t.s. isaac custom circa 1977-78

This was my first custom-built racing bike. I had been on a Motobecane and I was so excited – just picking out the color, the color of the decals, and the seat bolt fixture. That pinch seat bolt built into the frame was very high-tech cool stuff then. Just visiting the frame builder and seeing his shop, it was all pretty neat for a teenager to be doing.

Tim Isaac used to build frames in an old vault in a building in downtown Denver. The building was an old bank that had been converted to apartments. He set up his frame studio in the basement there.

This was sold off and later came back to me, that’s why the stem is so short. My stem wasn’t that short or tall, and the seatpost was a lot taller but it’s still authentic and period correct: Campy derailleurs, high flange hubs, this was 1977 or 1978.