Today’s RACE TO NAHBS! interview is with highly regarded framebuilder Carl Strong of Bozeman, Montana’s Strong Frames.
BR: Are your plans for NAHBS a secret, or can you tell us a little bit about what you’re showing?
CS: They aren’t a secret at all. I’m not one to build theme bikes or anything weird or out of the norm for the show. I like to build examples of what I sell. I’ll have a steel road bike, titanium cyclocross bike and carbon road bike with me. They are all examples of bikes customers buy from me and the parts are what we sell as well. We hope the bikes reflect exactly what I am as a builder and what Loretta and I do every day.
BR: What about the booth, anything extra-special-crazy in the booth department?
CS: Nothing crazy but we will have a new booth exhibit. We’re keeping it simple and understated but we are bring a new booth. In the past we’ve displayed in
front of an “EZ Up” tent backdrop which is better than nothing but left a lot of room for improvement. This year we’ve built a structure that incorporates frame displays as well as branding and lighting. It was design and built specifically for this show and we think it’s really going to be nice.
BR: What do you see as the hot trend at NAHBS this year?
CS: Crazy concept show bikes that don’t reflect the work of the builder. Also something that makes me crazy is that anyone that has built a frame seems to feel they need to go into business. I don’t know why people can’t just do it for fun or a hobby but there are dozens of builders with a handful of frames under their belt that have hung out a shingle. It’s takes hundreds of frame before a builder even has enough experience to evaluate her/his own work and it’s an insult to the builders who’ve put in the time when someone who doesn’t even know what they don’t know wants to stand shoulder to shoulder with you and compete.
BR: What is the most challenging or horrible thing you’ve had to do as a frame builder.
BR: What is your favorite type of bike to build?
CS: I don’t have a favorite. I like to build then all. Because I build with steel, titanium and carbon I’m always doing something different and it keeps things interesting.
BR: Sum up your entire bicycle building philosophy in one word or less. Kidding. How about three words?
CS: Practical, effective performance
BR: If you weren’t building bikes, what would you be doing?
CS: I’m not sure but it scares me to think about. I don’t have any other skills. Bikes have been the center of my world sense I can remember. If I wasn’t building them I’d probably be doing something related to them.
BR: This one is important. Of the people showing at NAHBS, who is the last frame builder you would ever want to fight? Like physically
CS: I’m 6′ 155 pounds. I’m so skinny I wear arm warmers for leg warmers and socks for arm warmers. I can’t fight my way out of a wet paper bag as they say. I’ll have to say all framebuilders scare the hell out of me.
BR: Who is your bike-building idol? Who do you look up to?
CS: I have a lot of bike building idols. I look up to different builders for different reasons. The one thing they all have in common is that they have been building a lot longer than I have.
