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Origin of the Species

I spent my entire childhood obsessed with bicycles and riding. Bicycling has been the predominant activity of my life other than eating and sleeping and making a living.

My first lightweight racing bike came my way at age 13 and with it came a tremendous amount of freedom to move about; venturing many miles from home. Out of this childhood obsession a livelihood has emerged for me, first as a bicycle mechanic in 1976 , and as a full-time bicycle framebuider in 1988. I actually built my first frame in 1978 and kept building as a hobbyist until the onslaught of telephone frame orders made it necessary for me to quit my job and build frames full time. My initial inspiration to build bicycle frames was borne out of necessity; I couldn’t afford to buy a custom frame and figured that I would save a lot of money and learn a lot more by attempting to build my custom frame myself. The challenge suited my obsessive nature at the time and the process was completely foreign and fascinating to me. Many hours of blunders and frustration did little to deter me after the first frame, so off I went to build one for my sister, then another one for a friend. I just couldn’t stop; I was sure that the next one would redeem me for the previous one with all of its imperfections.

Now that I have been trying to redeem myself for over twenty years, the bikes have gotten to new heights of quality. My frames have been ridden at the Olympics and at world championship cyclocross and mountain bike events in many parts of the world . Since a lot of much better riders than myself have given me input on the performance of my bikes, the development and sophistication of my framebuilding has been tremendous over my career. The thing that I have avoided is delegating any of the building process to others, except for painting. In other words if the frame has my signature on it, you can be sure that I built it. I don’t have a production line in my shop and most likely never will. I want each frame to be as personal as the one I would build for myself This ethic makes for slower delivery than the bigger companies, but it also enables me to build the kind of frames that are too special to duplicate any other way. If you are willing to wait a couple of months, it could pay off in many years of the best fit and performance possible in a bicycle. Just ask someone riding a Rock Lobster.

-Paul Sadoff

©Josh Becker

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Methods

While most frames are TIG-welded, fillet brazing and lugged construction are available on most steel frames. Almost any degree of artistic touches are available as well, depending on budget. All aluminum frames are TIG welded and then artificially aged or heat-treated by an aerospace quality facility. Frames are aligned to within .020. Steer tube sizes of 1 and 1 1/8 are available on road and mountain frames. All threads are English and all frames are fully prepped before leaving the shop. Both powdercoat and wet-paint finishes are available, the stock finish being a powdercoat ( single color ) with a wet-paint clearcoat is included in the price. All sizing and geometries are custom as these frames are built one at a time.

Materials

Steel.

Rock Lobster has sourced steel tubes from all over the world for decades. In the changing times manufacturers have come and gone but I have always tried to use as much domestically produced materials as possible. What is available now are tubes from Velo-Spec, a Taiwan based company that has bought a huge consignment of USA steel from the former tubing supplier True Temper. I also use tubes from Vari-Wall, a company in Ohio. When those tubes are not available or are incorrect for a particular build I will source metal from Columbus or Dedacciai in Italy or Reynolds in the UK. Much of my frame building hardware comes from Paragon Machine Works right here in California.

Wherever my materials come from, they do have to be of a certain quality or I will not use them. When one purchases a custom frame , the materials cost is not a large percentage of the price so upgrading to really high quality tubing is a relatively inexpensive thing to do and the benefits are tremendous.

Aluminum.
Rock Lobster uses 7000 and 7005 tubing from Dedacciai for the most part. Some tubes are sourced from Fairing Industrial or Nova Cycles supply. All the aluminum I use has to be the most durable I can get. Aluminum has a finite fatigue life and getting higher quality tubing with ample wall thickness will produce a longer lasting frame. This is something that has been borne out in all the CX race frames I have built over the last couple of decades.

Hardware is sourced from Mike Ahrens who has been making custom dropouts, brake mounts and yokes for myself and a few other builders around the world. I believe that Mike is making the very best 7005 hardware that I can get and the dropouts are compatible with Paragon Machine Works hardware, which is a great plus. With Mike able to do custom orders, he is able to keep up with the ever changing brake mount, head tube and bottom bracket specifications of the industry better than any of the larger manufacturers.

Warranty

All Rock Lobster frames carry a warranty against defects in welds for life and materials for two years. This is subject to the judgement of Rock Lobster Cycles and applies to the original owner of the frame. Any non warranty repairs are done in a timely manner and at a reduced rate. Although not likely, Rock Lobster reserves the right to change any and all specifications of this warranty and all products.

FAQs

How long does it take to get a frame?

Can take 7 months to one year from time of order as Rock Lobster is a small operation making limited numbers at a very high quality level. The list has never been more than 7 months.

How can I visit Rock Lobster?

Visitors are welcome……Just get in touch through the website and make an appointment.

Can I order a frame through my favorite local bicycle shop?

Certainly, as long as the shop isn’t in direct competition with a nearby rock lobster dealer.

Are there options other than the ones listed on this site?

Yes, there are almost infinite possibilities when ordering a custom frame but there are some building practices that I will not do for safety and/or ethical reasons……a phone call can clarify the parameters.

Does Rock Lobster offer complete bikes and if so, why aren’t there any prices?

Rock Lobster offers complete buildups on a bid basis…you will know what it will cost in advance-I can’t list all the prices as there are too many variables-hey, its custom!