Fixed Gear Manifesto: A brief Explanation

I. A brief personal history of my Relationship with the Fixed-Gear Bicycle

  I pieced together my first fixed-gear bicycle when I was 18 years old. I lived in Florida, and was just getting over a BMX racing-related injury. I started riding road bikes to recover and get back in shape and could only afford really old equipment. I pieced together an old race bike but was then in need of a training bike, so i didnt wear out the already worn-out parts of my "precious" race bike. I worked at a small local biike shop at the time, and we had a road race team. Many riders used fixed-gear bicycles during the winter to improve and maintain their spin as well as build strength. As a bicycle mechanic, i was drawn to the simplicity of these machines, and combined with my lack of funds for derailleurs resulted in me cobbling together my very own fixed-gear "training" bike. A friend gave me their old Caloi aluminum frame with aluminum fork. I built up a basic wheelset and had an old Sugino 170mm crankset. My first time out on the bike I remember getting goosebumps. I was Home.

I rode that bike quite a bit, but only ever in "training" mode,-I never really commuted on it, and still rode my road bike most of the time since I was racing regularly and moving up the ranks quickly, determined to succeed. At this point I was not even commuting by bicycle, and I had yet to trade my car for a race bike........

Fast-forward a few years: carless commuter, working for a Dutch bicycle importer, long since dropped-out of racing with bigger dreams in mind. By this point I had another nice fixed-gear I had been riding around, commuting and riding for fun. I had been to and worked in Amsterdam, I wanted to get out of the South. I found an old 70s road bike in the dumpster at the marina where I worked. It was rusted badly, everything seized. For some reason I was driven to get that bike working and in perfect mechanical condition. Something about it being Free, that i found it as Trash, and that it had a Japanese name "Takara" on the brass headbadge, which means Treasure. Long story short, I moved to Boston with that bike converted to fixed gear of course, and when I decided to move to California from Boston, it was the only choice, I would ride my fixed gear dumpster treasure across this great country to the promised land, and I did! I pulled a BOB trailer, with 40 x 16 gearing.

So now onto the meat of this Manifesto: Why only one gear with no freewheel???

II. What Riding Fixed is Like

   This topic is nothing new, and many people have written many things about this. What i'll write here is merely my own personal experience with urban riding and touring on a fixed gear machine. I've toured loaded with 50 pounds of stuff across the USA, toured unloaded and lightly loaded during brief day-long or few-day excursions; have raced and won a number of alley cat races in San Francisco, Oakland/east bay, Boston, Orlando, Gainesville, and St. Augustine, Florida; commuted daily, and ridden 30 mph + through rush hour traffic as an asshole and as a not-asshole. I will not speak of velodromes here since it is irrelevant, and I never had a real connection to riding around in a circle anyways. Straight line, sure; circle, not so much...This is a comparison if you will, since many people have done and do the things ive done above but with a bike having multiple gears and the ability to coast........All talk now is referring to being on a fixed gear bicycle:

Once I start moving, the cadence is noticed right away, since there is one gear, cadence is the only variable, and directly related to the speed at which I move. I am able to notice instantly if i am going uphill, down, or on level ground. When i need to slow or stop, no other body parts need to be called upon besides the ones already engaged: I think: "slow down", my legs slow down, and with them the machine and I slow down, "we" do without any extra effort. There is only one movement always, the legs. no fingers or hands and arms reaching for and switching noisy gears, no fingers pulling brake levers.

Since my legs are always moving, my mind is also always moving, nothing stops, ever. Since I have less to "think about" regarding the actual riding of the bike, i am able to sense more around me and within me: my breathing, my heart beat, my leg muscles, the air quality, the surface texture of the ground i am riding over; i feel the wheels turning, the chain, i feel every piece of grit in the drive train through my feet, i feel the tread pattern of the tires, i feel the elevation of the ground change, even if its only by a few inches.......the slightest incline or decline is easily noticed.

gone Riding
will finish one day.......
or not

An Attempt to Build The World's Most Beautiful Bicycle: A brief Sketch about an obsessive Love of Beauty, & Perfection as the neccesarily unobtainable yet relentless goal, –in regards to the necessities of creating a Timeless Classic.

There are many choices I have been faced with. Moments of Inspiration come and go and yet remain constant, the Image always present but ever shifting, fluttering between Dream and waking, tainting my consciousness with the tears and blood of the Eternal, the relentless, a God's Dream escaped and out of Breath from running.

There is always the need to pay rent, to eat, to drink, to be in Love. There is always the need to express myself, my ideals, in the most unique, creative, and important way possible. Sometimes, all these things combine, other times they run side by side, other times they joust.

The most beautiful bicycle in the world has been waiting for the likes of me. Machinery, people, the integration of both of them together, it's all part of my life, the life i'm creating and living every moment.

Bicycles, to me, are the simplest of machines with the most complicated human relationship imaginable; and as much as I am attracted to speed, thrill, danger, excitement, adrenaline, and the like, I am equally attracted to the serenity achieved through these mediums, -also achieved through the beautifully complex simplicity of the design of a Perfect Bicycle; A perfect machine matched perfectly to a beautiful person, creating a part of the World we all live in and experience; making a dent, creating History; lasting beyond any conscience.

I am one of those people who has never doubted my creative ability, never doubted what i like or desire, and have always seemed to know what i want, what it takes to get it, or to make it. I am a pleasure seeker at most; at best, a flawed creator, rough around the edges, but pure in the center, true to myself, honest, capable, and driven.

I believe in my ability to take the purity and essence of Music and Poetry into the physical form of a Bicycle. I believe i am able to express my emotional, philosophical, and artistic states through various metals and into the shapes necessary to make a beautiful bicycle.

Of course a bicycle is not complete without a rider. In retrospect, I feel like I have not been able to undertake this task because of the apparently simple reason of not having found a suitable rider; a rider who both inspires, strikes awe, and is at least as beautiful as i could ever imagine. Who knows. I've been wrong enough to know that I might be wrong.

............to be continued

Welcome To Empirical Cycles! Where Dreams are Built with Metal!

Hello and Welcome to the Shop. Below are some things I specialize in. Contact me, Josh Boisclair, with any Inquiries you may have! -(P) 510-379-0368- OR  empiricalcycles@gmail.com

Specializations include but are not limited to:

1. Dutch, Swedish, British, American, and French Bicycle Restoration. As simple or as involved as necessary. From simple Frame repair or cottered crank servece, bottom bracket overhauls, wheel re-lacing, 2,3,4, and 5 speed hub overhauls, Dynohub overhauls, or rod actuated drum and caliper brake service, to full bore tear-down and repaint/re-chrome/decals/transfers.

2.Complete Custom Bicycle. I build with 4130 Cromoly steel. Attention to Details, and emphasis on Originality, Unique Style, and Quality are all Paramount. I can  build anything from a race/performance-oriented bike, to a daily commuter. I build custom cargo bikes as well, made with the rider, terrain, and type/size/weight of loads to be carried taken into consideration on the design. For racing and performance oriented bicycles I use True Temper tubing and use US-made parts whenever possible. Bicycle frames are fillet-brazed lugless or silver brazed lugged, but I really specialize in combining both methods for a truely unique bicycle. I generally make from scratch many items which are normally pre-made, such as: fork crowns, dropouts and fork ends, bridges, bells, chainguards, stems, and handlebars. No corners are cut in the constant attempt at building the Timeless,-bikes which will one day become classics.

3. Wheel Building. Fully equipped to build any spoked wheel, and wheels are guaranteed for Life. Anything from a 14 straight-pull bladed spoke radial laced aero time trial front wheel, to a 40 spoke 4x Westwood laced to a K-series Sturmey hub on a pre-war Roadster. I even have a limited stock of original Robergel spokes for immaculate and accurate pre-war British cycle restoration.

4. Drawing and Design Services. I specialize in hand-drawn technical blueprints, concept sketches, scale drawings, and full-scale working drawings of parts, and/or complete assemblies. I can provide PDFs as well as the Original Drawings. I also offer Design Consulting related to any bicycle design problem: recumbent, streamliner, utility, or steel racing bicycle.

5. General Bicycle Repair and Service. I sell Schwalbe Tires, Velocity Rims, Phil Wood parts, as well as Busch and Muller Lighting systems. I can order any part new or used, and generally have a stock of vintage Raleigh and Sturmey Archer parts on hand.

6. Internally-Geared Hub Service. Specializing and fully equipped to completely overhaul and repair most any 1,2,3,4,5,7, and 8 speed Hub. Vintage F&S Coaster brake? No Problem! Pre-war Drum brake doesn't work? No Problem! Your very rare and highly coveted FG Dyno Four needs service? I am one of the only Mechanics still around who even knows what a Plunger Ratchet is and how it works!

7. General Metal Fabrication. This is a broad category so please just call or email with details on what you need made. I deal with very small to medium-sized projects. Material re-use, sculpture mounting and base making, picture frames, lamps, candelabras, coat hooks, key chains, belt buckles, stained glass frame repair, the list goes on~

I started working as bicycle mechanic when i was 14 years old. I raced BMX, and soon after raced road bikes. I moved up to CAT3 before i got bored with it and frustrated with driving all over the country to race my bike. ------gone riding, will finish later

The Cargo Bicycle As Sculpture: Accepting my Fate

Coming Summer 2015: A Cargo Bike, once again, and as an example of Functional Sculpture, Personal Aesthetic Expression, world-class Design, Craftsmanship & Execution. –It never ends, as I continually try to sculpt the Bicycle into the cultural Icon it's supposed to be, and will surely become. Beauty, I've almost found you...But wait!– Rent is due. And Wait!–such unique "first-of-their-kinds" rarely get the recognition & attention deserved, and definitely not right away, –so I'd better just get to work building everyone else's Dreams to Survive!.....On top of all these logistical details called Reality, a bike like this could and would never become a Product of Manufacture, for so many reasons (described below); and sure, it will also cost more should a price be determined,–but these Realities, to me the Creator, are relatively irrelevant, or, perhaps to put it more precisely: I am living my life struggling with their relevancy. What matters most, to me, is that the Aesthetic Impact is able to Dance fluidly with Practicality, Usefulness, and Importance; that the Thing Look better; for it to be an Expression, in many ways, of both the maker and of whomever may choose to purchase it and call it Theirs. –Bicycles are Simple in their Mechanical Nature, but that doesn't mean they cannot or should not have the ability to leave complex aesthetic and social impressions, –so long as these complexities do not detract from the mechanical simplicity & efficiency of the Machine; the Usefulness; the Reason. Aesthetics alone should also not disturb the beautiful integration,–which has evolved so organically–of the Human-&-Machine Relationship; –the reason why bicycles are so amazing in the first place,–but rather, they should enhance this relationship by creating the ability for a more solid emotional and thus physiological connection to exist between the two. The Alcohauler is a tough object for me to supersede, but this bike might just have what it takes to do it, as it follows a more traditional outline: 20/26 inch wheels, open-top front loader like the original Long John designs of 100 years ago,–it may actually be recognizable as a Bicycle, and from planet Earth!
Hopefully the Insignia Pun is recognized and amusing to someone, on this early concept sketch.

The Empirical Rockitt

My approach at bicycle-making is quite different than most other builders. As much as I dislike the term, (due to its mainstream misunderstanding, social cool-ness, and basic lack of any real definition outside of any context besides ones of various socio-competitive natures) I come at it as Art, with the mindset of an artist, not a fabricator. I do not care how long it takes, how much money it will cost, or what I will have to sell to make it a reality. I do not care really if anyone likes it, and I do not build bikes with selling them in mind. I build a bike because I dreamt it up, out of necessity. It needs to exist because nothing like it has existed in the Material World before. The constant Quest for Beauty is in control, not I; the Void needs to be filled no matter what. All else is trivial, unimportant, non-existent. I've only recently recognized this fully, to where I am able to explain it, at least to myself, and have come to the conclusion that my Income cannot solely come from my Ideas, but my Abilities first and foremost. This has allowed me to accept, and move forward with my "Big Ideas" without being held back by the fact that they do not make me money.

This bike will be a first-class example of hand-made: In addition to frame, fork, parking stand, and cargo platform, I am making the handlebar, stem, bell, chainguard, fork ends/dropouts, fork crown, seatpost collar, fenders, and various hardware pieces used in the construction of the bike. This bike will utilize motorcycle brake cables for steering, and I have designed and will fabricate the entire system. No "outsourcing" to CNC shops! I also bend all the tubes myself, by hand. All this is out of necessity, not because I have all the time in the world or anything. -I refuse to make cookie cutter crap "Products". There is too much of that, and that is mainly what has directed my creative vision towards Bicycles and away from previous forms of self-expression such as Music, Poetry, and Photography, (although I still maintain a fully operational medium-format black and white darkroom in my home). If you are trying to cut corners, watching the Clock all day, you have the wrong intentions. If you think originality is easy, you are mistaken. If you think your ideas are great just because because, you are probably wrong: it's a lot of work and a lot of thinking, to come up with something WORTH DOING! And not only that, but for it to be better, in your own eyes, than what you have done before. Oh, and then there's the part of actually doing it, making it...

I use relatively old-fashioned techniques and hand tools to build things, and at this time I don't wish to increase my overhead and lack of self-sufficiency by purchasing large, heavy, and expensive machinery which only help separate the maker from the made. Many people who own large machines and "fancy" equipment become more or less machinery and equipment operators, thinking inside a box of their machine's capabilities and their fixturing and jigging parameters. Take all this away, and you become free to dream without limitations, without rules. Sure, it might be more work to actually build what you are then able to dream up, and that is precisely what holds back Innovation and Originality- the fear....the laziness. Most people prefer Comfort, Predictability, and defined points of Reference; the ability to communicate what they are thinking and doing at all times so as to appear competent and in control to their friends, co-workers, and families,- and all this is quite normal. I however, prefer to work intuitively and chaotically, letting the thing form itself when it wants to, never thinking i have control over the situation or relying on predictability. The final thing has, in a way, already existed but only in the ether, only in dreams. I am just transporting it, and to do that and have the final material thing have any resemblance whatsoever to the original etherical thing, you need to listen to its demands, understand its and your weaknesses and strengths; not dictate, but orchestrate. I interact with the material, the Idea, I converse with it. The original Feeling or Style is the root subtlety that everything else is built off of. Carelessness and lack of patience easily destroy this and the result is nothing like what was originally desired. Perhaps only musicians can understand what I am talking about here. Ask a Musician what they are thinking when they are hearing a song come to them in their head for the first time. Do you really think they would be able to or would even get distracted enough to even try to explain it?! The creative process is a turbulent centrifuge and to become a master in this environment, you cannot think you know anything, you cannot assume control.........You must become innocent, helpless, a Child. You need to listen to and look at what is presenting itself to you at all times, but so many of us are too busy and distracted to ever notice. These things never appear complete in any way, early on, they are just fragments, and to the average person, nonesense, irrelevant static taking their minds off of the Immediate Tangible. OK, enough rambling.

One of the biggest mistakes I have ever made was showing the Alcohauler in an unfinished state; one of my only real regrets in life so far. Not only was it the third bike I ever made, it was rushed; I built it at an insanely fast pace, compromising my job and my relationship at the time. (yeah i had a "real job" as a mechanic/builder/designer/prototyper for a US Importer of Dutch bikes) But, I did manage to weasel my way into NAHBS without paying a booth fee under the guise of my then employer. Looking back, it was the wrong way to do it. So many things came together to make that bike happen though, it's really a miracle that it got done at all. I mean, the bike was very involved fabrication-wise for even a seasoned fabricator. I had only two bikes under my belt, and the first one you could consider half a bike since it was recycled from junk mountain bike frames. Anyways, below are some images of it how I intended it to be known. Sadly, photos of it unfinished are all over the web. Luckily, Old Coast Ales bought the bike in the unfinished state, and their interest, enthusiasm, and payment provided me with the means to finish the bike properly. When they bought the bike it was literally rusting away, used regularly by myself, but its importance forgotten, the magic had evaporated, no one cared about it, i forgot about it and moved on (well tried to).

I then tried to make a bike that I thought was more accessible, affordable, and practical for more people, The Urban Legend. How much interest was there in this bike? None. Did I do something wrong? -I have since stopped basing my ideas of success on other people's interest in what I do. I like the bike, i think it looks great and is one of the sweetest, easiest bikes to ride around, cargo bike or not.

I've only very recently accepted the fact that I approach my Bicycle work differently than most.
I've also only recently become a "metal worker" and will never achieve perfection.
I know I will never be a successful "business man" or have a very profitable shop/studio.
I know I will never make the same thing twice.
I know I will continually pursue my Dreams, no matter the cost, -I do not dream within my current capabilities or knowledge base. -This is how I Grow.

I know I am OK with all of this~


Hopefully someone has been inspired by this rant, or maybe even wants me to make them a bike!

Stay tuned for build pics of the "Rockitt"