#43: Remembering Bruce Gordon

This week our show is an appreciation of frame builder Bruce Gordon who passed away June 7th at the age of 71. Gordon was one of the most experienced and talented frame builders ever to pick up a torch. He learned the craft from Albert Eisentraut in the first frame building class he taught after moving to Oakland from Chicago. He went on to invest in Eisentraut’s business and became production manager, before leaving to hang his own shingle. Gordon would spend time building in Oregon before returning to Northern California and settling in Petaluma. I’ve interview five people for today’s show: frame builder Mark Nobilette, his former co-worker at Eisentraut; Don Walker, the director of the North American Handmade Bicycle Show; our guest from the last two episodes of The Pull: Paul Sadoff, with whom Gordon produced frames under the name Schnozzola; machinist Mark Norstad of Paragon Machine Works, whose braze-ons, dropouts and other frame fittings are some of the most popular in the industry and with whom Gordon gave the SOPWAMTOS awards; and finally White Industries employee and the Soul Craft owner Sean Walling, who worked for Gordon early in his own career.