A number of months ago, in the midst of a prolonged build-out on the new shop, one of the crew (now forgotten whom and of little importance in the long run of time) mentioned a blog post seen somewhere; a new player on the scene; a something different take on the whole “let’s-make-track-bikes” circuit. A phone call was made. I wish I had a pic of Turk on the celly on this chilly February day in the not-so-distant past. A stand-in image:
Went something like this… (translation by the author)
Turk: “Yo Livery peeps! Boston here- we likes what you do. Info on the double- hand it down & let us grok the get-go!”
Livery: “We do right-right! Brainstorm tornado alley here in the O.C. You see the brass! Clearcoats go on top of metal and sparkle on top of other clearcoats! Fire up the aerospace rocket-maker 5-axis shit! Dial up Hong Kong! Deadstock Prestige meets space-age moderno-tech- dig mad colorways and forward-thought meets neo-retro-fuck-it’s-cool… holler!”
So we did. I started chatting with Nate and Scott at Livery and a new relationship was born. Today an enormous box arrived via UPS (thanks to our driver, Tony) and we excitedly dug in. After unearthing the David Hasselhof-emblazoned thank-you card (that played the Baywatch theme when opened), we got into some serious frame action. Behold.
LDG uses an assortment of Reynolds and Tange tubing built into some of the most classy and innovative frames we’ve seen. Designed in Orange County and built to their exacting spec in Japan and Taiwan, Livery frames and components offer top-shelf craftsmanship, dialed geometries, beautiful finishes, and subtle but definitive touches.
First order of business after cleaning up all the drool was getting the Toyo-built Livery Fillet-Brazed frame up in the stand for our friend Benny, owner of Savant Project. Benny and I sat down a bit back and banged out a clean build kit for his new Livery and it came together like crunchy peanut butter and raspberry jam:
Dusted-off NOS Tange Prestige tubing fillet-brazed to Livery spec by Toyo. Raw torched finish with dumb-clean wet clearcoat.
Perma-classy build includes San Marco suede Regal and Velo Orange sew-on elkhide barwrap.
I hand-built the wheelset- Miche lows to Velocity bight silver Aeros, DT comps. Radial up front for some sexy, 2x in the back. Low flange is the new high flange, kids.
Livery pursuit bars in the Rb-021 style.
The rest of the kit was sensible-yet-turbo: Miche, EAI, Izumi, and VO bits.
Benny looks happy. This is the reason we do what we do.
We are Livery’s new exclusive Boston area dealer. We are extremely proud to offer this well-designed, carefully built, and reasonably-priced finery to the East Coat. Come by and let us talk your ear off about how much we like this stuff!
I needed a bicycle that would take me back to being 15 years old, when I was smashing my S&M Challenger through trees and trails and stairs and rails. I needed a bicycle that could pop me through traffic and manual across the raised divider. I needed a bicycle nimble and quick, sturdy and strong, and light enough to flick through the streets. I needed a bicycle to get me to the booze store and back again in comfort, something I could put miles on around town and still be able to stand up straight afterwards. BMX wasn’t gonna cut it, nor big bikes or a fixed bruiser, and trying to hack a Surly Steamroller into my dream ride wasn’t working out. I needed a bicycle built for the city and it needed to have balls, and there was nothing on the market that even came close.
Joshua and I sketched out the necessities and went to Marty Walsh, of Geekhouse Bikes, and said “we need you to build this super bike.” Marty said “I’ll build the bike, but let’s add all this other cool shit to it, too.”
The seat stay split and bolt that allows the belt to slip in. Hope Pro II rear hub.
The Phil Wood eccentric bottom bracket that’s necessary for belt installation, removal, and tensioning. Note the mountain bike chainstays.
Deity Fantom stem, TWENTY14 bars, LEAN grips (for small lady-like hands,) and King headset keep me connected to homebase (Portland, OR.) Paul Love levers for grabbing.
Yo Marty oversized fork + Greg Melms super-badass custom 20mm front dropouts. Hope Pro II front hub. Avid mechs @ 160mm.
rides like a BMX. little, like me, and can be thrown around like it’s nothing.
22lbs 9oz
belt drive is silent and snappy and my right calf stays nice and warm all snuggled in my non-rolled up pant leg
chukker 32h rims are steady. they love stair drops.
flat matte black powder from sugarcoat…twice. i’ll let Marty tell that story!
deity components are holding tough. stem and bars are very lightweight, but otherwise standard faire. the pedals and grips, though? i’m never going back, they’re balls.
single speed spacer kit from Rennen Design Group, made here in MA, made the belt drive alignment way easier.
vintage turbo saddle donated by joshua makes my ass happy
So, after 18 months (yep, one whole year plus one half of another year) of scheming, planning, and building, I finally have my bicycle. And yes, I’ll totally let you ride it.
Edit: forgot to mention and say thanks to Justin Keena for the awesome photos.
Walking toward the shop from our ritualistic AM stop at Sherman Cafe with coffees in hand and laughing in the late morning light, we spotted a distinguished-looking gentleman wheeling what was obviously a classy track bike down the train bridge. Waving the fellow down, we were introduced to Tim Dixon, bike-lover, furniture-builder, and Imron-sprayer extraordinaire. Hailing from California and the heyday of West Coast craft builders, Tim was dropping in to show us this extremely elegant Sam Cotten track bike and chat a bit about his new wet-paint operation in Boston.
Sam Cotten, he explained, was a friend of his who had a part time framebuilding operation in Hollywood, as well as being an actor and amateur philosopher. Tim cut some Cinelli lugs into delicate shapes and had Sam build him this frame, which Tim then painted. The result, with the perfectly-matched C-Record kit and Cinelli bar/stem combo, is about as classy as they come. Yes, that is an extremely rare semi-sloping Cinelli track fork crown. Yes, those are Record Crono tubular rims. No, we’re sorry, but you can’t ride it.
Tim is starting up his spray operation again here on the East Coast, and we’ll be offering his services through the shop. Please do drop in to gawk at his ‘90 Cotten and start dreaming up your new paint scheme.
As the frosts approach, we here at Open are looking to bring in new seasonal product to keep your fingers warm and tires on the ground… which means making some room in our little shop. We’ve got a nice assortment of Chrome product, from the all-new (and toasty warm) shoes, with in-sole stiffeners and ballistic Cordura uppers and laces, to a lineup of the SF brand’s bags and hip packs. Bags in stock are 15% off and shoes in stock are 20% off until the end of the month!
From the website… “Since launching these pants in October, the response has been tremendous — no, ridiculously, mind-bogglingly tremendous. Most every day, a new blog talks ‘em up and we keep cranking out production run after production run to keep up with demand. A sampling of this growing pants phenomenon: Gizmodo, Bike Hugger, Tree Hugger,Boing Boing, Eco Velo, Thrillist, and more. Best of all, they’ve inspired fun things like this instructables contest and the great (though wet) Rollin’ Lightnin’ time change ride. Seems like we’re on to something here, and we look forward to expanding upon this idea. As always, we love your photos and feedback. “
In the words of Lupe…
“We tryna go up in this club
Show a little love
Get a few drinks
Holla at some girls Snatch up a pair
Leave outta there
Put some dro in tha air
And then go and get some grub.”
My first taste of these came when Ian handed me two pieces of mitered steel and said the words “aero” and “bars,” which got me insanely excited. Finally, last night, I held the finished prototypes and my love affair became a little more serious. Ian jumped through hoops jigging these bars, hand-bent the drops and finished it off with a polished stainless Icarus feather. As each project starts and finishes, I become more and more impressed with Ian’s attention to detail, creativity, impeccable execution and passion for doing things the way they should be done. You should all ride an Icarus, just ask me how. (Yes, that is a hint)
