The lush image that serves as banner for this website is just part of a larger poster that was printed in the 1970’s as a promotional piece for a small group of Bay Area graphic specialists. The image was captured by Jack Christianson of Light Design in Santa Clara, and a team including color separator, printer, embosser, art director, paper supplier, etc. combined to create a limited run of posters. They were used for promotion by each specialist, and the quality really shows. This sort of project makes possible a level of production that would be unsupportable in the the general poster market. Now, a small number of these jewels has been discovered and are available for $100 each, plus shipping.

The poster depicts a still life of vintage bicycle objects, particularly related to wheel building. The scene is populated by items from the former Wheelsmith bike shop in Palo Alto, a business I began and I still own many of the items you see. Several wood rims are present. The one with tire is a Lobdell-Emery from Michigan, the others are by Ghisallo from Italy. You may notice one near the top is extremely small (see the curve). This special rim is owned by George Mount (of 1976 Olympic fame) and was made for the early Dahon folding bike company. Quite the one of a kind. The hubs are Specialized, as designed by myself and brother Jon. The spokes are early Wheelsmith brand. The brass tire gauge was from Gary Fisher. The headline “End-To-End Record Broken” is found in an 1890 newspaper and refers to the Lands End to John O’Groats (tip to tip of Great Britain) cycling record that has been hotly contested for over a century. The wood background is reclaimed redwood.

A timeless workshop image

Read more →