Steelman Closing Shop?

[Uncle Jam's Army]

I just read on Brent's facebook page that he is closing up shop and refunding deposits. If true that is very sad. I enjoyed dealing with Brent and I hope he gets through whatever rough patch he is in.

[Peter B]

That would be unfortunate indeed. Brent builds a great bike, and has been quietly doing so for years. A pal of mine must have at least half a dozen customs by Brent, each one truly magnificent. A shame if he shuts it down.

[garth]

What a shame. Here is my favorite Steelman to date.

[TimmyB]

^^^ I know the owner of that bike!

If that's true, it's a shame. I sure love my Steelman Stagerace. I know a couple of other steelman owners and all have nothing but positive things to say about their rides.

Only gripe I've heard was that he can come off a little... rough on the edges sometimes. But I wouldn't know, I've never met the guy and he's never responded to my emails .

Hope him the best though

[mistermo]

I'm "friends" with Brent and also Steelman Cycles on facebook, but don't see any notice. I see some concern by customers that he's disappeared, but nothing from him.

I'm not a big facebooker, so it's possible I'm not looking in the right place too.

My Steelman Eurocross is the best all around bike I've ever ridden.

EDIT: I see it now. Not posted by him, but by customers of his on his page.

[gearguywb]

Sad news indeed.

[ultraman6970]

Wow, their website doesnt say anything.

The problem i been seeing for a while is that the market is slow and way too many builders in the country kind'a make the situation worse. So make a living outta building bikes is tough, unless you really want to do it because you like it and you don't care that much about money, but at some point money is an issue even if you are super altruist. Hope he is not closing the shop because if a health problem.

Many builders could make some money just repairing frames but doesn't look like an option for many of them at least here in the US. Where i'm from many of the income for the few builders came from frame repairs, lastly the asian invasion ended up killing the whole industry of master builders because was cheaper get an asian frame that was going to end up in the trash anyways than get built a good frame that could cost you 4 times more, specially if you were sponsor the races yourself. Met with one of the builders like 4 years ago and he had not touched his equipment in 10 years, carbon and aluminum took over.

As I said before, hope steelman is not closing the shop for health reasons, sad he is out tho.

[dekindy]

One customer said he got a letter in the mail and deposit refund. Another customer said that she had also supplied components for a build. Food for thought when dealing with a one man shop, just saying. Really not sure why builders get a deposit before the build is begun. At least he is a class act and refunding deposits as opposed to another well-known builder that customers are waiting years and years for their bike.

[bobswire]

I wonder if that's why we see more top builders turning to carbon such as Strong and Slawta?

[victoryfactory]

Funny how some builders have 5+ year waiting lists and some
struggle. Maybe the niche isn't as big as we think? Or becoming maxed out?

VF

[David Kirk]

Originally Posted by victoryfactory

Funny how some builders have 5+ year waiting lists and some
struggle. Maybe the niche isn't as big as we think? Or becoming maxed out?

VF

I think it's easy to confuse a few builder's long queues with a pent up demand for handbuilt bikes. I know some new builders get into the game because they see that Vanilla has an X year wait and they think that they can get in on it and satisfy some of that demand. It of course doesn't work that way - the long wait for a Vanilla doesn't indicate unsatisfied demand for handbuilt bikes in general but for Vanilla's in particular. So the new guy jumps in and waits for the emails and calls to come rolling in and in most cases they just don't.

IMO it's just simple supply and demand.

dave

[texbike]

Originally Posted by victoryfactory

Funny how some builders have 5+ year waiting lists and some struggle.
VF

SOME builders are MUCH better marketers than others. Not necessarily better builders, but definitely better marketers....

Texbike

[Keith A]

Some discussion here about the situation if anyone is interested...
http://forums.mtbr.com/custom-builde...ly-757034.html

[binxnyrwarrsoul]

If Brent is done, that would suck. For lack of a better term, at the moment. Knew I shoulda pulled the trigger sooner. Quietly making beautiful frames is Brent's M.O. Had the pleasure of having a short convo with him, in emails, a while back. Very cool dude. Would be a shame.

[SamIAm]

I think its eminently reasonable to ask for a deposit. I don't know this Steelman fellow, but I find it very respectable that he is actually refunding deposits. That shows that he treated it like a deposit and not like income.