Retrotec town bike project by Curtis Inglis
Via Flickr:
This is a new town bike idea I have been working on. It is built around Sturmey Archer drum brakes with a 3spd rear and a generator front. Hopefully I will be offering these as complete bikes or frame,fork, hubs.
Partner Spotlight: Curtis Inglis of Retrotec and Inglis Bikes
The proliferation of frame building in Northern California suggests that the best bikes to ride there are the ones designed by those who live there. One of the most celebrated and decorated of these NorCal builders is Curtis Inglis of both Retrotec and Inglis Cycles. A man of many passions, he started building frames in 1993. BikeFlights.com’s West Coast Marketing Manager Colin Blanchard had a chance to take a spin on his local trails in Napa, California to learn more about the man behind the two brands.
BikeFlights: 1993 is a long time ago. What’s been the biggest change for you over the years?
Curtis Inglis: Exposure. Back when I had just started, I would go to festivals like the Sea Otter Classic to get my name out there. I remember being so excited about getting a picture of my car with a few of my bikes on the top in the back of Dirt Rag. At the time, it was so amazing to have my bikes in a magazine that anyone could pick up and see. Looking back on it now, it wasn’t as much exposure as I felt like it was at the time. They were small pictures in a collage of about 25 photos. I knew they were my bike’s, but not everyone would know that.
BF: With it being so hard to get your name out there, does that mean that most of your customers were initially local?
CI: Yes, most of my business was based in Northern California, but that changed over time. With the internet making the world much smaller and shows like the North American Handmade Bicycle Show (NAHBS) giving me a place to show off without having to compete with the big brands, I was able to reach customers across the world.
BF: With your expanding reach, have there been many growing pains?
CI: I like to keep things simple. At Retrotec, we looked at companies who had 30- plus employee’s and thought that was our goal. With the expansion in personnel or building a bigger shop, it would mean that I needed to build many more bikes. I’m not against that, but having a personal touch and relationship with each customer and their bike is important. Using BikeFlights.com also helps with this a ton because we don’t have to stress about getting bikes across the world, and that makes accepting those orders much easier.
BF: What’s the difference between Retrotec and Inglis?
CI: Though both brands’ bikes are made in the same garage, they didn’t start in the same place nor do their bikes look similar. I joined Retrotec after cutting my teeth welding in the Air Force, and I took over as their head welder in 1993. After a few years, I took over Retrotec with founder Bob Seal’s blessing and decided to move down to San Francisco, California where I also started building bikes with my last name on the downtube. Geometry-wise the bikes are very similar, but visually the bikes look different. Retrotec bicycles are known for their curved frame tubes while Inglis frames have straight tubes.
BF: Based on the times I’ve gotten to ride with you, your geometry seems to be dialed or at least not slowing you down at all.
CI: Thank you Colin, although I have to say that where we’ve ridden is in Downieville, California and Napa, California, both of which I know like the back of my hand.
BF: You said earlier that NAHBS was influential in growth of both brands. Can you point to any particular aspects of NAHBS that have helped you?
CI: I had been going to a few big shows like the Sea Otter Classic and Interbike, and it felt like I was being lost in the noise. It was much harder to be seen or recognized when you’re competing with such big brands. What Don Walker did was create a show for builders and by builders. It gave us a space to show off what we can do.
BF: What factors influence the design of your bikes?
CI: I build bikes based on what I think looks best along with considering what tools I have. With Retrotec, the tubes have slight bends across the entire tube of a frame, while many other builders use more dramatic bends. The tube bender that I have used for years isn’t great at doing sharp bends. That happens to lend itself to how I like frames with bends to look.
BF: I know you’ve got quite a few passions outside of cycling with, one of them being classic cars. Does that have an effect on your frame building?
CI: I love building and rebuilding things. Getting to work on cars with my dad was always something I loved, and we’ve restored a few classic cars. My current cars are a Triumph TR3, and a Wolseley Hornet.
BF: Thanks for your time and also for the ride in the TR3 there’s nothing like riding in a convertible in California!
