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Bozeman, Montana
Words by Ben Kahn
Carl Strong lives to ride bikes, and this is directly reflected in his passion for frame building. Carl is happy and lucky to be a frame builder day in and day out, which is a great quality for a person that dedicates his life to building some of the best frames around. Fortunately for those of us who enjoy riding custom bikes, Montana’s short riding season allows Carl more time to build us those one of a kind bikes!
Three and a half decades of competitive years of racing encouraged Carl to fabricate custom parts and build his own race frames. Now 44 years old, he grew up racing bikes from the age of 8. He only recently took some time off, but will be returning this fall to the cycle-cross race scene. Carl’s dedication to the sport, and first-hand knowledge of what makes a bike great, eventually led to what Strong Frames has become today: surpassing their 3500th frame and being awarded the Best TIG Welded Bike award at the 2009 North American Handmade Bicycle Show (http://nahbshow.blogspot.com).
When you look at a Strong frame, it is easy to see that Carl is very detail oriented and he finds life downright serendipitous as a frame builder. Lake so many other artists and craftsmen, Carl’s talent has truly enhanced year over year since he started building professionally in 1993. But artistry alone won’t cut it in the bike industry, and Carl’s business background has helped make business out of art. “Most builders think of business as a necessary evil,” he says. “I enjoy it.”
Strong Frames’ specialty is focusing on customers with whom he can innovate the approach to building a custom bike. Carl likes to work backwards, as it leads him to quality intelligence about the rider. “You are buying the builder, not the frame,” he explains. With bikes that have a four-month turn around period, there is sufficient time to become friends with the client. Carl wants to deliver the exact bike you manifest in your dreams. You’ll be on a bike designed, specified, and color- coordinated exactly to your specs. It’ll run you between $1,650 and $3,200, and you can polish it off with a very limited Strong Forged badge for an extra $200.
High quality frames aside, another strength of the Strong Company is exceptional customer service. Carl is integral to the process. “When the order is placed,” he says, “I develop a relationship with the customer.” Carl gets to know the rider. He wants to know what is important to his client and has developed a protocol to fabricate the bike desired. “I talk to the customer about priorities, and communicate [at least] once a week to get to know them.” Strong emphasizes that learning about his customers and getting to know what kind of rider they are is a huge component to building them the best bike suited for their personal style. He must be doing it right, because 30 – 50% of his customers are repeat business.
Strong frames can be made from a variety of four tube types, although Carl is admittedly a steel junky. He knows the qualities of different metals and tube sets and works with steel, titanium, aluminum, or carbon. His philosophy demands breadth: “It’s not a custom frame if all you know is steel tubing and lugs.” When he talks about composites, he admits, “Carbon has unique qualities that apply to only about 5% of my customers.” While carbon is suitable for some clients, in most cases it ends up that metal and alloy tube sets are best. Carl is cognizant of carbon’s incubating period; he’s testing carbon joints at his shop, but his passion lies with metals.
Strong Frame’s sleek shop is all about getting things done. The refinement in his frames is matched by his work ethic “I like to focus on my work.” That means relishing the quiet and minimal distractions that can be enjoyed during those early 6 am morning hours when few people are yet awake. Any time saved can be put into communicating with customers or updating his knowledge of the tubing market and related bike industry. He likes to be done working by 3pm so he can get out for a late day ride on his steel 29er hardtail. Who’d want to buy a bike from a guy who never rides?
Even though he is a successful custom builder, Carl realizes the importance of passing the trade on. He has an apprentice that learns from his business and fabrication model, and he is also one of eight members in the Framebuilders Collective (www.framebuilders.org)—a commonwealth providing knowledge for up-and-coming builders in the trade. This collective of dedicated artisans want to make sure that the trade is done right, as well as make themselves available to help others learn the trade. Carl is aware of the various small builders out there and wants to help them be successful too.
Photos by Reid Morth
