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Saratoga Frameworks
I first met Richard, Josh and Darren at the Baller's Ride, it was an amazing event with like minding folks. I saw Richard momentarily at the Grand Prix of Gloucester, but we were riding in opposite directions. When I saw him again at Providence I had to swing by. After a great chat he asked if I would write a Smoked Out, and feeling honored to be asked, I said absolutely. After thinking about it a bit, I wasn't entirely sure how to write this. Should it come from Saratoga Frameworks or should it come from me? In the end I decided that it should come from me, I can really only speak about my experiences and what brought me to where I am today. At Saratoga Frameworks we are not a one-person show, but a group of talented people who truly want to build awesome bikes. Hopefully, I will be able to persuade some of the other talented individuals I get to work with every day to add to this thread and tell our story together.
So here I go...
I was one of the chubby kids while growing up. Between asthma, allergies and other random ailments I had my fair share of doctor and hospital visits. Trying all the typical childhood sports never really worked out for me and I wouldn't say that I had very many friends, I wasn't exactly outgoing. My family moved from Upstate New York to Southern Oregon right before my freshman year of high school - perfect timing for an awkward teenager. What friends I did have were no longer around and everything was completely new. That first year was pretty tough and I will admit that I played my fair share of Dungeons and Dragons.
A lot seemed to change around my 15th birthday. That was when I received a "real bike" - a 1994 Specialized RockHopper. I had done all of my “research" in Mountain Bike Action and certainly was "that kid" to all of the bike shops in the area. I decided on the rigid RockHopper over the HardRock with the front suspension because I could see right through the bullshit of lower quality with bells and whistles. I took the money that was graciously given to me that year and bought the best bike I could. On the way home, I remember my step-father driving from Ashland to Klamath Falls a different way than normal. About halfway home at the top of one of the big hills he asked if I wanted to get out and ride it and that was the moment when the cycling bug bit me. Really. Freaking. Hard. I immediately started riding with the local mountain bike club and, before long, had gotten quite a bit fitter and the asthma symptoms were starting to lessen.
Fast forward a few years…I took a job at a sporting goods chain store. The store manager (who is now the International Sales Director at Chris King) saw my interest in bikes and moved me to that department. I worked there until I went to college to study architecture at the University of Oregon. After my freshman year I spent the summer in North Carolina working for a bike shop. I was actually hired for a position the owner termed as "register bitch". That title did not last too long, as I started selling bikes and staying after to help in the service area. When I got back to Eugene the following fall I went to work for the Center for Appropriate Transport, a non-profit organization that had multiple bicycle businesses run under the same roof. At first I worked in the bike shop and then for the bike delivery service. This is where I really decided that bicycles would be forever in my life and I took the next step. A shop in Eugene offered me a trial position as a bike builder, and at first it did not go so well. They were very focused on quality, not speed, and I was not exactly measuring up. The owner basically stated that I had 2 weeks to get it together or there would not be a place for me. I really wanted to make it so I got some extra help from the guys at the shop and two short years later, I was the service manager. I took the lesson learned there to heart - quality first and foremost.
After 5 years, my girlfriend (now wife) and I moved to Salt Lake City where I was the service manager at a small, family owned shop. Again, focusing on quality first, I was able to turn the service area into a profitable part of the business. We had 3 great years in SLC, but when it was time for a change, we headed back to New York State where I took a job with Serotta. Originally hired for Paint QC and Assembly, it wasn't long until I was working in machining, alignment, and structural quality control. I really wanted to learn how to braze, and with the help of Kelly Bedford and Brian Smith, progress was coming along nicely. I continued to practice off the clock and there came a point when Brian, who was doing the majority of the production brazing, moved full time in the CNC shop and I was the next to move up. Through the next year or so my job was full time brazing, structural QC and alignment. I was able to hone my skills from repetition and teamwork with the machinists and welders. We produced a lot of frames during those years and I am proud to think of how many Serottas are out there that I had my hands on.
When Kelly and Serotta split there was a spot for me in design, but it’s not like I just got plopped in a chair and started pumping out custom frame drafts. I had studied the designs over the past 4 years of production and when I wasn't at work I was always thinking about, riding and researching bicycles. Ben looked over everything I did for the first 4 months or so, and we had many discussions about frame design. I realize I would never be where I sit today if it wasn't for him and what he did for the company. The next 2 years were full of highs and lows, but we never stopped striving to produce a high quality frame-set. At the company’s lowest point, I continued at work for 6 weeks without pay because I believed in the product and the people that I worked with. Unfortunately, it got to a point where I couldn’t help support my growing family so I had to walk away.
After a few months of being away (and being finally caught up in pay) I returned to work at Serotta. During that time I had built 5 fillet brazed frames at home. I felt like I needed to be building, I could not fully walk away. I went back onto the production floor again, and had my hands in everything from mitering and bonding to alignment and structural quality control. It felt great to be back in the game with my hands on the frames.
When Bradway Financial purchased Serotta I was asked to move back into the design roll. Thoroughly enjoying my current role, I was hesitant, but I felt like it was better for the company if I went back into the office. This would help free up Ben to try and keep moving the company forward. When Bill came on board, it began to feel like we were moving in the right direction. He brought a sense of discipline, hard work, and accountability back into the building. We were able to sponsor a few key racers and work on getting some new product out the door. One of my projects became the Pronto, a new stock geometry race bike. It was something different than we had been previously building. The project spit and sputtered due to the desire to align everything with the name on the downtube. The result - a bike that could have been a homerun and put into production in a few weeks, took over 4 months.
At Saratoga Frameworks we are trying to keep the high quality and craftsmanship alive, but without the over-idealism. Some were surprised that we were able to get 3 new models out in such a short time, and truthfully, it was a shorter time frame than outsiders knew. Our first titanium road bike is a variation of the Pronto, with a few tweaks to make it a bit smoother to build. Our steel cross and titanium cross frames weren’t even decided upon until the flight home from Interbike, yet we showed them two weeks later at the New England Builders Ball. Everyone at the factory had to work incredibly hard to make that happen, I was proud to see it all come together. I believe it was said that we "(we) build in bikes what Ferrari builds in cars. Ferrari wouldn’t want to build some little Chevy car.” That quote hit me hard. Our new business model will allow us to keep production flow solid, with reasonable numbers, while allowing us to design and produce our own models- bikes that I am excited to represent, build, and ride. These new models we have built, the only way we know how...with quality and the others coming down the line will exude the craft that we have all learned in our cumulative years.
Feel free to ask any questions, however I would like to move forward from the past. I was an employee of Serotta, but now I feel like an owner of Saratoga Frameworks. Thanks to those that helped me along the way...
Stay tuned...
Scott Hock
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Originally Posted by ents
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