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Most bicycles
are still handmade though in truth this has far less to do with
quality than with costs. Bikes coming off assembly lines aim at
affordability and, more often than not, they will ride well
enough to get us down the road. In fact, it’s almost impossible
to build a bike that’s truly un-ride-able or one that fails to
bring a smile. It is far more challenging to build a bicycle
that excels in design, construction, fit, and, ultimately, in
riding experience. This is my commitment, my craft, and my goal
everyday in my shop.
More important
than whether a bicycle is handmade are the hands that have made
it. When you have apprenticed your craft with exceptionally
talented builders and designers, experience then becomes the
greatest teacher of all. Over the course of the past ten years
I have built no fewer than 1500 frames and each one advanced my
understanding of the process and effort it takes to refine and
develop different styles of bicycles. Expertise in frame
building is as much a matter of repetition as it is
self-investment. Having built road race and
all-arounder, mountain and
cyclocross, track and tandem frames and also complete-bicycles
in the tradition of the constructeurs who conceive frame, fork,
and parts as a whole, I have learned, experimented, and tested
nearly every technique in bicycle construction. I’ve studied
with the same passion the best work of the past, to see how a
particular idea might be re-incorporated into a design or
refined to a new level of perfection. The results have been
wonderfully satisfying but also relevant to developing that
personal sense of style that makes a Goodrich a bicycle that
stands on its own. Building bicycles is my life’s work.
Designing and building one for you will create something you can
be proud to ride and to own for your lifetime.
Each Goodrich
Bicycle is designed for its rider and the ride. A great bike
fits in its own optimal way and one bike can serve many
purposes. Still, we can think of bicycles as offering all sorts
of fun. While a road bike can be designed to ride well in a
wide variety of conditions, an all-arounder might permit greater
clearances for wider tires and perhaps fenders and custom
racks. A bike dedicated to randonneur events or
long-distance riding might not require the wide tire clearances
and heavier loads we might want to put on an
all-arounder but should feel
steady and confident at both faster and slower speeds perhaps
with fenders, custom fitted lights, and supporting racks that
allow long, self-sustaining hours in the saddle. A rider might
also want a single or fixed gear with road geometries for city,
commuting, training, and always for fun. Perhaps you would like
a bike well-suited to cyclocrossing that works well for
roughstuffing on trails and roads? All of these things and more
are possible when the rider and bicycle are designed to come
together, made for each other.
I’ve five basic categories for the bicycles I build. These
provide a template, a way of thinking about cycling that matches
your interests to a design that fulfills them.
Click on each to think more about your interests and to see
examples of bicycles I’ve made that reflect my ideas and design
values.
Road Bicycles
For all sorts
of road riding, from racing to comfortable recreational riding,
Goodrich road bikes might use fancy, handcut lugs or simple,
minimalist lug designs, short or normal reach caliper brakes,
and always a steel fork. Read more about my ideas about
steel forks, fork crowns,
and why I think steel forks still provide the optimal ride as
well as the best focal point for appropriate design choices.
See our section on tubing, steerer
tubes, and fork for more details but suffice it to say
that these choices are made on the basis of the rider’s weight,
style, and purpose. Braze-on and eyelets for fenders, racks,
pump-peg, or chain-hanger, a Goodrich road bike includes
whatever details best suit your style and choices, nothing more
or less.
All-Arounder
Built around
700c, 26” mountain-size, or 650B wheels, an all-arounder is just
that: a bicycle that doesn’t flinch when the road turns to
gravel, dirt, or offers challenges that are better met with
wider tires or a lower center of gravity and greater wheel
stability. Think about cantilever, linear, or centerpull brakes
that might create more versatility and allow very large tires,
over 37c in diameter, to be mounted with fenders.
Randonneuse
While long distance riding and
randonneuring is becoming more popular, these bikes are rare and
often confused with “touring” bikes. A full-fledged tourer is
designed for heavy loads and camping options with panniers. A
randonneuse is a road bike for long days and perhaps even
nights! This is the bike for all weathers and nearly all road
conditions short of racing. Randonneur efforts are usually
self-sustained, meaning that the rider often carries necessities
and maybe even a picnic. The simple goal is too much fun on a
bike that will take you nearly anywhere.! While there are very
good reasons for riding with fenders, a handlebar bag front
support rack, or a rear saddlebag supporting rack on all sorts
of road bikes that aren’t racers, the randonneuse is the bike
for all seasons, for nearly all roads, and can be designed for
wide-tires that bring it nearly into the range of an all-arounder.
A Goodrich randonneuse can be designed for versatility or with
specific parts in mind that are designed into the overall
construction of the frame and fork (what the French call
“constructeur” designs). However you choose to ride your
randonneuse, a Goodrich will meet the challenge in comfort and
style without compromise to handling.
City Bikes
Imagine a bike
that takes you from your home to the market, to work, across
town, or into the countryside with ease, comfort, and a very
large dose of fun. I call these bikes “porteur” in honor of the
French builders who may have perfected the concept but left room
for so many refinements. A City Bike can be as simple as a one
speed or designed for a hub (such as Shimano or Rohloff); it can
use swept back bars and perhaps a sprung Brooks saddle, but
however you choose to appoint it, this is a bike for now and
later. Ask me about options because there are so many ways to
design and build a great city bike. If you are looking for a
single or fixed gear rider, we can do that either as a City Bike
or a Specialty.
Specialty Bicycles
(Track, Cyclocross)
Sometimes a bike has a particular
purpose to which it is best suited. Most road bikes can be more
than just race bikes ---though there is nothing wrong with a
dedicated racer! But most track, mountain, or cyclocross bikes
are particularly suited for their tasks though they too can be
ridden in all sorts of ways. Take a Goodrich track bike to the
local velodrome, match it with Japanese NJS-approved Keirin
parts or in the European style, or mix-and-match. Bring your
lugged steel Goodrich cross bike to the races and ride it to
work the next day. If you want a single speed or fixed gear
road bike, a cross bike that can work as a commuter and double
as a racer, then a Goodrich Specialty bike will make dreams into
adventures (and vice-versa!)
PAINT
The finish on your Goodrich should match the quality of the
build and design. All of my frames are painted by JB Bicycle
Finishing or J.P. Weigle, two of the premier bicycle painters
working today. Cost of basic paint, which includes an offset
headtube, is included in the price of frame and fork. Please
ask me about paint extras. Nearly any sort of detail is
possible though these will involve reasonable upcharges. |
