Interview with Bicycle Frame Builder Ted Wojcik
November 18, 2008 by Carl Martens
Filed under Uncategorized
Ted Wojcik has been designing and building custom bicycle frames for the past 28 years. As he informed me of this he said, “how time flies when having fun”…it was 100% genuine. Hearing that was one of the highlights of the phone call…it didn’t sound cliché.
A true American hero, not just for the frames he builds, but serving in our armed forces during the Vietnam War. Ted gained extensive engineering and mechanical experience during his years of service in which he worked on gas turbine engines and helicopter transmission systems.
Ted Wojcik Custom Bicycles got its start while Ted was working at a motorcycle repair shop when his now wife brought a moped in for repair. It was the beginning of a relationship as well as the foundation of which the business would evolve from. It was Ted’s wife who changed his focus from motorcycles to bicycles. His wife was, as he put it, “altitude challenged”, being that she is 5’2” and an avid cyclist having trouble trying to have a bike frame to fit her. Having already learned the art of motorcycle frame fabrication, Ted ordered tubing from a local bike shop to build what would become his first bicycle and a wonderful present for his beloved. Being an accomplished welder, Ted decided to try his hand at creating bicycle frames. Built in Ted’s cellar, the next frame was sold before it was completed. In 1986 Ted went full time into bicycle frame building and in 1990 he moved out of his cellar and into his shop where the business remains today. The current shop is about 1600 square feet and is well tooled with a number of dedicated machines. He has collected a large amount of jigs and fixtures over the years and uses them to insure accuracy and repeatability in his builds.
Business slowed after 9/11and a great opportunity awaiting, Ted worked for a little over 2 ½ years on a project with the perk of spending $7.5M of a companies money building training aids for automotive vocational schools for the Venezuelan government. In 2004 when Ted returned to his business he noticed that it had moved backwards considerably. He has spent the past few years rebuilding his brand, awareness, and reputation which has enabled him to produce about 50-100 frames per year.
Ted is the lone employee and that doesn’t appear to change anytime in the near future. He is fussy about his work and there is a long learning period, he says that if he brought someone on they’d either end up hating him or they’d wreck stuff.
Unfortunately Ted is unable to do much off-road mountain type riding due to nerve damage from diabetes in his feet. He didn’t say it, but I have a feeling there’s a bit of peace in knowing that his work provides others with a riding experience matched by none. Seeing the joy and excitement of others probably helps ease any frustration regarding his situation.
Ted’s logo is as unique and as interesting as his story. The font came from a Santa stand in Harvard Square in 1990, “it looked like it represented something happy, so we adopted it…mountain biking is suppose to be fun and happy.” The colors represent the colors of Poland; red, white and black. If you look closely at the logo you’ll notice the “T” and the “W” representing the initials of his name.
I spent a little less than an hour on the phone with Ted, but I could have spent hours; days listening to him. If there was a book about him I’d read it. He is very engaging. I can’t count the number of times that I have visited his website, read the same text, or looked at the same pictures over and over. Take a look yourself, I’m pretty confident his work and story will engage you too.
Below are some additional photos of his craftsmanship…look at those welds!
Learn more, watch the video of Ted below.
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This post was written by:
Carl Martens - who has written 67 posts on Mountain bike product reviews, bike builds, trail reviews, forum, and tips – MTOBikes.com.
Carl H. Martens is founder of Made to Order Bikes, Inc. Originally from the burbs of Chicago, IL he now resides in the city of Roswell which is located just north of Atlanta. He enjoys riding Big Creek which is just down the road from where he lives.
I do not know about you, but I trust that anyone with a beard like that would seriously know what he was doing. I am sure the feeling of pride is exponentially better when riding on one of Ted’s frames versus one assembled by a malnourished chinaman. Imagine how much more care goes into every one of his welds.
This is a great find. I’d never heard of this builder. Its great how even down to the font he chose, he wants his whole brand to be about happy riders. That’s cool. Especially with smaller builders struggling, this was a good story to read. THX!
.-= Zar @ Used Bike Frames´s last blog ..Start With A Quality Used Bike Frame =-.