Black Sheep on Home Page

[Christophe Noel]

I had a chance to swing by Black Sheep's workshop to chat with James and his crew. Beautiful bikes.

http://expeditionportal.com/american-overlander-black-sheep-bikes-hand-crafted-bicycles/

 

[transporterjr]

Thanks for that report. As an engineer, I should hate that bike, built with some unnecessary bits, including the curved seat tube and custom curved seat post. Should. But I Don't. I loved it, especially the curved seat tube and seat post!

 

[p nut]

There have been rumors floating around on the popular mountain bike site that there are more than a few people fed up with the customer service. One guy has gone over a year not only waiting to get their frame fixed, but not getting replies to his emails/calls period. Beautiful bikes for sure. Not sure what the issues might be as far as communication.

 

[Co-opski]

There have been rumors floating around on the popular mountain bike site that there are more than a few people fed up with the customer service. One guy has gone over a year not only waiting to get their frame fixed, but not getting replies to his emails/calls period. Beautiful bikes for sure. Not sure what the issues might be as far as communication.

I saw on TMZ that James at BS is on his own since Todd Heath left to start Moonmen
http://www.moonmenbikes.com/gallery/#itemId=5465824be4b0aa6a22cfa1a7

 

[sjxj]

I saw on TMZ that James at BS is on his own since Todd Heath left to start Moonmen
http://www.moonmenbikes.com/gallery/#itemId=5465824be4b0aa6a22cfa1a7

This is probably true to some extent, but I'm pretty sure he's got plenty of help if he needs it. I visited him after Todd and Paul went to start Moonmen, and there were a couple of old partners in the shop helping him out. I think his waiting list is longer because they committed to quality over quantity a while back, and that meant slowing down for a better product. However, it would piss me off, too, if I was waiting for something for an extra-long time, and could never get in touch with anybody to find out where I am in the queue. I'm lucky enough to live a few minutes from his shop, so if I need work done, I can just head over to find out where things are at. A sixxer goes a long way, but you have to live near enough to make a personal delivery work in your favor. That's not to say I step in front of anybody who's waiting for his work, though. I just make damn sure he knows I'm waiting, and talking face to face with somebody reinforces that pretty well. He is a super nice guy, though, and the product is worth it. Hope it works out for everybody in line.

 

[Co-opski]

This is probably true to some extent, but I'm pretty sure he's got plenty of help if he needs it. I visited him after Todd and Paul went to start Moonmen, and there were a couple of old partners in the shop helping him out. I think his waiting list is longer because they committed to quality over quantity a while back, and that meant slowing down for a better product. However, it would piss me off, too, if I was waiting for something for an extra-long time, and could never get in touch with anybody to find out where I am in the queue. I'm lucky enough to live a few minutes from his shop, so if I need work done, I can just head over to find out where things are at. A sixxer goes a long way, but you have to live near enough to make a personal delivery work in your favor. That's not to say I step in front of anybody who's waiting for his work, though. I just make damn sure he knows I'm waiting, and talking face to face with somebody reinforces that pretty well. He is a super nice guy, though, and the product is worth it. Hope it works out for everybody in line.

Well said. Black Sheep's quality sets the benchmark in custom bikes and James welds are a work of art. One should pay little attention to the smut on TMZ.

 

[DaveInDenver]

I first met James way back in about 1999 when he was willing to repair my Rhygin after it decided to crack at the top tube/head tube junction (it's a Metax frame and finding someone welding stainless bikes, much less local, was a tough thing). At the time he was still working part time at Da Vinci welding tandems and we were still in Denver. It's funny, we're a few miles from his shop in Ft. Collins now. Wish I'd have known you were in town, I assume you did the brewery tour around his shop, too.

 

[Christophe Noel]

It's funny, we're a few miles from his shop in Ft. Collins now. Wish I'd have known you were in town, I assume you did the brewery tour around his shop, too.

I'm in the Fort all the time. Was there for five weeks in October/Nov. My sister and dad live in FC and since I went to college there, have loads of pals in the area still.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Gotcha. I came close to starting grad school at CSU this semester. Was accepted into the MSEE program but when push came to shove there wasn't anything on the schedule that fit in with the work hours and I don't have the money to not work, so I had to decline the invitation to enroll and that was that. Funny how your academic career just sort of dies with a whimper. I got my BSEE at CU, so it would have been cheating anyway.

On topic, here's a photo of my Black Sheep repaired Rhygin.