Sizemore Bicycles

[Taylor]

My name is Grant Taylor Sizemore, everyone calls me by my middle name. I call my brand Sizemore Bicycle.

What I am building:

My goal is to connect with people like myself. I want to build people bicycles that can connect with their lives better than any other bicycle in the world. You ride one of my bikes because you understand what it's like to see curb and want to jump it, see a puddle and splash it, or see a corner and want to round it. I want to give my friends and allies bikes to get radical with... whatever that may mean, it's OK to get rad! At the end of the day, you lean your bike up inside your apartment and are proud to be the owner, idealistic...

People I look up to:

Jesus, Kelsey, Dieter Rams, Mark Gonzales.

I am located in Portland, OR. I only really know one other builder here.

UBI was my starting point, wait, no... Vanilla was my starting point. I read an interview with Sacha in a zine in my high school days. From that point, I knew what I wanted to do. I learned there was a school for learning how to be a framebuilder, and after a few years procrastination, I drove to Ashland and spent my two weeks at UBI. Accumulating tools took a little while, but a couple more years and I started to build in a corner of my Dad's 1920's warehouse in Tacoma, WA, I built my first few bikes there before moving to Seattle. I got way less done in Seattle than I had ever imagined possible, and after a year in my loft workshop I temporarily moved the shop back to Tacoma. At the same moment I was getting married and we decided to move to Portland. Here I am, I have a nice warm shop, a cool wife. I am building professionally, I could have dreamt this would happen, but in my dream it would have been a lot easier.

Are you technical?

My bikes mostly consist of TIG welded front triangles, filleted and classically constructed rear ends, and topped off with lugged forks. I use a 225sqft building in my backyard, a Henry James original jig, a Hardinge BB4 horizontal miller, a mix of files, a POS vise, an old craftsman lathe, torch, Miller maxstar, and a bunch of other junk. What I create, I believe to be strong, affordable, good looking, and simple.

Please ask me any questions you may have. I'll do my best to answer 'em.

Thanks everybody for reading, and Richard, Josh and the excellent dudes who make Velocipede Salon exist!

-Taylor Sizemore

Sizemore Bicycle
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[ron l edmiston]

"see a curb, a puddle and a corner ..." all fond memories of what riding and have'n fun -- "all about.."

thank you,

ronnie

[Too Tall]

Tell me more about your riding and talk about how you have learned the trade. You mentioned going to school to learn but we both know that is where the learning ends and you start your own education. Best bike ever? Worst bike?

[steve garro]

What do you bring to the table? - Garro.

[johncaletti]

Do you have a favorite bike to build, or one you do most often? Is this related to how/what you like to ride?

[edoz]

So, why TIG front ends with brazed rear? Do you like the look or is there some other reason?

[Taylor]

Josh,
Yeah, aside from UBI, I'd be lost without the internet and my friend Jordan Hufnagel... I've used him quite a bit to get out of various mind jams. It's been a slow process, and I've spent many hours lying awake problem solving, I feel like I know how to build a bike now, and it's about time. And I'm getting used to realizing I didn't get it perfect everytime I finish a build. Best bike ever is almost always the next one in the queue (in our case right now, it's for me! Oregon Manifest!). The worst bike is... the 2nd and 3rd I built on my own, so lame, lame tubing, lame concept, lousy construction. The 4th one I have plans to take out of commission by means of sending him a new frame.

[Taylor]

Steve,
Bikes my friends are into. I'm not trying to be the lowest price. I want to be able to take my time and build bikes that are fun to ride. I want them to be useful. To be a tool for life.

[Taylor]

Do you have a favorite bike to build, or one you do most often? Is this related to how/what you like to ride?

My favorite thing to build is just a bicycle that can be ridden without guilt. For instance, you feel guilty riding and setting up a classic frame just for riding up and down curbs and running errands... or I'd hope. What I intend to do is just build the bike you will ride most often, for that purpose. So yeah totally related to how I ride. I will bunnyhop over the man hole no matter what I am riding.
But, that being said, if your thing is wanting to kit up and do 60 miles, I am really into that as well. I don't have the time, or the bike right now, but I love it, and I've ridden enough to think I know what makes a good bike.

[Taylor]

So, why TIG front ends with brazed rear? Do you like the look or is there some other reason?

To be honest I started that out of poor welding skills. I'm really not into the idea of TIGing on my dropouts, or doing too many fastback stays. I like brazing a lot, I've debated selling my welder a few times, I figure I should keep at it, I'll just keep getting better. It matches the fork, I have quite a few reasons, but mainly it's aesthetic, and fun!

[Taylor]

I like these questions, keep 'em coming!

[Taylor]

Matt Beers.
Ask me a question!

[deetr]

What do you think about some of the trends the major bike manufacturs are following now (e.g. "beefy" bottom brackets, asymmetrical designs)? Do you think you'll ever incorporate elements like that into your design, or suggest them to your clients?

Is there a design that you'd like to do, but haven't had the opportunity to do?

[Taylor]

What do you think about some of the trends the major bike manufacturs are following now (e.g. "beefy" bottom brackets, asymmetrical designs)? Do you think you'll ever incorporate elements like that into your design, or suggest them to your clients?

Is there a design that you'd like to do, but haven't had the opportunity to do?

I don't know if I'd call it following as much as developing...
It's important to me to take a step back and look at the long term. Will you be able to track down that obscure seatpost or bottom bracket? Is that how I want to reward my customers that spent their hard earned money on my bikes? Do those things actually improve performance I love to geek out on new concepts, but the bicycle as it stands is almost miraculous in nature. There are complex math equations to describe front end geometry that we take for granted. It's hard to improve, to say the least! I choose to find my joy in the accomplishments of the past rather than looking for the future. Tomorrow, what is new today will be old, and there will be a new new. I'm not content with that. Even if my customer doesn't understand it, I hope they respect my knowledge as a professional and know that I am working for their best interests.
Not to say that I don't get excited when Apple or Google releases a new product, everyone has their vises, but I'd rather not induce them on my clients.

I have furniture and lighting designs and bike designs and rack designs I'd like to build. As my workshop grows, my fabrication options will allow for more experimentation. That is what I dream of.

[Taylor]

UPDATE:
My wife and I are now living in Seattle. My shop is up and running, building a lot, but it's requiring a bit of commuting for the time being. I'm almost on a new bike for the first time since the beginning. I'm building my Oregon Manifest entry for myself, I'm really excited to see what everyone else is brewing up.
Working on a possible cross team with some friends involving nude colored skinsuits and hopefully very good coffee.
I'm just small, I don't have huge news or legendary status, but if you want to talk... I'm still here.
-Taylor

PS. Did you see this one? I figure you guys might be into it...

[asdfghjkfdsa]

wow this thread dormant since 2011... i'm just curious about the paint you use to letter SIZEMORE onto the frames. i really dig the hand-painted name as opposed to a decal or whatever. do you use sign painter's one-shot or something like that? or just regular house paint...?

[Taylor]

wow this thread dormant since 2011... i'm just curious about the paint you use to letter SIZEMORE onto the frames. i really dig the hand-painted name as opposed to a decal or whatever. do you use sign painter's one-shot or something like that? or just regular house paint...?

I've been busy ;)

Thank you, I love doing it this way. I use One Shot and some red sable brushes, traditional sign painting stuff.

[asdfghjkfdsa]

awesome, thanks!