I’ve told this story several times over the past fifty some odd years. When I was starting, I had a head of steam going in resulting from the contacts I’d already made from working at Witcomb USA as well as from the local racing community. But I was still raw and green and certainly undercapitalized as far as business sense was concerned.
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Then one day four people from North Avenue Bike Shop in New Rochelle, New York dropped by and each ordered a frame. My deposit then was twenty dollars. After writing up the specifications and then saying goodbye, I had eighty dollars – four Jacksons. I felt like a Rockefeller. Eighty dollars was a mother lode of money for me back then!
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The bicycle pictured is the fifty seventh RS branded frame. It’s from 1976. One of the four lads from North Avenue Bike Shop has remained in touch over the decades. He still rides it regularly, and every so often I get an email update with some interesting anecdotes regarding his cycling and the RS bicycle I made for him.
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