How Custom Bicycle Framebuilders Build a Village - Tom Kellogg / Spectrum Cycles

Tom Kellogg, Spectrum Cycles

By TT’s definition, I am a Baller. I’ve been frame building full time for thirty-six years and riding an average of five to seven thousand miles a year over those years. So do I feel like a Baller? It depends. As I listened to the talks given by the less experienced builders at Ballers 2.0, I did feel the part. But as I was chasing riders who sometimes ride on dirt down that ten mile gravel descent … well, no. I’m pretty good when tires stick, not so good when they don’t.

Ballers 2.0 was an opportunity. An opportunity for “young” builders to present themselves and answer questions from a diverse and very well informed and interested group of riders from inside the f’building business and from potential clients as well. “Older” builders had an opportunity to ask probing questions about future plans, business models, design and building techniques and even questions about how aesthetic decisions are made. The level of sophistication in these discussions was amazing. Non-industry Ballers had opportunities to hear from and speak directly with the builders presenting at the two formal sessions.

Because the weekend was set up to provide multiple opportunities and venues for interaction between everyone there at the Acorn Inn, all of us had chances to take as much time as we wanted to speak with, ride with, eat with and drink with some of the most talented people making custom frames ever gathered in one place.

As great as the riding, beer, stories and lies were at Ballers 2.0, they were not up to the level of what I heard coming from the builders who spoke with the assembled group and from face to face discussions with those builders. Their love for what they were doing almost brought me to tears. They reminded me of myself. I don’t mean that they reminded me of myself all those years ago; they reminded me of myself right now. None of them were cock sure that they knew everything; they knew the difficulties that they face in developing a brand, running a business and honing their building skills. They are all the real deal. And they are our future. Those builders who were invited and bailed at the last minute … lost out. They lost out on some amazing riding, and they also lost out meeting with and spending REAL time with their peers and riders intently interested in what they do. DON’T MISS IT AGAIN!

When TT and I spoke a few days before Ballers, he told me that I was there on “vacation.” I had no job to do, I had no responsibilities. I didn’t take the man too seriously. At every opportunity I made sure that I was as useful as I could be in passing on what I could to anyone who would listen. And I do talk a lot. I’m signed up to jump on it again next year. See you then.

Tom Kellogg, Baller