I’d done a couple of model
shoots in Dovercourt but hadn’t dropped in on Justin Burls http://burls.co.uk/ for almost
three years. High time we had a catch up. Down in the workshop, he was busily
building a customer’s mountain bike, based around one of his legendary, custom made titanium
framesets. I can hear some of you screaming Wot no discs!!!????
Well, the machine in question
is being built for an epic, wilderness tour of Africa. A raw and punishing
environment, where outright reliability trumps sophistication/exotica.
One of the many reasons I
toured with 4130 Cro-moly racks, or trailer.
Worst case scenario; should a
breakage occur, chances are a roadside garage would be able to blast it back
together with either an oxyacetylene kit, or MIG welder. Talking of which
(Probably has its origins in my childhood and many afternoons in a workshop) I
was keen to inspect Justin’s new workshop extension and TIG inverter.
TI aside, Justin traditionally
fillet brazed his framesets. I was rather taken with his frame jig. More with
its rusty patina, than the contrasting, space age titanium road frame held
within it.
He was also preparing a pared
to the essentials fixed frameset with a beefy wishbone rear triangle. No
drillings for brakes, let alone mudguards, or similarly civilian stuff here! Hanging on the wall, was his Dawes Galaxy
tandem.
Arguably one of the best
production models, rivalled by Claud Butler (Holdsworthy) Super Dalesman during
the 80s I also liked Dawes Double-edge mountain bike tandem. Look closely at
Justin’s and you’ll notice shortened Shimano cranks and a very sleek adaptor.
This was so his daughter, Alex
could do stoker duties. However, she’d had a growth spurt, thus this expensive
adaption was now redundant! At least, until his son, Tom gets tall enough…
Now, being able to ogle
another rider’s workshop space is an honour and a privilege. Its also
fascinating and serves to illustrate that one rider’s trash, is another’s
treasure. Swap meets sound like the ideal means of exchanging unwanted kit but
for the moment, online auction sites are my default. Keeps personality and
emotions out of the equation.
Back to my fleet. I’ve swapped
the Vel SE cage, from the Holdsworth and to my cross/gravel fixed. Reason being,
the twisting forces associated with a side-entry design, coupled with a large
trade bottle, has proved too much for the former’s band on mounts.
It’s caused them to rotate
annoyingly over the course of a ride. No migration issues with traditional, top
entry cages and 750/800ml bidons. Something to bear in mind…I’ve also hit the
300mile mark with the Finish Line Dry lube, so have introduced some Joe's Dry,
which arrived for testing, last week.
Been a frustrating week, with
models cancelling, or messing about, prompting me to update my cancellation
policy. The model who cancelled, is usually super reliable and was presented
with a situation she had no control over. She also contacted me first thing,
that morning.
I am a compassionate person
and know only too well that sickness doesn’t stick to a schedule.
I also know, first hand that
the most reliable and well-maintained vehicles, or childcare can let us down.
However, I have no time for those, who book shoots and then hedge their bets,
or don’t show.
A Bedford based model did just
this. On the one hand, inconvenience and wasted time have really irked me but
on the other, clearly a lucky escape. I’ve wished her every future success and
promptly blocked her, from future email, or portal communications.
Communication is key and its
one of the reasons I engage in a fair bit of pre-shoot correspondence. Any
photographer, who cannot bolt together, a coherent and articulate paragraph is
worth swerving. The same goes for models who approach, wanting to work but with
no idea of what they want to achieve.
If someone approaches me with
the opening line “Hi, I like your work, would you like to shoot?”; I’ll
typically reply, asking what attracted them to my work and me, specifically. If
they do not reply, or cannot articulate in reasonable detail, it tells me all I
need to know.
