R.I.P. Bruce Gordon.

[weisan]

This may sound weird. The first time I heard of BG was through his signature Rock n Road tires. I use it on my gravel bike especially when it gets really rough, borderline MTB stuff and it's awesome. I like it so much that I emailed BG one time and asked if it's a good time to crimp the chainstays of my Merlin cross bike just so that I can fit the RnR tires in. He was not flattered, in fact, he told me right away that it was a bad idea. I like his style -- straight-talking, no BS.

[jtakeda]

I’ve always admired Bruce. I wish I could’ve picked up A Schnozola when they were around.

[charliedid]

Originally Posted by Mike Lopez

I was deeply saddened to hear of Bruce's passing.

I met him perhaps 10 years ago and had some great times visiting him in Petaluma, hanging out at trade shows, and when he came to San Diego to visit our local crew and to collaborate on projects. In spite of his "reputation" I found him to be a generous and sensitive man. He did have boundaries of course and if you crossed them you were sure to find out in no uncertain terms!

Attached are a couple of my favorite pictures of Bruce. The first was taken in JB's shop during the time period of the San Diego bike shows. Try and spot JB and Rob Roberson in the photo by Bruce's shoulder....And no, that's not JB in the lower left corner!

The second is a year or two later after we'd completed the 2nd Carbon/Ti frame and we had just finished doing the south bay loop with JB, Baylis, and a host of others. (Brian rode the green Bruce Gordon that day)

I'll be doing that loop on my Carbon/Ti BG tomorrow and thinking about the good times we shared.

Thanks for chiming in Mike. Not surprised you were the collaborator on those. Beautiful.

[weisan]

Gordon (center in fez) in the 1996 SOPWAMTOS parade at Interbike.

[likebikes]

did the bruce gordon museum ever get built?

[fiamme red]

It's sad that he was only able to enjoy retirement for such a short time.

Here's a photo that Dale Brown took of him at the 1980 NY Bike Show: https://www.flickr.com/photos/oroboy...7625774482931/.

[fiamme red]

https://www.bicycling.com/news/amp27.../bruce-gordon/

[Butch]

That’s a nice piece from Anna. I wanted to add my 2 cents to the conversation.
There was only one Bruce. He inspired, irritated, pissed off and pretty much didn’t care if he did any of those things. I can say I went from customer and admirer to friend over the many years I knew Bruce. In ‘81 when I bought a frame out of his shop in Eugene. That bike, which I rode rain or shine, with the wave lugs hung in my bedroom as I finished college, inspired me to start building frames.
For me he defined great lug work. Never too much, but the right embellishment. Subtle yet beautiful. The execution was flawless, lugs, cutouts, brazing and the awesome details in the dropouts and seat cluster.
Also, the work he and Wes Williams did modifying a suspension fork to work with his Rock and Road tires really pushed the industry toward 29” tires for off-road riding. Riding with Wes, while he rode those tires, the summer of ’96 on the Monarch crest trail, double flats and all, seemed nuts. Not anymore…
Over the years, through mutual friends I got to appreciate and to know the man behind the grump. We would talk on a semi regular basis, I sold him Ti tubing for his Ti bike projects over the years including his Ti pumps. It came with a great conversation, a fair amount of bitching and a lot of laughs. In ’16 a group of us took a trip to Sonoma to ride and had a great, after ride, tour of his museum.
Funny and a prick, hard combo to perfect. One of my favorites was his story about the guy who pestered him about buying a certain water bottle he had. The guy kept coming into his shop, offering him more and more money for one specific water bottle. Bruce told him he didn’t want to sell it, especially to this guy. Finally, Bruce grabs the bottle, turns on the band saw and cuts it in half, and says “Today I’ll sell it to you for half price”.
The SOPWAMTOS awards of the mid/late 90’s at Interbike were brilliant, Mark and Bruce killed it there. For those of us making **** and trying to “compete” with the big boy importers companies, the awards summed up a lot of what we felt as a group, smoke and mirrors, Trek buying up small manufacturing companies and the R&D (rip-off and duplicate) awards hit home.
You’ll be missed Bruce RIP.

[fiamme red]

Thank you, Butch, for your memories of Bruce.

Here's a obituary in the local newspaper: https://www.petaluma360.com/news/969...n-dies?sba=AAS.

[Dino Suegiù]

Very nice statements by Mike Lopez and Butch.

What an interesting person he must have been to know; thank you both for the insights.

[kylecycler]

There was a nice account of meeting Bruce Gordon in the 'Lovely Bicycle!' blog:

http://lovelybike.blogspot.com/2012/...ice-to-me.html

I could quote from it but it would be better if you were to read it in full - it's beautifully written and works as an affectionate tribute and now, sadly, an obituary.

[donevwil]

I just returned from a "locals" memorial at Dempsey's brewpub and for those interested an official memorial will be held on Sunday, June 30 at McNear Park in Petaluma. A ride is planned starting at the park from 8:00 to 11:00am followed by a pot luck BBQ from 12:00 - 5:00.

[Kirk Pacenti]

Farewell, old friend.

[unterhausen]

I'm not sure I have ever seen a BG bike in person. That bike with Ti lugs really impressed me though. So clean, it's just amazing.

Originally Posted by Butch

One of my favorites was his story about the guy who pestered him about buying a certain water bottle he had. The guy kept coming into his shop, offering him more and more money for one specific water bottle. Bruce told him he didn’t want to sell it, especially to this guy. Finally, Bruce grabs the bottle, turns on the band saw and cuts it in half, and says “Today I’ll sell it to you for half price”.

I heard a similar story, but from the guy who wanted to buy something that Bruce had made. But the answer was that this guy couldn't afford it, and nothing was destroyed. I think he also said that about the carbon/ti lugged show bike, that it wasn't for sale because it would cost so much. I always thought he should just put a price on his stuff and see if anyone could afford it, I'll bet he would have been surprised.

[fiamme red]

http://redkiteprayer.com/2019/07/bru...don-a-gallery/

http://redkiteprayer.com/2019/07/bru...-in-two-bikes/