Another thing that he does which I think is really telling about the
kind of person he is:  When your bike is complete he ships it to you
and asks for the remainder of the payment - on the honor system.  He
says he has only been burned once with a non-paying customer.  That's
the kind of every-day cool that makes me smile, like Nashbar brakes at
NHBS.

On May 20, 2:59 am, Philip Williamson <philip.william...@gmail.com>
wrote:
> I've only talked to Josh Muir of Frances for a few minutes a couple of
> times, but I really respect him, and his bikes hit the spot.
>
> This may strike other people differently than it does me, but I love
> that his bikes have had the only Nashbar brakes I've ever seen at a
> bike show. They also looked, and I believe it may be true, that they
> were borrowed back from owners who actually rode them.
>
> If something horrible happened and I had to replace my bikes
> (Quickbeam, Ross low trail touring bike and Bontrager hardtail) with a
> single bike (and magically had the money), it would be with a Frances
> very similar to Blind Robert's (without the jacked up fender). Or a
> Matt Chester. Without the magic money, it would probably be a Sam
> Hillborne.
>
> Failing that, I'd just walk...
>  Philip
>
> On May 19, 4:50 pm, Blindrobert <roberto.cipri...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > Of all my custom bikes, it's my favorite!  And it get's the most
> > comment/stares of any bike I own except, perhaps my cargo bike, which
> > is like being in a parade every time I ride it.
>
> >http://www.bikecult.com/works/archive/09bicycles/bolognacargoRC2.html
>
> > The interaction with Josh (at Frances) is very straightforward and I
> > think he's a really conscientious builder and decent man, though newer
> > than some of the big names out there in the world of custom bikes.  I
> > have no complaints about the workmanship at all, and he was on
> > schedule for the delivery of the bike (trust me, that's rare in the
> > world of custom bikes).  My expectations were met, there were a few
> > little things that weren't exactly like I wanted - for instance the
> > old style rubber slap guard I asked for was an invented system instead
> > of the (formerly) standard pin for a pre-made rubber band.  I have to
> > make a slap guard out of a strip of inner tube or other rubber when I
> > need one - it's not hard, just not what I expected and he wasn't
> > familiar with the detail for the other system.  No major complaints at
> > all, and like I said, it's my favorite bike.
>
> > My advice to anyone getting a custom frame is to think hard about what
> > you want, don't sign off on production until you feel good about every
> > detail, including the braze ons...then DON'T CHANGE ANYTHING after the
> > order is signed off.  It just leads to confusion and second guessing
> > yourself...and when you start changing things, it gets expensive and
> > mistakes get made.
>
> > Roberto
>
> > On May 19, 5:44 pm, Michael_S <mikeybi...@rocketmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > just saw this post. I have been looking at the Frances Tourist
> > > Diffusible model. The one bike I would like to have is a travel bike
> > > and the Ritchey Break away system seems very innocuous compared to the
> > > more obvious S&S couplers.  Are you pleased with the workmanship? did
> > > the builder meet your expectations?
> > > His bikes all look very well thought out and constructed.
>
> > > ~Mike~
>
> > > On May 17, 10:02 am, "Frederick, Steve" <frede...@mail.lib.msu.edu>
> > > wrote:
>
> > > > Blindrobert wrote, in part:
> > > > ...the fender was not effective once I got up over 14mph or so
>
> > > > I similarly cropped the rear fender on my Rawland Olaf 
> > > > singlespeed/fixie and found it similarly ineffective.  Since I was 
> > > > using SKS fenders, I just used the quick release attachments that comes 
> > > > with SKS front fenders on the rear too and that works well enough for 
> > > > wheel removal...
>
> > > > Steve
>
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