10 Hour Bike Fitting

Yesterday I made the great Journey to Winthrop, WA. Why did I drive 4 hours for no apparent reason to the middle of no where? It's easy, to meet with Doug Curtis the owner of Curtlo Cycles. Many people talk about what a great builder Doug is but not many people get to meet him. So I set off on my venture at 6 am for the great Northwest Cascade Highway. This is probably one of the most scenic drives I have ever been on in Washington state. Along my drive I managed to see a heard of elk, 5 bald eagles on a mound of rocks and get a sweet picture of a young buck. I stopped a couple of times along the way taking pictures and looking at the earths marvels.  Finally at 10:30 am arrived in Winthrop. This is a magnificent place to live. For the outdoor enthusiast it is a dream. With rivers running everywhere and trails for miles and miles you could live there your whole life and not see it all. In the winter it is a cross country skiing haven with 2000 km of groomed trails. For the Hunter and Fisherman it has just about everything the Northwest has to offer. When I pulled up to Doug's house and shop it was easy to understand why he moved here. His neighborhood consisted of a few houses sprinkled around a large meadow in no particular order. In every direction a scenic view that could be on a postcard. When I pulled up I was greeted by the the house watch dog. A friendly golden retriever that said hello as soon as I opened the car door. After petting the dog for a minute I walked to Doug's shop.  After meeting and talking with Doug for about an hour I got a feel of his philosophies about building and life. Doug is a extremely nice guy who Builds bikes not to get rich or have his name on every bike across america. He builds them because he loves building bikes for people and it gives him the freedom to live life at his own pace. He builds the bikes at the same pace if he has 10 or 100 orders, his speed is not determined by number he needs to build but what is comfortable and enjoyable. It was kind of funny, he talked about if you were the last person on the list he would not stress to build 100 bikes fast, you would just wait longer until the 99 were built before yours. After an hour of talking we got to the bike stuff. Doug sized me on his own bike, taking some measurements and asking me questions about what I wanted. We talked allot about component options. Being 280 lbs it is important to get stuff that is going to hold up. Doug is pretty amazing when it comes to pricing. When you buy one of his frames he sells you all the components at cost. For example the white brothers fluid 135 mm fork sells online for about $780-$880, Doug puts it on the bike for $650. This is how all the components are priced. Allowing you to build a pretty sweet bike for way cheaper then allot of manufactured bikes. After we were done sizing we talked a little more about Winthrop and his journey there and I headed back for another 4 hour drive home. The whole experience was amazing. From drive there to meeting Doug and even the drive back. It was refreshing to meet a person who cared more about the quality of life and making people happy then the almighty dollar. I couldn't be happier I chose Doug to build my bike, besides the craftsmanship and price I could not have purchased from a nicer guy.