The Richie-Issimo bottom bracket shell project happened in 2005. I was still chopping/channeling whatever parts I could tee off on, adding metal to increase pocket depth, and then reshaping all of it to look like what I imagined. The original piece, now totally skanked up with oxidation and patina, shows the brass where the extensions were added. In contrast with the many lug sets I designed, the shell was pretty easy. Almost a slam dunk. I sent the handmade sample to Taiwan, then received an art file interpretation of my work, looked at the pretty pictures with numbers and arrows all over the page, signed on the dotted line, and voila (that’s French atmo…) the cast version passed my smell test on the first go round. I love technology and Napoleon Dynamite. Produce shit or die.
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