November 30, 2010

Curt Goodrich Cycles

One of the more mysterious and reclusive (to me anyway) MPLS frame builders is Curt Goodrich. I don't often mention or post Goodrich's on the blog, namely because I've never met Curt nor do I know anyone who actually owns one of his framesets. I can tell (and show you) that his work is gorgeous and that he has an insanely storied pedigree. From building Paramounts at Match Cycles to building Rivendell's dude is old school and his bikes are wicked badass. I love seeing lugged framesets with modern componentry.

Here are some photos from his website and his bio.

nahbs_09_sat114
I began my apprenticeship building bicycles in 1995 under the watchful eye of Dan Wynn in Seattle. I’d always loved craftsmanship and for a year paid my dues filing, sanding fillets, machining and aligning frames and forks. I was acquiring crucial skills, working hard, and learning by the day. When Matt Houle at the well-established R&E Cycles shop offered me a job, I spent two years TIG-welding and further evolving my skills, though my heart still lay in traditional lugged construction. When I’d heard that Tim Isaac was setting up match bicycle company as a high-end production shop and that our first project would be to build Schwinn Paramounts, I was third to be hired. I had the good fortune to be working with Kirk Pacenti, whose contributions to lug design are now well-known, Steve Hampsten who moved onto his own company with Hampsten Cycles and Cycles Tournesol, and Mark Bulgier, Dan Swanson, and Martin Tweedy, and others. Two years after the Paramount project began, Grant Petersen of Rivendell Bicycle Works approached match bicycles to relieve Rivendell’s long backlog of frame orders. For the next year I built Rivendell frames while Martin Tweedy built forks. But change was in the works: match was closing shop. Ben Serotta, founder of Serotta Competition Bicyles, offered me a position building steel and titanium primarily in TIG-construction and it was then I realized how I felt about building lugged steel designs. I declined Serotta’s generous offer and shortly afterwards Grant Petersen offered me the opportunity to continue building custom Rivendells. I moved my family to Minneapolis to establish my own frame shop and from 2000 until 2007 I built custom lugged steel frames for Rivendell and, when asked privately, the occasional Goodrich frame.

Orders for Goodrich bicycles evolved past my abilities to continue building for Rivendell —and I am delighted to say that Goodrich Bicycles now provide the opportunity to extend myself in ways that reflect fully my experiences as a builder. Here you will find road bikes and sportif all-arounders, long distance randonneuse with custom carriers and constructeur-style design and specialty bikes for cyclocross, track and single speed, and city porteurs.


ra-full
twins1
w2
he paints all of his own stuff

pacenti4mp4mp7

hot stuff for sure

5 comments:

Chris said...

Took a tour of Curt's shop from the gentlemen at Hiawatha here in Minneapolis. It's as cool as you'd imagine. A dark corner of an old industrial building's basement. A bridgeport wedged in the corner, stacks of lugs waiting to be shaped. Even let some of us try our hand at brazing. If you see the tour come up on Hiawatha's site, I'd recommend checking it out.

dan cakes said...

the brake stop!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful bikes. That teal brazed stem really caught my eye. So smooth.

CraiggleS said...

Curt Goodrich is a builder's builder. Any and all aspiring builders should take notice. In this sad day of urban hipster trixter fixter riser-bar bull$hit, this point should be emphasized.

You don't need a fourth bike to do super-mad skids/track stands/blah blah blah on. Save your pennies, support a true artisan, and get a good bike like these, and RIDE it.

Anonymous said...

Curt is not currently building bicycles, just taking deposits and then you never hear from him again.