With Bikes 24-26 at the powdercoater and on my last day off from the holiday spent at home the wreckage of the last year is finally due for assessment. Winding down 2009 there are a lot of loose ends to tie up and big decisions to be made for the fate and direction of myself and Budd Bike Works. Nobody said any of this was going to be easy & I’ve got endless respect for anyone out there with the tenacity and vision to successfully turn their passion into sustaining work. I’ve got to admit that I’ve been winging it and feeling a bit at a loss for what step to take next.
I’ll have built 14 frames in the last year, starting cutting tubes on BBW #27 today, the new graphics are finally being cut from vinyl and there are no orders in the cue. All of my output this year has been in frames that can be considered prototypes or one off handbuilt works with distinct characteristics that have all been moves toward the ideal of providing someone with a bicycle ideally suited to an individual. In that regard I can consider it a successful year in that the individuals that were outfitted with Budd Bike Work frames have sworn the superiority of their fit and performance. That they have been primarily produced for myself and supportive friends and family would have me suspicious of this feedback were it not for the fact that it is a passion for cycling that has united me with all of those closest to me and that a strain of bike obsession runs deep in my family tree.
Now the question arises as to how to keep this thing going. Building with my current methods of intensive hand labor a livable wage couldn’t be eked from this work with out elevating my cost to the level that others building by similiarly time consuming methods charge. This is the spectrum of ultra highend custom frames, those who are making it work in this realm do so with a recognized name name associated with quality and fastidious finishes that may or may not bely superior workmanship. This would mean abandonment of what I considered one of the core ideals that I wanted the Budd Bike Works brand to convey in that they would be representative of a level of thoughtfullness of design and quality that could be best appreciated by those that were similarly unconcerned with things like lustrous paint jobs and polished bits who just wanted value out of an excellent performing bicycle that is a little more personal than one off of the rack at the shop. To continue building bikes priced at the current level will be unsustainable unless an investment were made in tooling that would allow for considerable streamlining of the production process. A far greater investment in the finish of the bicycles would be required to have them sold for the kind of prices commanded by those in the top echelon of custom builders. Its a question of direction that I want to take Budd Bike Works in that won’t be answered until the next customer calls and tells me what they would want their ideal bicycle to do for them and if they think making it sparkle like a jewel in the sun would be worth the extra money to them.
The NAHBS circus is coming east this year to Richmond, VA, by some miracle of the gods of finance I’ll be able to scrape together an exhibitor fee this year and roll the dice on wider exposure. More likely I’ll be figuring out how to get their with myself and a single bike on the china town bus network to get to check out the show again from the outsider perspective and get out on some rides and meet up with the other good people in this business who I know but don’t often see face to face.
So far the first step to the more polished image I’d like to present for BBW has been to spend some time giving myself a haircut and cleaning the bathroom. I’m pretty sure she isn’t coming back this time.
