Monthly Archives: January 2011

The Making of a Soulcraft

Posted on January 24, 2011 by josh| 2 Comments

I don’t like the idea of aggregating content on The Bicycle Story. The world doesn’t need yet another bike blog posting the same videos, links, and press releases as three dozen other blogs. But, I saw this short video on Go Means Go of Soulcraft Bikes owner Sean Walling building a frame and I think it slides right into place among the interviews. The very-well produced video follows the Sean’s process from cutting the tubes to powder coating the finished process and it is, without a doubt, a bicycle story.

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Posted in Bike Industry, Everything Else, Frame Builders

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Ira Ryan: A Portland Builder Talks Bikes, Gravel Grinding, and the Overuse of Epic

Posted on January 20, 2011 by josh| 5 Comments


Ira at the Seattle Bike Expo 2010. (Photo by Charlie Clay)

I first met Ira Ryan while reporting on the Seattle Bike Expo for a Seattle news website. Appropriately enough given that Ira is a high-end custom frame builder, we were both listening to a panel at the time on frame building featuring legendary builders Ken Taylor, Bill Davidson, and Glenn Erikson. I noticed Ira standing nearby and stuck up a conversation. Rather than bolting for the door to escape my barrage of questions, Ira happily engaged me in conversation about the frame building industry, randonneuring and racing, and the Portland bike scene. That conversation continues today with Ira discussing his foray into frame building, his love of adventure racing, and his participation in Rapha’s admittedly-impressive, but purple-prosed marketing scheme, the Continental Project.

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Posted in Bike Industry, Frame Builders, Interviews, Messengers

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Brian “Sally” Fornes: Drinking, Single Speed Racing, and Repping One of America’s Largest Bike Companies

Posted on January 12, 2011 by josh| Leave a comment


Sally (left) in uniform.

Sally Fornes is exactly the kind of guy you want to have at a cyclocross race. He’s there with the beer hand-ups for the crack-of-dawn Cat 4 races, he’ll heckle you mercilessly through a megaphone while you’re racing, then he’ll invite you back to his team tent to hang out for a post-race recovery drink. He’s also been known to hold his own at the front of the single speed race, was the lead organizer of the latest Single Speed Cyclocross World Championships, and, in his spare time, is Raleigh USA’s main marketing guy.

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Posted in Bike Industry, Cyclocross, Interviews, Mountain Biking

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