Hi all,

I am going to start commuting soon by bike. A friend of mine gave me a frame that I plan on using, however it doesn't have rear eyelets for a rack, and I don't want to use P-clips, as I have a heavy load usually (College.) I want to have them added on by a frame builder.

I saw the thread in the frame builders sub forum about frame builders in the area, I emailed R+E Cycles, but haven't received a response. Does anyone know of anyone else in the area, between Seattle and Portland, who would do a job like this? Contact info?

Thanks in advance!

333fab, Seattle

Boxer Bicycles, Seattle

Cycles LeMoure, Sequim

Stevenson Custom Bicycles, Olympia

Thanks!

Elliot Bay/Davidson, Seattle

I'm really surprised R+E didn't reply immediately to your email. Dan Towle always gets back to me right away. Maybe you were using a bad address? I've rarely experienced a shop that gives such great customer service, and I'm not the easiest customer (opinionated, rude, challenging, yada yada). The staff at R+E always patiently deals with me and gets me what I want, sometimes after helping me change my mind so that what I want works better than my original notions.

Here's the owner's email: dant@rodcycle.com

They actually just emailed me back. Thanks though!

Yes, another vote for R+E. They are really good, and now is a good time to get frame work done.

Not familiar with the work of the others on the list, except for Bill Stevenson in Olympia: I'm sure he does good work, but probably not rush jobs; he usually takes a while to get things done... (And my wife is a good friend of his, and that's what she tells me!)

Luis (now I've lost another friend!)

It looks like R+E are doing it for me this Saturday. They seem pretty great.

You should join GEARs

You will not be disappointed. Their master frame builder was Dennis Bushnell, one of the finest builders in the US and renowned for his tandem frames. Most of his work has other names on it. I understand he retired last year, but he has trained the framebuilders who currently work there, and using the warranty seat tube/back end repair on my Rodriguez as an indication, they do superb work. It's a fixie, and sometimes the rear wheel gets pulled over under hard acceleration, and the tire rubs against the left chainstay. I was concerned about the amount of wear showing with so little tire rub, so they brazed in an extra piece of steel to reinforce the stay! They are great on details.

Luis

R+E really is great. Two years ago I brought them my twenty-five year old tandem to repair (stoker seat tube sheared off at the bottom bracket). There were some rust issues at that joint that could have made it a very extensive repair, but they realized they could just replace the bottom bracket with an oversize one which allowed them to cut the tubes back beyond the rust and put in a Bushnell eccentric. They did a little modification to the frame design to lessen the load on this joint as well. They charged me next to nothing and the bike was better than new.

I was so happy with their work that six months later I had them build me another tandem, which has been absolutely awesome. Our test ride was from the shop back to Eugene the weekend we picked it up. That's the kind of faith they inspire with their attention to detail. I'm a big fan.

R+E took care of it all yesterday. Took about an hour to braze on the eyelets, and re-align and space my drop outs for road hubs (From 123mm to 130mm.) They are all nice people and treat you well. A great shop that does great work!