There may come a day that Budd Bike Works will have grown to the degree that to keep up with demand I’ll be producing them in numbers that won’t allow me to remember the intricacies of each individual one. I don’t fear that anything integral will be lost in that, I’m passionate enough about bikes that even if I am no longer making every cut by hand in a painstaking and slow process I’ll never compromise on designing them to ride optimally for their purpose or cut corners on the quality, even if I do meet my goal of mass producing in America. It is pretty wild to think of where BBW is right now though, with each frame being made through such an intimate process that they are all unique in their details and remembered for that and for the individuals that commissioned them or the intent for which I built it for myself.
The following is a list of the Budd Bike Works Frames produced to this Date
(Listing them all here I do have to disclaimer that I was foolhardy at the start, building for others before my teeth were cut is a practice that I recognize now as irresponsible and that lowers the bar of the framebuilding craft.)
#1-(2004) My UBI bike built under the tutelage of master fabricator Jim Kish. I had an idea in mind for the bike that would do it all for me. I love mountain biking, cyclocross, going across town with freedom, and riding fixed through the winter. Figuring out that a fork change would set the angles of a cross bike to those of a mountain bike I set upon building a disc braked eccentric Bottom Bracketed frame that would take a fat 26″ tire or a 35mm 700c. Ugly as the execution was in my first attempts at tig welding it worked. I went trail riding, commuted, worked as a messenger, raced road, and had a couple of strong seasons of cyclocross on that frame before it was stolen on the streets of New York. I always look for it when I am in the city.
#2-(2006) I found myself on unemployment and living in New York and happened upon an opportunity to rent time in the shop of an art fabricator who happened to build bikes on the side and had a lot of tools that I would sell my first born to have at my disposal now. After doing a lot (not enough) of practice welding I convinced my good buddy Ben that I could make him a road frame that handled like his brother’s BASSO, only faster. He took the bait and I took 6 weeks to deliver a compact geometry, oversize tubed road racer that had the tight angles and low bottom bracket that gave the famed italian bike it’s astounding combination of stability and quickness. Again the welds were ugly but again it worked. It is still sworn as the zippiest frame Ben’s ridden and my shameful workmanship can still be seen under a bike shop manager riding it around in Portland, OR. This was my first frame to use my sectional monostay rear end.
#3-(2006) I’d joined the crew team on a lark when I transferred to Northeastern University from Community College to get in shape and keep from turning into a hippy. Met some great and scary strong folks and was a little nervous when one of the strongest approached me for a frame as he was training with the Canadian National team for the Olympics. I made him a horizontal drop out equipped cyclo-cross frame with a 60cm top tube that he never rode as anything but a single speed in a gear ratio that a lesser man would have barely been able to turn over. I was almost relieved to hear that it had fallen off a roof rack after two years so that i could get it back and check out how my early work was fairing under his considerable strength. I took the opportunity to get a dent out of the top tube, beef up the rear triangle, and give him some new cantilever mounts. The practice welding had been paying off by this point and it didn’t look as hack as I’d remembered. His busy schedule of training and international competition has put pick up on the back burner but he is psyched to get his Mudd Butt back this spring.
#4-(2006) With nothing else to do I built another single speed-able cross bike in a 54cm top tube to try out some new things. It sat un-ridden for a year till I got drunk and gave it to my cousin since it fit her perfectly. I was ticked when it got stolen after a year in New York (tough town). Months later I was tickled when I got a call from NYC VELO(my former CX sponsor)’s owner asking if I knew why a BBW was locked with the other delivery bikes at a Brooklyn Burrito Joint. Theft recovery is one of the ancillary benefits of riding a distinctive bicycle, cousin got it back but was too heated to ask the delivery guy how he liked the way it rode for me.
#5-(2006) Another single speed-able cross bike(a trend here). Built for my big brother and graphic designer who happens to be the exact same size as me and who happened to conveniently not have the money to pay for it when BBW #1 got stolen so this happened to be the bike that I would ride and race cyclocross on for the next 3 years. I made the rear end really tight on this one so it did bitching big wheelies and encouraged me to do all manner of stupid stuff on it to break it in the sake of R&D. Revised, repaired, and repainted three times it was finally delivered last christmas. Sorry Josh
#6-(2006) For my biggest friend and customer Mike. Not so much big as leggy -37.5 inches of inseam. An avid and knowledgeable MTB rider I took him at his word when he gave me the dimension that he wanted his 29’er to be built to. When he got the parts on it he was perfectly comfortable with 2 feet of exposed seat post on it, ,I surmised correctly that he would be breaking the seat tube eventually. Apparently Mike is well known to the warranty departments of many a reputable manufacturer, repaired and reinforced this bike has been pressed into service as a daily commuter through all manner of New England conditions.
#7-(2006) I am not sure that my Uncle really believed that he would begin to ride bicycles again or not when he commissioned me to build him his first bike since his 1975 Raleigh Record. Long out of the saddle and a good bit overweight at 65 it was probably more an act of charity to give me the business. Nevertheless the upright positioning and stable ride provided by his Budd frame actually got him out putting in miles and shedding pounds, that it took a massive gel cover over his honey colored Brooks saddle to make it work for his posterior was a small sacrifice of aesthetics to see someone enjoy riding after so many years. Unfortunately it has been some time since he has taken it up and it sits neglected in the garage.
#8-In the words of the violent femmes “I forget what eight was for”, it may not exist.
#9-(2006) Track Bike-55.5cm top tube sold through Cambridge Bicycle with an Igleheart fork. I would love to hear from the owner of this bike. I’ve heard he was very happy with it and hope it continues to serve him well
#10-(2006) My road bike. Very compact geometry with quick handling and snappy acceleration. I’m yet to get any racing on it but I am sure it will serve well in anything from Crits to Stage Races.
#11-(2006) With no new orders and feeling shamed of the aesthetics of the welds on #2, I rebuilt Ben’s road bike to its exact geometry.
#12-(2006) An acquaintance with an interest in training for triathlons wanted a fast road bike. Columbus Life shaped tubing with aero profiles made for a very light machine that I hope is being enjoyed on the Central Park Loop to this day. This was the last of the Brooklyn Built Budds
#13-(2007) Out of a shop space of my own but continuing to work with metal as a purchaser/production manager at a lighting manufacturer I kept amassing high performance tubing and frame fittings on impulse and snuck hours on the Bridgeport and welder after hours to complete my Cross Racer over many months. Made in the meadowlands of New Jersey.
#14-(2009) Moving back to Boston to a commodious old funeral home in Medford the finished basement was begging to be utilized as the new BBW headquarters. Getting a welder together with my alignment tools and jig I set about building my first frames without the aid of machine tools. With sheet metal sheers and hand files I started with a track frame in a 55.5cm top tube and oversized chainstays. A nice light and stiff frame, any takers could be the first to put a pedal to it.
#15-(2009) A tiny single speed-able CX bike for a very fast little lady, I’ve been goading her to get out and try a race on it with little success so far. I always have to mask my effort when I try to hold her wheel on this one through Boston Traffic. In apple green it is the first non-blue Budd.
#16-(2009) Single Speed-able gravel road bike for my father. Heads up positioning and a low bottom bracket and full rack eyelets differentiate this one from a cross racer. Knowing that my dad is getting out and enjoying riding again on the roads of Bucks County, PA at 60 is extremely gratifying.
#17-(2009) 6’9’er Trail Bike for the little Brother. With an Eccentric Bottom Bracket and ready for full gears this one is currently set up as a fully rigid single speed. I had an opportunity to get this one out on the trails and feel there is something special in the handling attributable to the differentially sized wheels that allow it to be pushed harder into soft corners than any bike I’ve ridden. I was really tempted to try to keep this one.
#18-(2009) Disc Braked Cyclo-Cross. The Third Budd for Ben this was his go to for messy courier work and usurped the road bike as the choice on longer rides as it allows for the option of exploring trails. Ben made his first foray into competitive cycling this past cross season and has been bitten by the racing bug. I keep pestering to get a lighter fork and wheels on it to have the parts better match the performance of the frame.
#19-(2009) For My Fathers twin brother and my main benefactor of my years in cycling from whom I got for short money any number of great used frames and parts before I started building my own. Uncle Pat has been a bike junky for years and has amassed quite the collection of lust worthy rides including a vintage cinelli and a number of traditional Italian Race Machines. He is about my father’s size and wanted the same performance criteria as #16 but insisted that he not have his frame be the same as his twin’s so I replaced my sectional monostay with a torsion box gusset between the stays, the lateral stiffness on this frame is nearly obscene. He swears it is the best handling of all the bikes in his stable, that makes me really happy.
#20-(2009) Cousin Aleta is unswayable from a fate as a triathlete as an avid swimmer and runner so an aero section down tube was used on her very sprinty road frame. She and Uncle Pat are chronicling their training to ride their Budd Bike Works from Boston to Burlington at Old Man Up the Mountain.
#21-(2009) Working in sheet metal for a couple of years at the light factory I had been anxious to do some experimentation with cro-moly sheet stock on some of my bikes. My own track bike was that chance and this wildly gusseted rocket will hopefully see some time turning left on the banks this summer in addition to its duties as my favorite cross town conveyance.
#22-(2009) Leggy Mike had gotten another builder to make a cross machine to work with his 6’4” height with 37.5” of leg and found that the standard road geometry used made for an extremely unstable ride with a short top tube and wheel base combined with an extremely high center of gravity. I was commissioned to make his second BBW stable enough for light trail riding while still quick on the road in a disc braked package with some bling from polished stainless dropouts. Seeing this frame from a distance it is hard to believe that it does in fact have 700c wheels and that it is the virtual 70cm seat tube that makes the wheels look so small. Mike says the responsiveness of the frame and power of the disc brakes encourages too irresponsible of riding for this one to be ridden in the city. The Igleheart sectional fork matches the ride and aesthetics perfectly.
#23-(2009) I wanted really short chainstays on my own trail bike for responsiveness on the hyper technical New England trails I ride so I made a sectional/asymmetric rear end for this very capable bike. Currently set up with discs and a suspension corrected 26” fork I can’t wait to get a fork appropriate for a big front wheel on it to run it as 6’9’er and to utilize the eccentric Bottom bracket for single speed duty. Thinking of doing some MTB racing for the first time in 7 years this summer.
#24-(2009) Initially built with a talented rider in mind to get some exposure during the last cross season this sinuously shaped cross racer is awaiting a pilot that will fit it’s 57cm top tube.
#25-(2009) A bike for a different Ben, a single speed-able cross racer in flat black will be seen flying about Boston and on the 2010 cross circuit under this beast of a rider soon.
#26-(2010) My brother’s leggy lady was once a pro tennis player so Ms. Buggins request for something to get around town has secret performance capabilities. Disc Brakes and an eccentric bottom bracket in cross race geometry should be ready for anything.
#27-(2010) Funny enough I was commissioned to build one for another young lady of near identical proportions to ms. Buggins so a bike identical in angles and outfitting was built with different tubing and a little more handwork as I wanted this one to be a show piece with its polished drops and custom formed stays. The customer is currently agonizing over color choices before bringing it to Sugarcoat for finishing.
#28-(?) I’d love for you to become part of the story, give me a call
