I at long last put the last welds on a frame I was commissioned to build, a track bike for a local rider among the many pining for a closer velodrome to the Boston Metro Region. Here it is photographed in front of my fantastic BBW Banner.
Finished welding and did the parts fit test, all passed and ready for paint
Soon enough it’ll be painted up with my branding emblazoned on it and hopefully be ridden joyfully for many years.
Sometimes I feel a little self conscious putting my name on the frames I build (actually only on the ones I am pedaling myself) but it does serve as testament to the pride I take in the end product that they bear the family surname, and as much fun as coming up with a new company name could be I may as well use the fact that I’ve been born Budd-which looks OK on a label and makes for fun wordplay.
It’s hard to imagine anything else I could make with my two hands that I’d rather have my name on than a fine bicycle anyway. They leave my shop and take on a life of their own, traveling; being someones dutiful companion, getting abused, getting cared for, going on adventures, competing, and maybe one day decades from now-dying. The frames I’ve made so far have all been unique and for individuals that I know enough of that I can check in on them every once in a while and feel that swell of pride like I may only ever imagine a parent must when they see their child grow to succeed in the world. As such these things celebrate anniversaries like any sentient entity.
The first frame I’d ever built will have turned seven years old this October. My idea for my first BBW was to build the last one that I may ever need. I’d ridden it fixed, single speed, as an MTB, in a crit, down as far as New Haven in the R1 race, over volcanoes, and to victories in cyclocross. It was tragically kidnapped while working as a messenger in NYC and I can only hope that whoever ended up with it has loved it.
Another batch of my metal progeny, the Brooklyn Built Budds of 2006 will all turn 5 years old this coming year. Among them were bikes for road, track, 29′er MTB, cyclo-cross, cyclocross single speed, and cardiac by-pass recovery/comfort touring. Many of these frames have been refurbished and refinished by me along the way and I have watched many of them evolve from roles as race frames to cruisers and back again and some of them pass between families to best serve ones need.
Two years ago this month I rolled out the first frames from my shop here in Medford, MA and I can to this day trace the whereabouts of each one and know that they are being excellent bicycles for their new owners. I am passing down to each of them all that I have learned of bikes and riding in my lifetime and there is nothing more I can do as a parent. There may come a day that I am not building 100% by hand any more and BBW is making enough frames that each one isn’t individually memorable, at that point I’ll be relying on what my children have taught me about bicycle design to rest assured that the Budd label be worn proud.
Maybe I should just get a dog, name it Budd of course.
