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Barrett Russell Custom Frame Builder
March 3 and 4, 2010
With the North American Hand Built Bicycle Show taking place last week We at BicycleSmile thought we should showcase some local talent who has not yet made it to NAHBS. Barrett Russell is a frame builder in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, and we had a chance to talk with him and check out some of his work.
BicycleSmile: How long have you been building bikes?
Barrett Russell: I began working on bicycles in elementary school. At the time it was all about lowriders. By highschool I began a small under the table custom part fab mostly for people south of the boarder as i was in a California based lowrider club (legions bc), but as well some stuff out west and to the Lowlife guys in winnepeg. I began doing paint and gold plating as well during this time. I painted maybe 20 frames during highschool, learning a lot about that side of things, and getting more of a full perspective on fabrication. I abandoned bicycle work just out of highschool and stuck to riding them while attending University for Art.
BicycleSmile: What got you into making bicycles?
Barrett Russell: I have simply enjoyed the making of things. This goes back to the lowrider days, as it pertains to building frames now, or set design, or whatever it is at the moment im doing...which is typically fabricating on some fundamental level. However, what evoked my spending tons of money on tooling and equipment, as well as learning about the way a frame works and so forth, I think is still just rooted in my curiosity as to the making of material things. Furthermore, cycling being such as it is, a rudimentary machine to aid movement, there are many many ideas that are out there as to what this machine can and may be able to accomplish. To build machines in order fulfill the goals and ambitions of not only individuals, but by way, influence the very conception of cycling, is one of my inspirations foresure.
BicycleSmile: Do you prefer doing fillet braze or lugged?
Barrett Russell: Lugs any day. Structurally they simply make more sense than fillet or tig (on steel), but of course in this they yield more work as do most good things. I hate the notion that god sends down only lugs of certain angles and sizes for bikes to be built with. It makes the lug choice almost antiquated (in some peoples eyes), or fashionably nostalgic (in other peoples eyes who wear raybans). Yes I wear Raybans. Point is, lugged joinery not whatsoever bicycle specific, it works damn well with the types and thicknesses of steel being used today, and I think is the right method based on this. However there is nothing as erotic as a filleted bottom bracket (even typing that gets me excited).
BicycleSmile: Besides frames what else do you make?
Barrett Russell: You know I almost enjoy making bicycle tooling more than bicycles! If there are a million ways to ride a bike, there are a billion ways to make one. I believe in cycling and I guess the idea of building very flexible tooling to aid in handbuilt bicycle building is doing yet another part for cycling. But ya, in terms of the question at hand, I make; racks, stems, forks, and really whatever else people have come to believe dont need a 5 axis cnc or robot to make.
BicycleSmile: Do you have a starting prices for all your work, or is it all custom quoted?
Barrett Russell: Well a typical steel tubset costs around 200, once materials are said and done with the little bits, raw materials can be in access of 500, add anywhere from 20 to 100 hrs work on to that...i dunno, it is really personal. I mean ill do a fillet brazed frame for 600 clean and quick, and there aint nothing wrong with a clean and quick frame! (cheezy)
BicycleSmile: Working on any new bikes right now?
Barrett Russell: I wish. I had a tandem lined up for this march, but no word back. I am making lug holders, cutting new backgears for my southbend, making a true mandrel bender, and just finished building a wood stove for the shop...keeping busy, but ...nothing at the moment with thin walled butted tubing.
BicycleSmile: From the bikes you have made, any favorites?
Barrett Russell: Hmmm, I made a frame for this beard wearing eccentric last year. By the looks of him you wouldn't think social assistance would afford him much, but we got out the dedacciai zero replica, and he wanted the lugs carved up nice, thin constant dia and curvy seatstays to a nice clean fastback seat cluster junction. That was a fun bike. Carving lugs is fun, doing something different is fun too, sort of human I guess.
BicycleSmile: What makes a Barret Russell frame unique?
Barrett Russell: Hmmm. No need for frame saver because i have such oily hand skin...really nothing. Im concerned with learning and putting out the best i can, it is unique cause i do it i guess, unique to me, but to have it function is my main goal; its function unique. I could probably carve a head badge out of deer hide and embed gemstones for someone if they wanted. I like things that are common, I have no magical process, and id like to think my work aspires to open up the world by way of functionality, which i guess then the uniqueness would be that of the individual who the bike is being built
BicycleSmile: Any stuff you would like to build that you have not yet had the chance to work on?
Barrett Russell: Tandem, because new ones are so ugly and old ones are so flimsy. I want to give downhill biking a go again, I know a guy moving out to van and he invited me to live with him, in that i think learning to ride downhill and built from that could be fun.
BicycleSmile: From start to finish of a frame what kind of timeline is a customer looking at?
Barrett Russell: My frames are all garunteed for 250 years...oh you must mean build time. Id say a few months once the blueprints are under me bed pillow.
BicycleSmile: If someone wants a frame what is the best way for them to get in touch?
Barrett Russell: Email is fine, phone is good too, but the best, probably a letter delivered by bike courier or St. Bernard with some Rum attached.
Barrett Russell lives in the booming metropolis of Saskatoon and can best be reached through his website, www.bicycleskill.com, although he may say differently. He has mad a few nice cycle trips, one down to Burning Man and another up to Alaska and back on a frame he built himself. I have a custom built pannier rack from Barrett that can be seen here. All around Barrett is one of the best guys I know and he is truely an artist so you are bound to get a bicycle that is one of a kind.