Author: ostieguy
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Portrait of “Local Legend”, steel frame bicycle maker and wheel builder: J.P. Ryffranck. He was born in Eeklo, Belgium and immigrated to Canada as a young adult with a technical diploma in hand. He started working as a tool maker here and quickly took on leadership roles. He always had a passion for bicycle racing and some think he could have become a great champion. Instead however, he turned his attention to bike making. He had, after all, worked as youngster, in a bike shop owned by ex- Tour de France rider Camille Van De Casteele. He built frames in his spare time at first, then, after he retired from his full time job, started building bikes full time. I met Mr Ryffranck as I was a member of the local racing team, in the early 1990s. Everyone in the team, it seemed, had a Ryffranck made for them. And naturally I wanted one too. They were, at the time, among the best steel racing bikes money could buy. He made his last frame in 2011, but at 86 years old, he can still be found working in his shed, where I went to meet him. Some of the links I used when researching this documentary: Reynolds Bike tubing: http://www.reynoldstechnology.biz/ Henry James lugs, crowns, dropouts, shells, etc. : http://www.henryjames.com/ Famous Montreal Bike maker (Where Ryffranck sends his frames to be painted): http://www.marinoni.qc.ca/ Columbus Bike tubing: http://www.columbustubi.com/ Join me on Social Media: https://twitter.com/ostieguy https://www.facebook.com/roxtonfone/ Or email me at: ostieguybiz@gmail.com The music at the beginning of the video is "My Favorite So Far" by Ostieguy. It can be downloaded here: https://ostieguy.bandcamp.com/album/instrumental