[CR]Re: R + E Cycles

(Example: Component Manufacturers:Ideale)

From: <Ebbikes@aol.com>
Date: Sat, 13 Apr 2002 17:11:07 EDT
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: [CR]Re: R + E Cycles


> Message: 11
> From: Bikerdaver@aol.com
> Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2002 18:09:42 EDT
> Subject: Re: [CR]Rodriquez
> To: LouDeeter@aol.com, classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
>
> Lou-
> I too have heard of (Angel) Rodriguez bikes, (Glenn) Ericksen bikes,
> and R& E bikes. Angel has liscensed out his name for the Rodriguez bikes,
> and
> they are still made in the shop below the R&E store, but he hasn't even
> stepped his foot in the store since the late 80s. I believe he is now in
> managment at REI.
> Glenn is still making beautiful frames with lugs that put Hetchins
> to
> shame, and for affordable prices as well. In the summer he leads tours over
> in Italy.
> Actual R&E bikes were made for a brief time in the early 70s, and to
> be honest with you, they never were at the level of Glenn's frames.
> Reasonable craftmanship, but more along the lines of Schwinn Paramounts.
> Probably more than what you wanted to know. Cheers,
> Dave Anderson
> Cut Bank MT
>

Dave et al, A little more correct information on the subject, as best I remember: Angel Rodriguez and Glenn Erickson started R + E Cycles in the early 70s from essentially nothing. They used to ride their bikes down to the RH Brown warehouse to get the parts they needed for that day's repairs. Angel began the frame building business soon thereafter, and made his first tandem in 1978 or so. I had my 1965 Jack Taylor tandem painted there in 1977, and I think Glenn might have been painting then. In the early days, he imported some frames that were made for him by Tonnard Cycles of England. The frame that started this whole discussion was one of those. If you saw the pics, note the typical british-style domed and slotted stay and fork ends, and the full-wrap seat stays. I always thought the Tonnard frames were a decent British frame similar to a Holdsworth. R + E made a lot of actual Rodriguez bikes and tandems through many years (not a brief time as you suggest). Glenn was part of the framebuilding business and probably helped on many custom Rodriquez bikes and tandems. List member Mark Bulgier was a frame builder there for a time. Back then, they called the touring bikes and tandems Rodriguez and the racing bikes Ericksons no matter who worked on them. They had a good size crew, so, like many builders, no one person made a whole bike in most cases. So to compare Rodriguez to Ericksons at the time would be apples and apples. Glenn sold his interest in the shop to Angel in the late 80s, and continues to make very exquisitely designed and finished frames himself in his own shop today (although some would question your definition of affordable!). Angel sold other frames made for him by someone else at times too. For a time he sold aluminum tandems that were the same as Specialized, made I think by either Anodizing Inc of Portland or possibly an outfit called American Cycles. Earlier, he also brought in tandem frames made by Lejeune, modified and painted them in his shop, and labeled them Rodriguez (Not fakes or forgeries, we call these private label sourcing). Same with a few Italian tandem frames sourced through Specialized. And in more recent years, the shop has sold frames made by Dennis Bushnell of Auburn WA, a very accomplished framebuilder. Angel sold the shops ( he had four storefronts by then) to Jim Visbeek in 1989. Within a year, Jim had also purchased Seattle Cycles and De La Rosa and Kolin's Northwest Cycle, incorporating them together as Seattle Cycles Inc. Jim soon fired longtime manager Estelle Gray, and proceeded to alienate other employees, suppliers, and longtime customers, many of whom switched their allegiance to other shops. Within two years, he had bankrupted the entire $3M+ per year company. Angel was the principal lien holder, and reacquired the R + E part shortly after, and then sold it to Estelle Gray, who runs it very successfully today. Estelle continues to sell Rodriguez bikes and tandems, and her own Stella Women's bikes. Matt Houle, as mentioned in someone's post earlier, did work as a contract builder and painter in Estelle's R + E shop for a few years, but is no longer making frames. Angel is living in his home country of Panama, and ever the entrepreneur, has been in the hotel business, farming, ranching, real estate, and who knows what else. He is still on the board of REI (not in management as you suggested), makes a couple trips up here per year for board meetings and to visit friends, and I am sure has stopped into his old shop many times in recent years. I don't think he will ever divorce himself from it completely. For a horses mouth perspective, visit their website at http://www.rodcycle.com/. And I am sure Mark B will have some juicy details to add to this if he happens to read it.

Bob Freeman (longtime friend, fierce competitor, and sometime customer of the various R + E stores)