Show #634 – August 6, 2023

Guests: Jennifer Boyd: Dave Wages

Sometimes I wonder how I ever became so lucky as to be able to have conversations with the people I do, and this episode of the show highlights two of those people.

First up is Jennifer Boyd.

Jennifer is the founder of Boyd Productions,LLC, a documentary production company that prides itself on creating films that spark curiosity, connectivity, and societal change. Her multilingual, female-led team has more than 20 years of experience in filmmaking, music, television, and journalism.

Jennifer has produced and directed more than 25 documentaries on topics ranging from climate change to gun control. Good Morning America has called her work “groundbreaking.”

The doc – as she calls it –is called The Street Project.  The production is fascinating, the content relevant, and several of the people who are included in this film have been on the TOC podcast in the past.

The Street Project is a story about a massive movement across the world to reclaim our largest public spaces – namely, our streets. The film starts in NYC and looks at the issues of safety and the usage of space across the globe. With more than 40,000 cyclists or pedestrians killed across the world last year, Jennifer Boyd gives us a thorough examination of how the way we’ve used our public spaces and what has changed through the last ten decades.

Then, I speak with custom frame builder Dave Wages from Ellis Cycles.

The bicycle business has its biggies – the Treks and Specialized and Canyons – and then it has the custom builders such as Richard Sachs, Peter Wiegel, and my guest today, Dave Wages.

Between those two bookends, there were companies such as Waterford Precision Bicycles and Serotta Custom Cycles.  These were shops that could produce a frame-to-order within a few weeks and might have a small staff that could turn out upwards of several hundred to perhaps a thousand frames per year.

Now, those mid-sized custom shops are mostly gone. You may remember that Dave cut his frame building teeth with Serotta and Waterford and now, both of those companies are gone.

So I wanted to know what Dave, has since gone out on his own to produce his exquisite one-of-a-kind framesets, thinks about the situation as well as what he sees going forward.

Dave’s insights are spot-on and I think you’ll appreciate what he has to say.

Smoked Out Live! from NAHBS 2013

Last Saturday evening, I was honored to co-emcee a Velocipede Salon “Smoked Out Live” special along with Josh Simonds.

We had a rock-star panel of frame builders who all graciously gave up a couple of hours of their evening to answer questions for both a live audience and a live web cast.

Included in our evening were:

– Gary Smith of Independent Fabrications
– Nick Crumpton of Crumpton Cycles
– Tim O’Donnell of Shamrock Cycles
– Eric Estlund of Winter Bicycles
-Dave Wages of Ellis Cycles
– Rody Walter of Groovy Cycleworks

LISTEN & WATCH THE VIDEO!

The “Smoked Out” session begins around 29:30.  Previous to that, there are some interviews and talking among ourselves!  Enjoy!

 

Out thanks to George Thomas of “Over The Top Radio” for his patience in recording this!

Show #121 – December 15, 2012

GUESTS: DAVE WAGES; DAVE SMITH

At this writing, Diane and I, along with the rest of the U.S., are still struggling to process yesterday’s horrific events in Newtown, Connecticut. We hope you’ll enjoy today’s show, despite the fact that everything in the world of cycling is insignificant in comparison to the senseless loss of so many young, innocent lives.

Today we begin with an interview with Dave Wages, custom framebuilder and owner of Ellis Cycles. Dave worked for both Serotta and Waterford before launching his own shop in 2008 in Waterford, Wisconsin. His artistic eye and the exquisite details of his frames are stunning.

Rounding out the hour is a chat with Dave Smith, who coaches athletes in many sports including running, biking and polo. Dave’s company, Flow Funktional Fitness is based in Staffordshire, England, but his clients come from all over the world. He has coached Olympic Medalists and TdF stage winners as well as amateurs of all levels.