hi-jacked from another forum...


Article from the Chattanooga Times Freepress

Bicycle designer and lifelong cyclist Kirk Pacenti has recently expanded his on-the-side business Pacenti Cycle Design to a full-time gig after recording an upsurge in sales for the past two years.

The company, based out of Mr. Pacenti’s Chattanooga home, markets its products to a particular niche of builders who still handcraft bicycles one at a time, he said.

Mr. Pacenti said his merchandise has expanded from the lug sets, pieces used to join the tubing together on a bike frame, that were initially his business’ focus.

While his lug sets can be used out of the box, the design also provides extra material on the pieces so artisans can customize them "to really create a signature look," he said.

A hand-crafted bike uses anywhere from four to six lugs, which Mr. Pacenti sells for $55 to $75 for a set of three.

In the world of bike manufacturing, handcrafted components have been increasingly rare since the 1980s, he said.

"It’s fallen out of favor in the industry at large, because of mass production techniques and just more modern manufacturing," he said. "My primary customers are the small, one-man shops that are still handcrafting bike frames one at a time."

Mr. Pacenti said the core of his business is now primarily tubing for frame construction. He distributes parts for Italian company Columbus, primarily made from steel and stainless steel.

He is moving into titanium, aluminum and carbon fiber frame components. He also supports artisans who use his products by featuring pictures of their designs on his Web site, bikelugs.com.

The Stratford, Conn., native had started the business on a parttime scale in 1995. He first came to Chattanooga in 2000 when he was offered a job as head designer at Ooltewah-based Litespeed, founded by the Lynskey family. He worked there for three years, and continued to operate his business on the side.

Last year, Pacenti Cycle Design grew 46 percent in gross sales, he said. The year before that, his sales had doubled.

"That’s when I saw the potential," he said. In early November, he left his day job working for an auto accessory manufacturer to focus on the business full-time.

Mr. Pacenti markets online and primarily serves bike designers out of state, but he’s beginning to work with local business Lynskey Performance Products. The frame-building company was launched in January by the Lynskey family after the 1999 sale of Litespeed.

Founder Mark Lynskey said Pacenti’s presence in Chattanooga is huge for a certain group of designers who have a passion for crafting bikes and appreciate the retro look of his materials and designs.

"What Kirk’s bringing to the table is a new perspective at a classical look," Mr. Lynskey said. "There will be people that come to Chattanooga specifically to sit down with Kirk and decide what they want their bike to look like."

This year, Pacenti Cycle Design is on target to bring in $250,000 in gross sales, Mr. Pacenti said.

In the next six months, he plans to move his salesroom from his home to a yet-to-be-determined warehouse space. Within a few months, he plans to hire at least one employee to help with shipping, order-taking and office managerial tasks.

Running his own business full-time is "not as stressful as I thought it was going to be," Mr. Pacenti said. "I’m pretty optimistic about the coming year."

SOURCE

https://www.bikelugs.com/

be sure to check out the gallery that's cataloged by builder. good stuff...

exquisite detailed work

I never new he was in CT... So that's Pacenti, Sachs, and Weigle all from the Nutmeg state. Not too shabby.

CT native...TN resident.

I'll take it.

too shay.

not to be confrused with kajagoogo's 'too shy'. thank me later for your singing that all day.

where on a frame would 6 lugs be located? guess they're counting a lugged stem.

are you counting the seat stay/drop out/chain stay junction in your thoughts?

no. that aint lugged

rear brake bridge? i've seen luglike attachments there, but don't know what exactly qualifies a lug. if you count those, plus the seat cluster, bb, two headtube lugs and fork crown lug that's seven.

And a fork crown?

if ya count a fork crown that makes 5.

In the above article, Pacenti is counting the stem for the extra two lugs.

so...if there is one @ the top/head tubes, one @ the down/head tubes, one @ the top/eat tubes, one @ the bb/down tubes, fork crown (could be 2 separate, no?), stem (2?)...that could be 8.

or are the first two ^ really one? am i too liberal/misguided in my definition of lugs?

Lots of dropouts are lugged, meaning they have holes the chain and seat stays slide into before brazing, instead of tabs that slide into the stays. I'm no expert and someone may have to correct me though.

yes, mander, that's correct. he's talking about the "frame" if he had said frame and fork than there could be a possible 9 lugs total not including the stem.

i think hes thinking of lugged threadless stems, as he sells those too.

that's what im thinking too. lugs are lugs. drop outs arent lugs.