Davidson Bicycles...nice words

[rwsaunders]

I was killing some time in Pike Place Market early on Saturday morning and I essentially found Elliott Bay Bicycles by accident. When you see some eye candy in a window, you tend to return to a store during business hours and I promptly did so at 10am.

To make a long story bearable, I didn't realize it until we shook hands later, that the fellow who took the time to give me the grand tour of the fabrication area was Bill Davidson. I was also fortunate to be there when a customer took delivery of her new Davidson Ti road bike. Absolutely stunning candy metallic partial paint, and you could tell by watching Bill interact with her that he enjoyed the experience as well. Not to mention, he wiped the frame down with Windex about 200 times while he was talking to her, in order to remove the drool marks.:cool:

Nice shop and even nicer fellow.

[MattTuck]

Between Hampsten and Davidson, the folks in the Rain City sure are lucky ;)

[Fishbike]

I have two Davidson bikes. One was custom -- a tig welded compact frame built with Reynolds 853. The other is a lugged tourer circa early 80's that I rescued from eBay. I ripped out the Sora (the indignity!) and replaced it with Veloce and swapped the carbon fork for a chrome fork.

I live on the east coast and did all the ordering for my custom by phone and email. They were great to work with and the total process took about three months. Davidson and his crew are not rock star builders but they have been building and painting terrific steel, ti and ti/carbon frames for more than 30 years. The price is very competitive too. Bill and his partner, Bob Freeman, are a treasure trove of bike history.

In searching for Davidson bikes on eBay I have regrettably learned that apparently there was a Playgirl model in the 70's named Bill Davidson. I am looking for bikes, honest!

[Rada]

Cool story. A Davidson is on the short list of frames I would like to own.

[mister]

yeah same thing happened to me four or five years ago
walked into elliot bay not realizing its bill davidsons homebase

nice dude, we talked geometry and commuting and touring and all sorts of stuff

i had him build me a steel lugged frame/fork a year later
turned out perfect, let him build me what i needed, gave him the info he asked for and put my trust in him
awesome design, great craftsmanship, really nice paint...in 3 months
so happy with it

[vqdriver]

That's great to hear. He's on my list for sure.

[soupless]

I dropped by knowing that was place, and when I told him I was there because it was his shop, he gave me a tour. He had zeal.

[jtakeda]

Davidson rules. Never been to the shop. Really want to go and spoke to some people at the shop via email (maybe Bill? I don't remember)
Here is mine.
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5127/5281769831_75c77bbefd.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/57329557@N05/5281769831/)

[d_douglas]

I have visited a few times and he even helped a bit with my Masters thesis.

He also happens to make very nice bikes. I saw a ti bike rolling around up North in Victoria and it was gorgeous.

[OperaLover]

Some people like 'em, some don't. Like any place else. I've had great expereinces with Bill and Bob and I don't even own a Davidson. Lots of knoweldge and history between the two of them. Definitely worht a visit if you come to Seattle from out of town. Always a couple of new bikes and customer restorations to look at.

[jr59]

Some people like 'em, some don't. Like any place else. I've had great expereinces with Bill and Bob and I don't even own a Davidson. Lots of knoweldge and history between the two of them. Definitely worht a visit if you come to Seattle from out of town. Always a couple of new bikes and customer restorations to look at.

I'm trying to remember the thread the other day, about being polite!

I would be in the other camp. I have owned 2 Davidsons. 1 older one, that was great. One I had custom made, that did not go a smoothly or as easy as I would have wished. I ended up with a good bike, not excatly as I wanted it, but at least I got a bike out of it.

There is that polite enough?

[cnighbor1]

I got to know Bill Davidson in 70's. He had just started building frames in seattle. He studied with Harry quinn of england. His frame built there in england was a lot nicer than any Quinn ever built. Over the years and living in Seattle I went to his store and talked with him many times. Than has an Architect I got a job next door and for two years spent many a lunch hour talking with Bill. His dad owned a metal working machine shop. He is prehaps the most knowable frame builder in the world. he studies, research and thinks thru all the asspects of frame building. also his partener Robert Freeman is a close freind and the one responsiable for all the older bikes on display
If you want a davidson frame or complete davidson robert always has some on consignment used davidsons FS
I have owned a number over the years. Now I have one road and one MTB all I owned were excellent.
If in seattle and into great steel bicycle a must visit
http://davidsonbicycles.com/
here are some photos robert has on the web
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8379107@N03/collections/

I have FS a new 55.5cm Davidson Impluse frame
Charles Nighbor

[krhea]

Great place and down to earth builder who will always have 10minutes or 3hrs to chat with a customer. Bob is a virtual encyclopedia on vintage road bikes. I've had the pleasure of speaking with him and number of bikes in my collection that I wanted history on and he provided reams of info.

Both Seattle and Portland aka the Pacific NW, is overflowing with talented builders who also happen to be really nice guys. I feel lucky to live around their energy.

KRhea

[mister]

I'm trying to remember the thread the other day, about being polite!

I would be in the other camp. I have owned 2 Davidsons. 1 older one, that was great. One I had custom made, that did not go a smoothly or as easy as I would have wished. I ended up with a good bike, not excatly as I wanted it, but at least I got a bike out of it.

There is that polite enough?

sounds about right
bike designed for a purpose by a good builder, it works awesome

let the customer have too much input and try to build a bike for two, three or four purposes, most likely you end with a bike that does a few things ok but nothing great...

[jr59]

sounds about right
bike designed for a purpose by a good builder, it works awesome

let the customer have too much input and try to build a bike for two, three or four purposes, most likely you end with a bike that does a few things ok but nothing great...

Maybe so, but not in my case!

The bike itself, came out just the way we agreed, and it's ok.
I had to send it back to get it so, but sometimes things happen.

The finish is a whole different story.

You should not be so quick to assume the end customer is at fault.
This subject has been discussed MANY times here. The builder is not always perfect. In my case, with this bike, it was far from what I paid for.
But I got a bike that works, as I wanted it to work.

But I said I would be nice!

[BillG]

Maybe so, but not in my case!

The bike itself, came out just the way we agreed, and it's ok.
I had to send it back to get it so, but sometimes things happen.

The finish is a whole different story.

You should not be so quick to assume the end customer is at fault.
This subject has been discussed MANY times here. The builder is not always perfect. In my case, with this bike, it was far from what I paid for.
But I got a bike that works, as I wanted it to work.

But I said I would be nice!

This is a nice, honest criticism. I wish they were all like this. [love Davidson's and love the shop]

[jr59]

Not to hard to find others who have had trouble with Davidson as well.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/514141-Davidson-has-lost-his-way

[Fishbike]

Not to hard to find others who have had trouble with Davidson as well.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/514141-Davidson-has-lost-his-way

Posting that link and perpetuating it as truth is unfortunate. I am aware of the backstory and how and why the alleged disgruntled customer made a personal crusade out of disparaging Davidson. The comments size her up pretty well, but don't convey the context of the crusade and the real reason for her being so vindictive. Because she sued, Davidson couldn't comment.

I have no doubt that you had problems with your frame, but please don't rely on obsessive rantings from someone with a personal axe to grind to validate the problem you experienced.

[soupless]

Drift----Are there any/many other "big name" (I consider Davidson a big name) that are actively running shops too?

[KidWok]

Not to hard to find others who have had trouble with Davidson as well.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/514141-Davidson-has-lost-his-way

I was working for BicyclePaper.com at the time of the Darcy incident. Was in there several times a week as most of the people there were (most still are) friends, including the mechanic at the time and his SO Darcy. I heard both sides of that story and am pretty sure it wasn't Bill's fault. The guy knows how to build a bike that handles correctly and takes the correct equipment as designed.

That said, I have heard some mention they were rubbed the wrong way by EBB staff, including people I recommended to the shop. EBB is not the shop to go to if your ego is firmly attached to your opinion. There are other shops in Seattle that may have more patience, but not a whole lot that have more experience.

Tai

[mister]

Not to hard to find others who have had trouble with Davidson as well.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/514141-Davidson-has-lost-his-way

anyone can create a blog and write what they want
that includes disgruntled ex-employee's fired for stealing from the shop and their significant others...

[jr59]

I promised to myself, that I would try very hard to be more nice on the forums that I am a member.

I have tried to be that in this post.

Anybody can say anything! About anything.

I'm out of this thread.

BTW; For those who might think I am sniping on the net and would not put my name to the things I write.

my name is John Reineke and I live in the New Orleans area.

[William]

For all my years living, riding, and racing in the PNW I've known many many folks who purchased and rode Davidson bikes. The vast majority had nothing but great things to say about the ride, quality, and interactions with the builder. I can't say that I ever heard anyone talking about bad experiences with Davidson. I won't say that it's not possible, or that people don't have bad days. JR has always been on the up and up with me and I trust he had a less than stellar experience. In my experience though, his experience is not the norm.

At this time, if I were in the market, I would have no reservations going with a Davidson.





William

[Fishbike]

I promised to myself, that I would try very hard to be more nice on the forums that I am a member.

I have tried to be that in this post.

Anybody can say anything! About anything.

I'm out of this thread.

BTW; For those who might think I am sniping on the net and would not put my name to the things I write.

my name is John Reineke and I live in the New Orleans area.

John, you have been fine in this thread. It's the "sniping" of the person in the link you posted that got people who know the story annoyed. The fact that you and anyone else accepted her story as gospel shows -- for the zillionth time -- how damaging the web can be.

[cnighbor1]

If your going to pull imformation of the web without cross checking your just perpetuating anything wrong with that information. and when it deals with one person need to check a lot more. I checked with owners of davidson and you haven't got all the facts. Frame was designed for owner by her boy freind who worked at davidson's . than davidson built it. so any problems with it design wise was thiers.
Think before posting web items
Charles Nighbor

[jr59]

John, you have been fine in this thread. It's the "sniping" of the person in the link you posted that got people who know the story annoyed. The fact that you and anyone else accepted her story as gospel shows -- for the zillionth time -- how damaging the web can be.

And if I would have paid it heed, I would have saved myself a HUGE headache, as well as more than a few sleepless nights.

If your going to pull imformation of the web without cross checking your just perpetuating anything wrong with that information. and when it deals with one person need to check a lot more. I checked with owners of davidson and you haven't got all the facts. Frame was designed for owner by her boy freind who worked at davidson's . than davidson built it. so any problems with it design wise was thiers.
Think before posting web items
Charles Nighbor

Seeing as you are good friends with the people that run that shop. Your word holds no more weight than any other.

I simply posted that to show that I am not the only one to have less than a good expercince with Davidson. I feel very sure that there are more than 2. I'm just to lazy to research and discover them.

But, what do I know? I'm just the guy that didn't get what was promised to him and had to settle for less. Or more if you count the refinish that I had to do on a brand new frame.

As I stated before, Not everyone has had great dealings with Bob &co! Sorry if that rains on any ones parade.
Sorry to be the voice of reason and say, just because someone is a framebuilder, doesn't always make him correct. Some on these forums seem to want to act that way. But it really isn't so.

So flame away. I have very thick skin, and I KNOW what happened in my case. I know what was promised, and what was delivered, and what was sent back, and what was delivered again. Only to be mocked up, test ridden about 50 miles and taken apart again to be sent to be refinished.

That's not some blog I read about! That's what it came down to!
I wound up with a bike that works as I wanted it to. It rides good and does it's job how it was designed. Would I do it again? NOT A SNOWBALLS CHANCE IN HELL! Once is plenty enough for me. In fact, I thought about selling it. I gave away the older Davidson because of this, but I use the custom for living off of. Yes I'm car almost free. I designed the Davidson to be a touring/utility type bike, and like I said, it really works well! So selling it wasn't in the game.
This hasn't happened to me with the other custom frames I have bought, both before and after. Just this brand!

[jtakeda]

I don't think anyone is arguing that you had a bad experience. We believe you did and that is certainly unacceptable.

I think the point that others are bringing up is that supporting your argument with the anecdote of someone who has been called out as exaggerating the truth isn't the best way to prove youre not alone.

Introducing the outlandish story told in the link you posted tells an untrue story about the builder. Sticking with the story you know is 100% true (your story) might be the best way to inform others of the Davidson experience.

[cnighbor1]

In my opinion if you need to wait till someone brings up a subject like the davidson thread to post your displeasure with them than your post is not worth very much.
It should have been posted all by itself and when it happened. and if is a rehash boy that is a waste of everones time.
Charles Nighbor