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Dirt Rag Articles
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Thousands of shop rats and bike lovers around the country have dreams of being frame builders, but very few of them have the talent, perseverance, timing, cash and luck to make it happen. Joseph Ahearne is one who did, but it wasn't easy.
Like any freethinking guy in his mid-twenties, Ahearne wasn't quite sure what he wanted from life, but he knew it included bikes and a home base in Portland, Oregon. While living in Italy for a year, he became enamored with their bike-centric culture. When he returned to the States, the only place that could even compare was Portland. "Here, just like in Italy, people go everywhere by bike."
For a life-long tinkerer, Ahearne feels right at home in a city that takes pride in recycling bikes and where it seems the world's supply of 1980s road bikes have ended up. "I was always looking for new ways to set up my bike, cobbling different parts together...but if you can't cut stuff up and weld it back together, you're limited at how much tinkering you can do." It wasn't long before he found himself wanting to take his hobby to the next level.
Settled on a hometown, he thought about enrolling in a well-known frame building school in southern Oregon. At the same time, he heard about a guy named Tim Paterek who taught frame building just across the border from Portland in Vancouver, Washington. Paterek is a respected teacher who has brought many well-known builders to life and Ahearne jumped at the chance to learn from him. During his classes, Ahearne held down two jobs; one as a line cook in a restaurant, and the other as a full-time sales guy at River City Bicycles. The long days and hard work soon paid off when Ahearne got an offer he couldn't refuse.
At the end of his frame building classes, Ahearne learned that he would be Tim Paterek's last student. Paterek told Ahearne he would retire and gave him the chance to purchase all of his shop tools, jigs and fixtures. Ahearne jumped at the chance, knowing that tooling is usually the biggest hurdle and expense in starting a frame building shop. He scrambled around to make the finances come together and somehow, he made it happen.
Initially he worked in a friend's garage. "I had to share my shop with yard tools and firewood, but it worked. For a while at least." Now Ahearne pours his "love and fury" into an eclectic mix of custom frames, racks and trailers from a windowless, dingy, broken down, multi-story warehouse building in Portland's east side industrial district. It may not sound like such a great place to work (especially on the few sunny days a year), but to Ahearne, it beats that old, cramped garage.
With room to breathe, Ahearne quickly set out learning the tricks of the frame building trade and had his share of learning experiences along the way. "My first fillet-brazed frame was pretty humorous...a real disaster. Let's just say I was way in the hole on that one. But since then, I've learned a ton and I've been building non-stop for the last three years."
Ahearne is known for his imaginative designs, love of utility and the playful personal touches he puts into his frames. Whether it's antique coins capping a set of fork legs, or a sterling silver steer skull on a head tube, Ahearne is committed to leaving his mark on each frame. Ahearne despises the cookie-cutter approach and says he has to constantly do things in new ways in order to keep things interesting, "I can't just take the frame and do the same thing every time. I have to make it my own, and make it personal."
His approach seems to be working. In just a few years, Ahearne has earned a solid reputation for his custom frames and chromoly cargo racks. When I was in his shop, he was just finishing up the fork with antique coins capping the top of the legs. He also uses found objects or things that have special meaning to his customers to adorn his head badges. Riffing off of Portland's chopper and DIY subculture, Ahearne is not afraid to experiment, and I don't just mean with tube selection and frame angles. While I was in the shop, he was excited to tell me about his current project—a 29er with innovative, twin-tube chainstays. He's thinking about a bike based on a 36" wheel, or maybe even an old-school high wheeler.
Along with his fillet brazed and lugged frames, Ahearne's made-to-order cargo racks reflect his love of functional yet whimsical experimentation. Whether it's carrying a pizza or a 12-pack, his racks are beautiful and strong. Recently, he has partnered up with master wood worker and owner of River City Cycles, Dave Guettler, to add exotic hardwoods to his creations. Ahearne has also hooked up with fellow frame builder Sycip on several custom racks for their "Java Boy" cruiser.
The Flask
It really says something about the bike industry when someone can leave his or her mark in this business by making a flask holder. Yes, a flask holder. As in, something that carries your liquor. Surly has made a flask for several years and one night, Ahearne and his friend Billy Spaceman were trading pints at a local dive bar when they had that, "hey, wouldn't it be cool if..." moment. They decided to design a flask holder cage that would fit the Surly flask, to be named the Spaceman Bicycle Flask Holster. Little did they know that this seemingly novel little product would help Ahearne break into the bicycle business.
With the flask holster design finalized and ready, Ahearne took it to the big Interbike trade show in Las Vegas. He walked right into the Surly Bikes booth and showed them his creation. They instantly loved it and mounted it to one of their show bikes. According to Ahearne, "by the second day, they were getting more questions about the flask holder than their bikes. It was pretty funny."
Since then, the Spaceman Flask Holster has sold steadily and Ahearne still doesn't quite believe it. "I've been completely blown away by the response. The flask cage has really helped get my name out there. I've had orders for it from Germany, England, the Netherlands, Japan and Australia."
The Flask Holster is an example of Ahearne's free-thinking approach to building bikes. He's always looking to do something unexpected and with a bit of flair. To dream up his next personal touch, he sometimes hops on a swing attached to the high ceilings of his shop. During intense projects when he needs to clear his head for new ideas, he swings over his jigs and welding machine for a new perspective.
As global bike brands have consolidated and increased their share of the mass market, small builders like Ahearne have established a strong foothold in the industry. Ahearne is part of a resurgence of small builders driven by strong word of mouth on the web and on the street.
Since the visit to Joseph's shop, I've seen him around town several times; at the bike shop where he works, at a volunteer dinner for a local century ride, and recently at a park near my house cruising around on his newly built 29 inch singlespeed with unique twin-tube chainstays, a jagged cut seat post tube opening, and a skull pendant on the rear brake arch. Pure personality.
Joseph Ahearne has been one of the lucky ones; turning his passion for bikes into a business with a solid future...and for that, we're all lucky.
For more information on Ahearne Cycles check out www.ahearnecycles.com or contact Joseph Ahearne directly at 503.473.2102.
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