# 1976 Joe Breeze road bike



## Repack Rider (Oct 22, 2005)

This would be OT if it were any other road bike, but this is one that Joe Breeze built in 1976. I'll check, but I believe it is the third one he built. The first was his own, built while he took the Eisentraut frame building course. This bike is still in use.

It was made for another Velo Club Tamalpais member and original Repack racer, who moved out of the area during the '70s. He moved back last week, and he brought this with him. If you have seen "Klunkerz" (Howdy Billy!), the owner is the kid shown bandaged and bleeding from the head, while Bob Burrowes intones, "We used to keep first -aid kits stashed along the trail..."


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## gm1230126 (Nov 4, 2005)

Oh my that is sweet! Only hope that some of those that flame others for posting road bikes can give one of the Godfather's of the sport some mercy on this post


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## Bigfoot (Jan 16, 2004)

For crise-aches, someone PLEASE clean that drivetrain!

What a beaut!


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## banks (Feb 2, 2004)

Bigfoot said:


> For crise-aches, someone PLEASE clean that drivetrain!


Umm, no.


Repack Rider said:


> This bike is still in use.


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## Boy named SSue (Jan 7, 2004)

Love it. The lugs look really thin and have a nice curve. Did Joe thin these at the edges? Fake lug like an Annapurna? Am I just seeing things?


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## mainlyfats (Oct 1, 2005)

What a beauty! I love me some Sachs Jubilee and that Bruce Gordon-style seat binder.


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## First Flight (Jan 25, 2004)

I do like that one. How many road bikes did Joe make?


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## MendonCycleSmith (Feb 10, 2005)

Sweet, it may be an early one, but he's showing his skills already. 

Love the mix of bits, very hip. Nice flowing lines too, thanks for sharing!


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## Repack Rider (Oct 22, 2005)

Same color paint as Joe's first MTB a year later. Probably from the same can.


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## Steeljaws (May 2, 2010)

gm1230126 said:


> Oh my that is sweet! Only hope that some of those that flame others for posting road bikes can give one of the Godfather's of the sport some mercy on this post


Let 'em squeal like pigs. _"Prejudices is what fools use for reason."_ Voltaire. That is one classy RB.:thumbsup:


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## bushpig (Nov 26, 2005)

That is a beaut.


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## mechagouki (Nov 30, 2007)

That rear derailleur is a new one on me. Did the lower pulley ever have teeth? Cool bike all round, definitely relevant here.


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## da'HOOV (Jan 3, 2009)

geez guys, its just another a Road Bike in a MTB forum :madman: 


I'M KIDDING GUYS, REALLY TOTALLY KIDDING!!!! Really a very nice early bke from a legend and most certainly is OK here.:thumbsup:


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## FairfaxPat (Jan 29, 2008)

Joe used the Huret Jubilee rear derailleur on that bike because it worked pretty good and was the lightest one available at the time. I used several of them on bikes of mine at that time, also.


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## mechagouki (Nov 30, 2007)

It's a beautiful design, very minimal, and the cable routing is so clean.


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## colker1 (Jan 6, 2004)

Thanks for posting that... it's awesome. Breezer road bikes are ultra classy and this one tops them all.

hoover needs to learn a bit about bikes.


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## da'HOOV (Jan 3, 2009)

colker1 said:


> Thanks for posting that... it's awesome. Breezer road bikes are ultra classy and this one tops them all.
> 
> hoover needs to learn a bit about bikes.


Did you read the whole post? Did you see heavily CAPITALIZED..."JUST KIDDING" ?

But it's not art 

thanx again for a great post Repack, sorry for the sidetrack.


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## hollister (Sep 16, 2005)

more pics please


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## Fillet-brazed (Jan 13, 2004)

what a beautiful bike. thanks for sharing, CK.

those are real lugs, just nicely pared down to look more sleek and elegant I'd guess.

semi-related: that particular rear derailleur was even spec'ed on a production '85 or '86 Klein mountain bike. I think it was called the Klein Mountain Race or something like that. It was a hot mtb meant to be a pure racing machine with a double crankset and drop bars.


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## eedavis (Oct 13, 2006)

Any details on how the seatpost clamp is set up? Looks like a bolt or screw on the driveside seatstay, is that it?


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## laffeaux (Jan 4, 2004)

Very clean bike! Hard to believe that this was only his third attempt - he learned quickly.


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## Fillet-brazed (Jan 13, 2004)

...and vintage road collectors take note, the bars and levers on this are set up correctly. Seems like almost all of the vintage road bikes I see nowadays have the bars and levers rotated up about 15 degrees as if the Lance Armstrong era of cycling was the only one they'd ever seen.


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## MendonCycleSmith (Feb 10, 2005)

Fillet-brazed said:


> ...and vintage road collectors take note, the bars and levers on this are set up correctly.


Sloping top tubes = sloping drops


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## colker1 (Jan 6, 2004)

Fillet-brazed said:


> ...and vintage road collectors take note, the bars and levers on this are set up correctly. Seems like almost all of the vintage road bikes I see nowadays have the bars and levers rotated up about 15 degrees as if the Lance Armstrong era of cycling was the only one they'd ever seen.


and i thought bar and lever set up was supposed to be about comfort on 100 mile rides.


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## tductape (Mar 31, 2008)

Fillet-brazed said:


> ...and vintage road collectors take note, the bars and levers on this are set up correctly. Seems like almost all of the vintage road bikes I see nowadays have the bars and levers rotated up about 15 degrees as if the Lance Armstrong era of cycling was the only one they'd ever seen.


I had to inspect my mid 80's CIOCC on tonights ride to see if it was FB approved. I think I passed.


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## iamthewalrus (May 20, 2009)

mainlyfats said:


> ... and that Bruce Gordon-style seat binder.


From earlier in the thread, Joe took a frame building class from Eisentraut. Bruce worked with Albert for many years. The links connect.

And check out the "compact" crankset.

And posting that bike is worth the past 6 months of barely average bikes seen here. I'M NOT KIDDING.


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## iamthewalrus (May 20, 2009)

Fillet-brazed said:


> ...and vintage road collectors take note, the bars and levers on this are set up correctly. Seems like almost all of the vintage road bikes I see nowadays have the bars and levers rotated up about 15 degrees as if the Lance Armstrong era of cycling was the only one they'd ever seen.


Someone's been doing their homework. http://davesbikeblog.squarespace.com/blog/2010/4/19/fashion-faux-pas.html


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## Fillet-brazed (Jan 13, 2004)

colker1 said:


> and i thought bar and lever set up was supposed to be about comfort on 100 mile rides.


Of course one can do whatever feels best. But back in the day working and hanging out in a "pro shop" the bars were always set horizontal and then a straight edge was used off the bottom of the drop (unless you were using the deep drop bars) to set the lever position. Then came 2004 or so when a lot of the pro peleton starting rotating everything upwards and I think still does. Maybe they have started drop the bars back down back to normal now... I'll have to check today at the tour of california. 

I just hated seeing so many old bikes set up 2004 style. It just doesn't look right on the old bikes. It seemed as if the owners of these vintage road rigs had only been in cycling since Lance started winning tours.


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## mechagouki (Nov 30, 2007)

Fillet-brazed said:


> Of course one can do whatever feels best. But back in the day working and hanging out in a "pro shop" the bars were always set horizontal and then a straight edge was used off the bottom of the drop (unless you were using the deep drop bars) to set the lever position.


That's exactly how I was taught, and is the method I still use.


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## bushpig (Nov 26, 2005)

The geometry of bars has changed. I tend to line up the bottom of the bar with the bottom of the brake lever, give or take a couple of mm. On the breezer bike the bars seem to be pointed up in an almost modern fixie, track style. Keep 'em flat - I don't care what is comfortable - do what looks good!


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## MendonCycleSmith (Feb 10, 2005)

Fillet-brazed said:


> It seemed as if the owners of these vintage road rigs had only been in cycling since Lance started winning tours.


Agree 100% on that set up advice. I use the straight edge to date as a matter of fact. Funny, the FSA K Wings are the first I recall seeing that call out the fact that they want the flats angled. Never saw it "required" till them, all the rest have left it up to us. 

As for VRC bikes and their riders, I'd toss out that half may have owned it since new, and through being uneducated, or simply not fashion concerned, just wanted to be more comfortable as they age. The other half are just idiots


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## tductape (Mar 31, 2008)

MendonCycleSmith said:


> Funny, the FSA K Wings are the first I recall seeing that call out the fact that they want the flats angled. Never saw it "required" till them, all the rest have left it up to us.


Ok, I am stretching the discussion but what about the old WTB dropbars....... At least a decade or so earlier than the Kbars?


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## Shayne (Jan 14, 2004)

Fillet-brazed said:


> It just doesn't look right on the old bikes.


Doesn't look right on any bike.
Feels funny too.


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## colker1 (Jan 6, 2004)

Aemmer said:


> Ok, I am stretching the discussion but what about the old WTB dropbars....... At least a decade or so earlier than the Kbars?


off road and CX bars set up different.


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## breezin (Nov 10, 2007)

The image of the Joe Breeze road bike that Charlie Kelly posted is actually JB004 from 1977. JB003 was built in late 1976. Anyway, there is a fairly significant MTB connection: Both bikes were built for Marc Vendetti, the guy who turned me on to fat tire bikes. 

Charlie is correct about the color of JB004 and Breezer #1. They are indeedy the same: Dupont Imron Light Continental Blue. I liked it so much on Marc's bike I had Bernie Mikkelsen paint it on my 1977 Breezer as well.

If anyone is interested, I'll post other Breeze road images.

-Joe


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## bushpig (Nov 26, 2005)

Yes please!!!


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## tductape (Mar 31, 2008)

Look Forward thanks.........


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## girlonbike (Apr 24, 2008)

Awesome!


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## muddybuddy (Jan 31, 2007)

yes yes yes.


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## hollister (Sep 16, 2005)

breezin said:


> If anyone is interested, I'll post other Breeze road images.
> 
> -Joe


please do


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## ericb49 (Aug 11, 2006)

breezin said:


> If anyone is interested, I'll post other Breeze road images.
> 
> -Joe


If anyone ever needed a Nikon Super Coolscan it's Joe and his archives ... start a collection? ;-)


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## breezin (Nov 10, 2007)

Okay, sorry for the delay. Got busy and then our cat fell down a chimney.

Here are pics of the real Joe Breeze #003 race bike, built for Marc Vendetti in 1976. This was Mush Emmons's first attempt at studio bike photography, a tricky subject. You may have seen segments of Mush's 1971 road race movie "Phantomatic Bikes" in "Klunkerz."

I have no studio shots of JB #001 or #002. I built #001 at Albert Eisentraut's workshop in 1974. I campaigned #001 through five seasons of racing and put over 50,000 miles on it before getting forced into a loooong rain grate. I happened to be on my way home from the Cove Bike Shop where I had just milled the head tube on my next personal race frame, JB #006. My new frame was strapped to my backpack. My jump over the rain grate came up short, flipping me over the bars. I landed on my shoulder blade and I'll never know how #006 escaped with nary a scratch.

The placement of parts on JB #003 is a good representation of race bikes of the mid-1970s, at least in NorCal. But it's really a reflection of how race bikes in Europe were set up, mostly from Belgium, France and Italy. The Huret derailers reflect a dissatisfaction with Camagnolo mechs, but yes, they were light. The front derailer was the first ***** in Campi's armor. The spring was weak. A twisty course like Nevada City could be decided with good cornering skills, clean shifting and a little leg power. The Shimano DuraAce front mech was the best.

Lugs on JB003 are recut Prugnats. In the Eisentraut tradition, I gave the lugs a long taper from their root and brought them to a thin edge. This is a time-consuming process, but in theory the frame is stronger.

I have studio shots of a few other JB frames, so I'll try to post more. Thanks for your interest.

-Joe

https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4013/4629436161_70672a1fa6_o.jpg
https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4072/4629436089_c422489ee2_o.jpg
https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3359/4629436129_f106d228c7_o.jpg


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## girlonbike (Apr 24, 2008)

So cool. Wow.


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## Repack Rider (Oct 22, 2005)

I'll get photos of the REAL JB003 soon.


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## bushpig (Nov 26, 2005)

Waiting on those pics Charlie! 

BTW, just noticed the first bike uses a 110BCD crankset. Was this original(ish) spec, i.e. , were you guys essentially running a compact option back in the day?


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## Repack Rider (Oct 22, 2005)

bushpig said:


> Waiting on those pics Charlie!


Joe posted studio shots of the bike on RB, I'll try to get him to put them up here.


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## Repack Rider (Oct 22, 2005)

Wow, put the wrong comment into this thread. But they can't be deleted, only edited. So I did.


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## breezin (Nov 10, 2007)

bushpig said:


> Waiting on those pics Charlie!
> 
> BTW, just noticed the first bike uses a 110BCD crankset. Was this original(ish) spec, i.e. , were you guys essentially running a compact option back in the day?


Those shots of JB004 (light blue) that Charlie initially posted, are recently shot. This bike originally had Campi cranks with 42T small (144BCD).

-Joe


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## Jak0zilla (May 16, 2010)

breezin said:


> This bike originally had Campi cranks with 42T small (144BCD).


The Specialized cranks are def. an upgrade! They were some of the nicest Japanese product available; cold forged, sweet finish, "low Q", and half the price of Campy. Plus, as I recall much less likely to crack. Campy's had a tendency to crack on the drive side where the arm meets the spider.

That's a really sweet ride you've got! Amazing how modern a bike from 1976 can look. (I mean modern as a compliment BTW.  )


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## bushpig (Nov 26, 2005)

Sadly the Specialized cranks cracked in exactly the same place.

Some builders would slightly mod the Specialized cranks to mitigate the tendency for crackage.


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## breezin (Nov 10, 2007)

bushpig said:


> Sadly the Specialized cranks cracked in exactly the same place.
> 
> Some builders would slightly mod the Specialized cranks to mitigate the tendency for crackage.


The trick was to take a 3/16" rat-tail file and radius both sides of the crank/spider interface. It was possible to carve it in a smooth artful, tapered fashion, blending it in for maybe as much as an inch up the crank and adjacent spider leg. I would polish the file marks off and take it down to a polish with emory. It was best to do this mod from the get go. Once the inevitable cracks initiated it could quickly become tough to chase them deep enough. I can't say I saw many (any?) cranks break there, but it was disturbing to have cracked cranks on nice RACE bikes. I didn't feel like being the guinea pig. I did break Campi cranks (1) at the pedal end. And yes, I had surely smacked my pedal on the pavement. 

Shimano was quicker on the uptake, and machined the pointed web off their cranks.

-Joe


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## den haag (Feb 18, 2009)

can i get a pair of those downtube stickers?


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## bootsie_cat (Nov 3, 2004)

*VCT Kits*

Joe or Charlie,
anyone have good pics of Velo Club Tamalpais clothing?
Was front/back of jersey different?
Was there more than one version?
I have seen pics (rough) of VCT on front and more on back (but cannot really see back)
Was there a matching VCT short?


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## Repack Rider (Oct 22, 2005)

bootsie_cat said:


> Joe or Charlie,
> anyone have good pics of Velo Club Tamalpais clothing?
> Was front/back of jersey different?
> Was there more than one version?
> ...


The original 1972 jersey was different on front and back, the others were same logo front and back.

A couple of our sponsors got on the jersey. "Siphon Art" was a company owned by one of our members, which made special pigments for t-shirt printing. "Versatex" was the name of one of his products.

The script for the logo was designed by Kevin Haapala.


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## bushpig (Nov 26, 2005)

I want to repro the green & blue one!


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## bootsie_cat (Nov 3, 2004)

*VCT jerseys*

So were bottom two (long and shortsleeve) form same year? Just showing front/back.
Were there shorts with that Tamalpais logo?



Repack Rider said:


> The original 1972 jersey was different on front and back, the others were same logo front and back.
> 
> A couple of our sponsors got on the jersey. "Siphon Art" was a company owned by one of our members, which made special pigments for t-shirt printing. "Versatex" was the name of one of his products.
> 
> The script for the logo was designed by Kevin Haapala.


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## Repack Rider (Oct 22, 2005)

bootsie_cat said:


> So were bottom two (long and shortsleeve) form same year? Just showing front/back.
> Were there shorts with that Tamalpais logo?


Each jersey was from a different year, but other than 1972 for the first one, I couldn't tell you when. Except for the first year, designs were the same front and back. There were no shorts.

We had club warmups also, blue long sleeve tops and matching long pants with zipper cuffs. We had the club name put on the back of the top by a company that stitched bowling team shirts, in yellow bowling shirt script.


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## breezin (Nov 10, 2007)

These VCT jerseys span from 1972 to the late 1970s. Here is my VCT track jersey. There was another road jersey I recall. It was all white with airbrushed art of Mt. Tamalpais with sunset, from the VCT card logo. I believe it was painted by club member Pete "Fullblast" Barrett. Painted with Siphon Art "Versatex" brand textile paint no doubt.

As for shorts, the only VCT-specific shorts I recall were all black wool shorts with a circular Sunshine Bikes logo on the lower end of each leg.

-Joe


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## bootsie_cat (Nov 3, 2004)

Those are sweet- who would I ask about doing re-pros?
I would not do it without the ok of an old schooler who wore the colors-
Does Tamalpais Velo still exist? At least on paper?


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## MendonCycleSmith (Feb 10, 2005)

bootsie_cat said:


> Those are sweet- who would I ask about doing re-pros?


That's one of the things that makes this board soooo special, and different from many others.

Breezin = Joe Breeze

Repack Rider = Charlie Kelly

How cool is that?


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## bootsie_cat (Nov 3, 2004)

*Tamalpais Jersey*

I was just at sunshine- Martin had one of the VCT #4 (short sleeve green/blue/yel) jerseys and also old Sunshine "classic" white jersey with stars in wool. Also had a wool Sunshine Cap-



Repack Rider said:


> The original 1972 jersey was different on front and back, the others were same logo front and back.
> 
> A couple of our sponsors got on the jersey. "Siphon Art" was a company owned by one of our members, which made special pigments for t-shirt printing. "Versatex" was the name of one of his products.
> 
> The script for the logo was designed by Kevin Haapala.


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## breezin (Nov 10, 2007)

bootsie_cat said:


> I was just at sunshine- Martin had one of the VCT #4 (short sleeve green/blue/yel) jerseys and also old Sunshine "classic" white jersey with stars in wool. Also had a wool Sunshine Cap-


Part of the VC Tamalpais kit was a Sunshine cap. Here's a shot of one on my head at Repack, January 1979. Left to right: Les Degan, Steve Fox (KPIX, SF), Otis Guy, Tom Ritchey, JB (in Sunshine cap), Howie Hammerman (in Star Wars cap). Photo copyright Wende Cragg, Rolling Dinosaur Archives.

-Joe


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## bootsie_cat (Nov 3, 2004)

*sunshine cap*

Nice pic- Martin had a wool cap that matched the white "captain america" sunshine kit.



breezin said:


> Part of the VC Tamalpais kit was a Sunshine cap. Here's a shot of one on my head at Repack, January 1979. Left to right: Les Degan, Steve Fox (KPIX, SF), Otis Guy, Tom Ritchey, JB (in Sunshine cap), Howie Hammerman (in Star Wars cap). Photo copyright Wende Cragg, Rolling Dinosaur Archives.
> 
> -Joe


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## bgcycles (Jan 4, 2007)

iamthewalrus said:


> From earlier in the thread, Joe took a frame building class from Eisentraut. Bruce worked with Albert for many years. The links connect.


Just to keep history straight.
Joe Breeze and I were in the same Eisentraut Frame class in April 1974.
As for working "many" years with Albert - I was part owner of Eisentraut Bicycles Inc.
for a little less than 2 years - Don't know if that qualifies as "Many".
Regards
Bruce Gordon
www.bgcycles.com
www.brucegordoncycles.blogspot.com


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