Just a brief post today - I just saw news that American framebuilding legend/pioneer Bruce Gordon has announced that he's retiring from the business. As posted in his own blog, Gordon will be 69 years old next month and has decided it's time to hang it up. His business, including shop space, tools, materials, etc., is up for sale.
Gordon had developed a reputation some years back as something of a curmudgeon -- a reputation that I believe he himself was happy to propagate. Years ago, he famously made and distributed badges that read "Bruce Gordon Was Rude To Me." I never met him, so I can't say he was ever rude to me, but I'd love to have one of the buttons. But lest anyone get to thinking they had him figured out, he later ran a batch of badges that read "Bruce Gordon Was Nice To Me." There's a good story about that on the Lovely Bicycle blog.
I would recommend that people go to Gordon's blog (brucegordoncycles.blogspot.com) and scroll back through the archives. One thing I really enjoyed was a series of articles on "Bruce Gordon's Personal Bikes" which ran from Jan. 2015 through June of 2016. It's cool, and informative, and the bikes are fantastic to see. Touring bikes, mountain bikes, commuters - there's a neat variety, and I enjoyed getting his thoughts on the various bikes from different times in his career.
Wishing him the best.
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| (from Brucegordoncycles.blogspot.com) |
Gordon had developed a reputation some years back as something of a curmudgeon -- a reputation that I believe he himself was happy to propagate. Years ago, he famously made and distributed badges that read "Bruce Gordon Was Rude To Me." I never met him, so I can't say he was ever rude to me, but I'd love to have one of the buttons. But lest anyone get to thinking they had him figured out, he later ran a batch of badges that read "Bruce Gordon Was Nice To Me." There's a good story about that on the Lovely Bicycle blog.
I would recommend that people go to Gordon's blog (brucegordoncycles.blogspot.com) and scroll back through the archives. One thing I really enjoyed was a series of articles on "Bruce Gordon's Personal Bikes" which ran from Jan. 2015 through June of 2016. It's cool, and informative, and the bikes are fantastic to see. Touring bikes, mountain bikes, commuters - there's a neat variety, and I enjoyed getting his thoughts on the various bikes from different times in his career.
Wishing him the best.