This week I’m taking a slightly different tack and am interviewing an academic. My guest is sociologist Ben Brewer of James Madison University. Brewer picked up the cycling bug in the 1980s as a teenager and had the good sense never to lose his interest in the sport. Like many cycling enthusiasts, he appreciates a great custom frame; Brewer has owned several, including a Land Shark. As an academic, he became interested in just how big the custom frame building community is. It’s an interesting question: just how many custom frame builders are there? But Brewer wanted to know more than how many people are building, he wanted to get a picture of the profession. He has created an interesting survey for frame builders and he’s with us today to discuss it and what he hopes to learn from it.

The Pull: Sociologist Ben Brewer

The Pull is a podcast devoted to one-on-one interviews with artisans about their craft.

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You don’t know Julian Wall. You’ve never heard of him. But if you’ve watched pro racing over the last decade plus, then you’ve seen his work. Not only is he co-director of London’s Cyclefit, one of the premier fit studios in Europe, but he also fits pro cyclists across the spectrum, including the EF/Easy Post […]

Paceline Tandem: Fitting the Pros with Cyclefit’s Julian Wall

Of the many builders I’ve met over the years, I don’t think I’ve met any with a more unusual background. Bryan Hollingsworth is a New Englander who cut his teeth working for Seven Cycles. He may be the only builder I’ve ever met who has fabricated frames from carbon fiber, titanium and steel. I’m reasonably […]

The Pull: Bryan Hollingsworth, Royal H Cycles

Of the many frame builder who can capably be called masters of the craft, it is distinctly possible that no one has been at the bench longer than Mark Nobilette. His credentials are impeccable. He was trained by Albert Eisentraut in the first frame building class that Eisentraut taught, which was held in Chicago, before […]

The Pull: Frame Builder Mark Nobilette

In this second part of my interview with Toby Stanton, we discuss his team of juniors and what the ingredients are that has made the team so incredibly and consistently successful. Hot Tubes riders and stars and stripes jerseys are kinda like peanut butter and jelly. There are other things you can do with peanut butter, but peanut butter with jelly doesn't really surprise anyone. Stanton is incredibly candid and he gives insight not just to what makes his riders ride so well, but also how he sees his relationship to him and how he defines leadership. He could teach a course. This is one interview that is so full of keen insight into the human condition I expect I'll be listening back to this one for years to come.

The Pull: Toby Stanton of Hot Tubes, Part II

I first met Toby Stanton at a mountain bike race in 1991. He was coaching a team that included future cyclocross supahstah (this was in Massachusetts, mind you) Jonathan Page and their kits were white with red, yellow and blue dots, signifying their sponsorship by Wonder Bread. A year or two later I sent him my Canadian-built Miele frame to be repainted and to have a second set of bottle bosses added. I would go on to ride in his VW Vanagon helping him provide neutral support at some races in New England, gradually getting to know the intense builder, painter and coach. For as long as I've known him his life has revolved around cycling: building frames, painting them and shaping some of the finest young riders the U.S. has produced.For anyone who has done serious time in national-caliber juniors racing, the Hot Tubes name is as respected as it is feared. With 115 national championships to the team's credit, Toby Stanton is the most successful coach in U.S. history. It's a distinction of such superlative achievement, I can't find another coach who has even five years of coaching juniors; Stanton has been doing it for 29 years and he's been operating Hot Tubes for just as long. Because our conversation went on for two hours, I've split the interview in two halves, one that deals with his business and one that deals with his team. The start is a little unconventional because when he picked up the phone we were immediately into old friend catchup mode and I never really had a chance to do the traditional intro before we were off and talking about his business. Oh, and be forewarned, there is plenty of salty language in this interview.

The Pull: Sociologist Ben Brewer

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