Jason Babcock
| Location | Bellingham, WA, United States |
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| Introduction | For fifteen years I worked in a shop setting within the bicycle industry. I started back when a Masi 3V hung on the wall and down tube shifters were still the norm. Soon after I started, cycling progressed towawrds new frame materials, new technology in components, pre built wheels, and increased marketing pressure. I saw models that had been around for years have their name changed for the sake of being "new". I noticed that there were suddenly new "innovations" every year. Bikes over five years old were considered out dated while the new top of the line bikes got more and more expensive every year. It got to the point that cycling was becoming the new golf and frames were marketed ni the same way clubs were. Cycling was never intended to be an excuse to make money. Instead it was about passion. The passion of racing, the passion of craftsmen, the passion for the state of the environment, passion about fitness, and passion about the freedom that comes from flying down a hill with wind in your hair. At Shuksan Cycles, I am building handbuilt bikes in Bellingham, WA to recapture what cycling is about while continuing to persue my passion for cycling. |