A hair sandwich with a side of fries.

Monday’s are no good. Wakeman is the opposite of Mondays.
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Now some of you may know Wakeman, and some of you may not. A good number of you might just recognize the name from the innocuous little banner ad over there to the right.
“You want him to design something for you?”… What the hell does that even mean?
Posing this question to myself recently I thought I should step up my game and try and explain who some of these people are and what it is that they do.. After all, they are one ones who pay me excessive sums of money so that I can continue to dine on edible gold leaf and the lightly barbecued offspring of endangered species.
So who is Wakeman and what does he do? Is a ‘crap ton’ a quantifiable measurement? For well over a decade he’s had his fingers in everybody’s pies from TRP to Jagwire, and possibly most notably was the egghead behind Surly Bikes conception, as well as their foundation of initial designs.
He is a master of many trades from 2D design and metal fabrication to classic car restoration and dirt jumping radtardation.
The thing that I personally find frustrating is that companies aren’t absolutely suffocating him under freelance design and fab jobs. I’m not saying this because he helps support this site or because he is a friend. I’m saying it because I see the bike industry as an incredibly transitory place. With the exception of a small number people there is a constant flow of personnel, always changing the face of the trade.
It could very well be the same thing in other industries, but I wouldn’t necessarily know. At 15 years deep, I am still a rookie in the biz in comparison to people like Sky Yeager, Steve Boehmke, and so forth, but as I said, folks like that are a rarity.
My point is, that with a constant ebb and flow of new faces, new products, and new companies, it is easy to get lost in the shuffle if you’re not constantly throwing your hat in the ring, and rattling everyone’s cages about it. Unfortunately it’s not always about what you have done, but what you are doing, and how constantly vocal you can be on the matter.
Wakeman isn’t a talker. He’s a doer, and anyone who has ever had the good fortune of working with him knows this to be true. Should any folks who cross the site’s path ever find themselves in the market for the magic that he makes, or even if you want to talk about Mopar, overseas manufacturing, 80’s punk rock, metallurgy, child rearing, backpacking or riding bikes in Fruita, don’t be hesitant to make contact;
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Moving on to the mail bag, Amigo #4 wrote in with an astute observation.
“Re: That just happened.
The straw broke the camels back. My neighbour just asked if he could check out my road bike then proceeded to lift it off the ground with one finger. How many times has this happened to you? My guess would be thousands. I decided to prove that unless your road bike is an incredibly heavy piece of shit any idiot with at least one finger attached to his hand can lift it. Notice that although I’m wearing sandals and obviously spend a lot of time in the weight room, I am lifting the 25 lb weight with the greatest of ease;
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So there you have it. The next time someone tells you about “his friends bike that is so light he can lift it with one finger” you can reply BFD I saw a picture of a guy lifting a 25 lb weight with one finger while wearing sandals. You can thank me later.”

Obviously the flip flops give you power where you need it.
In other news, If you aren’t familiar with the FBM Bike Company, then I would like to invite you from beneath the rock you have been residing. Before they re-wrote the rule book, they took the previously existing one, took a dump on it and then set it on fire.
Well, last week I came across the following trailer that brilliantly illustrates the history of the little company who could;

To get the full shibang, roll through FBM for the skinny.
Yuri the Marin Bikes super honch just got back from a trip to the Great White North where he ran into none other than H.N.H;
“Stevil,
I just returned from Crankworx, which is really a bacchanalian 20 something party disguised as a bike event, where I rode with none other than “pretty hair” himself. Being that you are more creative and smarter than I, probably better looking too, I thought you might want this photo.”

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‘Joe Parkin Has Nice Helmet’, or if you wish, ‘Joe Parkin Hucks New Hardware’.
Either way, the guy can ride a bike pretty good for a roadie. I wonder how many flat brimmed ball caps and lifted Ford F350s were utilized in their ascent to the top.
All joking aside, this does look pretty sublime;

Years ago while working on the NORBA circuit, the promoter at the National’s race in Crystal Mountain, Washington did all of the working mechanics a solid one day and turned the lifts on early, so that we could get a ride in before the day started. The journey up consisted of two very long lift trips, resulting in absolutely breath taking vistas of the Cascades, and at least a forty five minute descent.
It was the only time I have ever ‘free ridden’, and as conflicted as I felt, it was an awesome experience.
Should I ever get the chance to do such a thing again, I wouldn’t think twice.
As I sit here on the brink of middled agedness, it’s the least I could do for myself.
The time has come to pull the plug on today’s installment, though before I go I would like to reintroduce an old friend, and a new advertiser. Terry from Doma Coffee and I have been backing and fourthing concerning the possibility of bringing them on as a new addition to the list of Maximo Supremo. My consistent pleas, and sweet talking finally did the trick, and they, in all of their free trade goodness have finally agreed to join the party.
Welcome aboard Doma. I’m pleased to have you along and I thank you for helping fuel the machine.

It’s Monday. Go do what you do.
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4 Responses to “A hair sandwich with a side of fries.”

  1. irishpunk59 August 23, 2010 at 9:17 am #

    wait what do I do again????

  2. ben August 23, 2010 at 10:49 am #

    Wakeman used to have a Plymouth Belvedere wagon that looked the business (read: ratty), but it was a badass. If he had a little less arc on the ballcap, I’d suggest that his car would likely have carried more folks to the top of the mountain, faster, and with more big block music than any combination of F-series trucks. Joop would approve.

  3. Jay D. August 23, 2010 at 8:23 pm #

    …Unfortunately it’s not always about what you have done, but what you are doing, and how constantly vocal you can be on the matter.
    Damn Stevil – I think you just figured out the meaning of life. Nice. Hope to see you this year at Steel Wul!
    JD from the east coast

  4. reed August 24, 2010 at 3:24 am #

    make sure that you use the correct finger for bike lifting, and have a spotter on site! and always where da helmut! Wakeman and i had adjacent offices at quantity bicycle problems. he sold me my first gasoline powered vehicle in 1998 when i was a wee lad of 37. you’re a puppy!