Practice Makes More Practice

SelfTaught-655

Since the moment I arrived in Denver, Josh from Avery County Cycles has been an exceptional host. He picked me up from the airport, took me to a whiskey sipping night, then dinner and let me crash at his place. I’ve spent a lot of time around his shop and today, I took some film photos of him working. As we were having a beer tonight, he pulled out his cheater bar. Every shop has one, but few have a story like this.

Josh is a self-taught frame builder. Which, these days you rarely hear about. With dozens of frame building schools sprouting up all over the US, you don’t need to spend countless hours by yourself, figuring the ins and outs of brazing but he did anyway. This piece of tubing is where Josh learned how to use a torch.

Of course, there’s no easy way to venture into building bicycle frames. Just a lot of practice and patience. Over the past year, Avery County Cycles has built numerous frames for friends and even a single speed cross team with Pearl Velo. On Sunday, his hard work paid off, when he won Rookie of the Year at NAHBS (he even sold his car to pay for the show’s fees).

There’s more to come here on the site but I just wanted to congratulate Josh on his award!

11 Comments »
by prolly |
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  • Joe Roggenbuck

    Cool!

  • Goog Smells

    For the uninitiated, what’s a cheater bar?

    • http://www.facebook.com/ericbaumann Eric Baumann

      a pipe you slide over the end of a wrench to get better leverage.

      • Goog Smells

        I’m dumbe

        • http://prollyisnotprobably.com John Watson

          All good! It’s an honest question.

  • http://profiles.google.com/trackosaurusrex Trackosaurus Rex

    Josh, Tyler, and Eli are killing it!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=29626213 James Bolton

    ‘Merica!!!  Seriously, that’s what it’s all about: independence, perseverance, and a hell of a lot of hard work.  

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jake-Ricker/760362430 Jake Ricker

    Fuck yes!

  • brennan mcginn

    I met Josh when I visited Denver a while back before moving here.  All three of them (Josh, Eli, and Tyler) are incredible guys and have a unique and welcoming set up.

    Josh’s frames are beautiful.  I had a conversation with him about self taught vs. school taught a while back and it was great to engage in a lively conversation where we both ended on the same page. A hand built brazed/lugged frame is simply a wonderful ride and incredible machine.

    Congrats to Josh on the accomplishment at NAHBS this year and I look forward to seeing more in the future!

  • http://www.facebook.com/devinjones44 Devin Jones

    Making “Trees” is the best way to practice brazing ; )

  • http://www.facebook.com/ezweave Matt Weaver

    Josh is a good friend and I’ve put 5k miles on the road frame I got from him last fall.  He threw in a bunch of extra touches (my nickname cut out with stainless behind it on the downtube) because he knows me.  It’s a wonderful bike.

    Also, apologies that you came on the one night we were trying aged corn whiskey… meh.  Come back and we’ll have something better.


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Prolly is not Probably started in 2006 in Brooklyn, New York. For over 6 years it has thrived as John Watson, the sole author, documents multiple facets of cycling. With the boom of urban cycling, Prolly is Not Probably has grown to be the number one blog for the culture surrounding it. In recent years, a large push for original content has spawned a steady flow of photosets, profiles and portraits.

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