My customer stopped by to pick up BBW #27 last night and drop off the check that will pay my manufacturers liability insurance to keep this little endeavor going another year. It feels good to see someone excited to get their frame and start amassing the parts that will make it the bicycle of their dreams but I’ll admit there is a bit of a sting to watching it go. It’s an intimate process that I go through with that pile of tubes-cutting, coaxing, and welding to make it yield to my designs and even when tired and frustrated with it I can’t help but love the product of my labors. So far all of the frames I’ve fabricated have stayed relatively close to home (and at last count with 9 BBW frames between me and my housemate fully a third of my output remains in my home) ridden by folks that I know so I get to check in every once in a while to see that the bike is being properly ridden and taken care of but I always have to remind myself that the bike is theirs now and it is really none of my business.
The pride that I feel at seeing someone happy with the product that I’d taken pains to perfect to the best of my abilities is usually enough to outweigh the pain of seeing them go. Anyhow #27 was taken raw as the customer has arranged for the paint to be taken care of and was anxious to get it home to do god knows what with so I’ll have at least one last chance to commune with it when it comes back to get chased, faced, and ready to race.
