.

Georgena Terry started building custom bicycles in her basement in the 80s and in the following decades built one of the most impactful businesses in cycling. Her bikes addressed fit issues of shorter riders and eventually her company was re-named to Terry Precision Bicycles for Women - specifically addressing needs of women riders. Terry also famously has produced saddles with a cut out and lots of other cycling apparel. More recently Georgena has left Terry Precision to get back to the custom bike world, though she now focuses on design and customer relationships and has the bicycles manufactured at Waterford Precision Cycles.

This week’s guest is Paul Burford/Burf of BTR Fabrications in Froome, UK. We talk about the history of his company and how he got started. We discussed what the framebuilding community is like in the UK and his time teaching at The Bicycle Academy. We also talked about the partnership business model vs working alone, the importance/frustration of good and bad supply lines, his trail tools and how his mountain bikes are really meant to be tools, and finally we talked about making Youtube content.

I interview Andrew Cooper of Bike Fab Supply in Phoenix, Arizona about his framebuilding supply business. BFS is always growing and adding new product offerings with an emphasis on customer service. It’s interesting to get Andrew’s perspective on how to build a business like his and what cool product offerings he has coming next.

Nao Tomii builds beautiful bikes in Austin, TX. We talk about how he got interested in framebuilding, how he learned, and what informs his build process. We talked about his hand-hammered bells, beautiful paint jobs, and hand-worked details.

Eric Tomczak builds Myth Cycles in Durango Colorado. Eric had the opportunity to work with Ron Andrews of King Cage for years before starting Myth Cycles, which is where he learned a lot about bike framebuilding. I wanted to discuss what that relationship was like and how it helped him get started. We also talked about when having complete control of the building process is ideal or even necessary. Eric told us about his recent full suspension frame build and what was involved.

This week I share my interview with Mark Combs of Chumba USA. We talk about what it’s like to run a solo framebuilding shop like he used to do with Majaco Cycles vs operating a partnership like he does now with Vince Colvin making Chumba USA. We also talk about the satisfaction of making bikes and seeing the rider’s first ride, about the cool dragsters his dad used to build, and about finding viable shop space.

Ross Shafer founded and built Salsa Cycles in 1982. Ross ran the company for 15 years and built it into a fun and important cycling brand before selling it to QBP in 1997. We talk about what made Salsa unique and successful and some of the stories from back in the day. Since then he has done a variety of things in metalwork and beyond that we discuss. Lately Ross works for Sierra Steels making pedal steel guitars. Fricking cool.

Eric Weis has been organizing the New England Builder’s Ball for nearly a decade. I interviewed him about the show’s history, what makes it unique, and how it has evolved.

Austin Russell of Russell Makes isn’t our typical guest on this show. He has taken a framebuilding class and built a bike frame, but more notably, he has built thousands of wheelsets at Velocity USA and for the last few years he has been running the rim factory. Austin has rolled every Velocity rim that has come out of the Grand Rapids, Michigan facility and his job has him covering all parts of the rim manufacturing process from rolling, cutting, drilling, machining, and on to anodizing. Austin also bought my old CNC milling machine and has been making really cool things with it. We also talk about some of his fun bike projects like the Skim Bike Competition and Wheelie Wanderer.

This week I share my interview with Dale Marchand of Rolling Dale Cycles. Dale is relatively newer to framebuilding, but his work is really very strong. We talk about his class with Paul Brodie, the framebuilding scene in Canada, and how he has built up his shop for frame fabrication.

Mark Hester builds custom bikes in Fairfield Australia. Mark studied mechanical engineering in college and worked in motorsports for a while before taking a framebuilding course at The Bicycle Academy in 2015. Since the class, Mark has been building bikes in Australia. Mark incorporates Stainless Steel, Titanium, and Composite materials. I find his use of 3D printed materials to be particularly remarkable.

Jeff Tiedeken of Monkey Likes Shiny in Richmond, CA does a wide variety of machining and fabrication for aerospace, medical, and even weirdo art stuff. He’s been in and around the bike world for ages including making several absurd concept bikes and bike-related products like a U-Lock wrench.

Brad Bingham has a unique story in the framebuilding world. Brad built his first bike frame out of utility - he kept breaking his Cannondales and he loved machining and fabrication. From there he took a titanium framebuilding class at the United Bicycle Institute, worked in production at Moots for over ten years, and then started to work with Kent Eriksen. Brad has now taken over operations at Eriksen Cycles and rebranded it to Bingham Built.

Brad’s TIG welding is out of this world, as you might expect for someone who worked in production for so many years. He is also a very talented machinist and his shop-made tools are excellent. Another thing that sets Brad’s bikes apart is the full suspension frames which have a lot of engineering and custom- machined components.

Sit back and enjoy the story.