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epic wheelworks

jude kirstein

there are a couple of zen sayings to the effect where does your lap go when you stand up? and what happens to your fist when you open your hand?, statements of value that can just as easily be applied to bicycle wheels. at point of origin, a bicycle wheel, as we will come to call it, consists of a hub, a bunch of spokes and a hoop of aluminium with holes in it. we can all enter cycle shops of note and droll over the latest sculpture in carbon fibre, believing that by owning one of these, speed, style and victory can all be ours. many arrive with boutique wheels of the ksyrium, fuclrum ilk, and it is rare that a bicycle is chosen for the wheels that it will be wearing when it comes out of the box.

yet none of these carbon creations or, since we're in portland, steel handbuilts would be travelling too far along highway 30 were it not for the two circular hoops fitted front and rear. and it is my firm belief (because i'm a wheelaholic) that wheels maketh the man - or woman and that it should definitely not be the sort of decision left to chance.

it says much for the bicycling community in portland that it is possible for a young lady of considerable fortitude, intelligence, and that over-used word, passion, to constitute herself into a one woman business building bicycle wheels. rarely have i had the pleasure of meeting someone who is so incredibly focussed on the task at hand, or the way forward not only for her business, but the way that she can promote the art of wheelbuilding and assist others in their understanding an appreciation of the art and the end product. there will always be those who simply survive on whatever wheels happen to be fitted at the time of purchase, and no doubt much of what is on offer today will do the job of rolling forward more than adequately. but as with many of the finer things in life, there is so much more to be had.

jude kirstein opened epic wheelworks on april 1st this year in a small office at 833 se main street, portland which, if i'm being perfectly honest, was little larger than the elevator in which we reached the appropriate floor. but building wheels, unlike building bicycles, doesn't need a whole lot of space, and epic could be described as compact and bijou. jude has done her homework: while i have a reasonable knack of building wheels, the end result is generally more by luck than specific design. jude has travelled around the country enquiring of the old guys how things might be done the way they used to be, or even they way they still are. she has spoken to the folks at wheelsmith and utilises their spoke calculator system, and frightened me to death by showing the contents of a loaned book entitled the spoking word by leonard goldberg, which held pages and pages of mathematical formulae that would kill my wheelbuilding career stone dead.

this young woman knows what's what with bicycle wheels and will almost definitely go far in the world she has chosen - we're not just talking portland, or even the united states at this point; if you're in some far flung part of the world, or even in edinburgh, strategies can be implemented that would see your favourite steed shod with a pair of epic wheelworks hoops.

perhaps, if i'm allowed, i can make the comparison with another company based in portland: when you buy rapha, you're not just getting the jersey, there's a whole philosophy that tags along behind. epic meets the same criteria.

epicwheelworks

twmp

posted on friday 15 may 2009

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