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Right on Main Avenue, near the train tracks and the Western edge of the Dunbar Spring neighborhood, is a building housing Jimbo, a cyclist woodworker, and Ed, a frame builder in the early prime of his career. Pistol Pete owns one. That man is as serious as they come when it comes to expedition bicycle touring. Tang Sr. has a LaSuprema track bike with hand polished stainless lugs and a sun activated paint job. (I wish I had a photo of this bike, but I haven’t replaced my lost camera yet) 933 Main Ave is not far from where I’ll be storing my client’s project truck and finishing up on the restoration. This is the land of the sculpture artist and the loud train going by. Dunbar Spring is one of Tucson’s most unique neighborhoods. I used to live there.
The calling card for LaSuprema is an image of a guy racing with a train. This was my first impression of LaSuprema. Ed’s web site.
As I see more and more of these bikes, more and more I want one… and more and more I want a divorce with my Landshark. So it is officially for sale again. I want to have the coin to get me built a LaSuprema, and make sure it fits like a glove so that when the time comes again to live on my bike, I can have the high end custom thing going on and be much more subtle about it. Landsharks are incredibly nice, but some time soon I hope ready to go with the NOW generation of frame builders. This man works with steel. He ain’t going with Aluminm because it’s quick and dirty, or with carbon because it’s what people are racing. Ed is destined to be another Tucson frame building legend. His bikes are comparable to those of the great Mr. LaBan from the 90s. Rick LaBan stopped making frames long ago, and I own one of his. In fact, the 22nd frame is now 22 years old next month. Time for a fancy paint job? Perhaps, but the money cushion needs to be bigger first.
A little less ‘bike dork’ this time?
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Ed does shit right.
post with substance about a man with substance. looking at his work makes me tingly in the pants.
Just so ya’ll know – the ‘market’ sucks with Craigslist being the monopoly. Case in point: sale-fwx8j-2254903107@craigslist.org — a 58cm Vitus that this poor seller has been trying to move for over a month now. The fucking thing has Record all over it. Original asking price was $600, and that’s a good deal. No one wants a good road bike anymore!?!?! Sad. At $485, I’d love to buy it. But: Got three bikes and I live in a truck. Jesus, I ask: What the FUCK is wrong with Tucson?
The guy’s making some neat shit but can’t rig up some cables to save his life!
Pistol Pete
Not the same one that was riding a wheely on rollers with a BMX bike 25 years ago?
Pistol Pete sold his Airborne ti singelspeed mountain bike to get a sweet LaSuprema with track dropouts AND derailleur mounts. Man knows exactly what is perfect and then gets it. He is a gray haired master, so it could have been him doing sick shit 25 years ago.
I don’t really think about new bikes at all. Got more than I can use, including a couple that have been honed to perfection for their intended purpose.
But if I ever came into a buttload of money, I’d talk serious to this Ed guy about one of his truss frames, but with a shiny black paintjob.
And maybe a looptail. With a sparkly shiny two-tone sort of theme going on. Just because.