Possessed bike!?! - Page 2

This was his second bike. He and his wife were silversmiths by trade, and his other hobby was hot-rodding Triumph Spitfires. I don't know if he ever made another bike.

His workmanship was beautiful and everything lined up with minimal cold forging. The finish was flawless black lacquer.

I'd been riding a Raleigh International and then a Charles Roberts that I got off the peg for about $325. He built these bikes for the experience and and to explore the commercial possibilities, like hundreds of other guys at the time.

Remember, this was 35 years ago and all we had for guidance was the Proteus book and the little book Joe Cossack had done for Bike World. There was no web where we could Google "bike geometry trail" and get instant answers.

Shortly afterward (summer of 1975) I had the opportunity to meet Ben Serrota and view some frames he had just built. There were some pretty wacky geometries there, too. Of course, he kept at it and his lugged steel frames of the '80s started a legend.