My new pal Frankie

So, as I have said already, I have been extremely busy these past couple of weeks and I just couldn't spare the time to write it all down. One of the reasons why I was so busy was because of my experience with my new buddy I met at work, lets call him "Frankie", yes that seems to fit. Now for all you sharp people out there, you may have found out why I call him Frankie in parenthesis; well, for his sake I am not using his real name, rather a pseudo name, mainly because he didn't really like being found...

At about 8:55 pm, 5 minutes before my store was closing a man with crutches...um...crutched in. I didn't think anything of it, I just kept cleaning up my work area, excited to go hang out with my friends. Well it just so happens that he was very interested in buying a bike. Now, I figure since you all are reading this you know my height...I am kinda small, I ride a really small bike. Just to give you an idea, the normal frame size for a road bike is 54 cm, I ride a 49 cm. Now all of you think 5 cm, thats not so bad, but in the bicycle business every millimeter counts.

I digress....

Frankie, about the same size as me and paralyzed in one leg and I would say 20 years older than me, came walking into my shop and started asking about the largest bike I carry. Well it just so happens that I some how managed to snag a 61 cm frame bike from corporate a week before, and I figured this guy looks alright. As I showed him the bike it became clear that he was actually, seriously, looking for a bike for himself. Now, I stand here in front of a partially crippled guy telling me he can ride a bike. Most people would scoff at him and tell him off. Me, I listened to him and realized that this man was brilliant. He was buying a bike that was too large for himself so that he could ride it in a different way. All I could think of was Graeme Obree aka 'The Flying Scotsman', this guy owned a bike shop back in Scotland that closed, he was a mentally broken human who had nothing to do, so he created a bicycle with random household appliances and created a new racing geometry and managed to take the world one hour cycling record, twice. So from this point on I was pretty much sold on this guy getting a bike.

So turns out the first night I stayed a half an hour past the close of the store to talk to Frankie about his riding style and how he had a bike that fit him perfect but someone stole it. It was at this time that he also told me that he was planning on having a custom bike built for him but in the mean time he needed a beater bike. So he comes to me to look at some nice road bikes. Makes total sense. But anyway, over the next week, he came in and talked to me about what he needed, went on numerous test rides on this one bike and absolutely loved it. I even came in on my days off to help this guy out because it was cool to watch a disabled person ride a bike.

Now this guy unveils in our conversations that he works in many different trades, one of the major ones being construction. I start to wonder, can this guy be real? day after day he comes in and tells me which bike shop he was eventually chased out of this time because he was being too abnormal, yet I was the only one to keep working with him. I always thought it was cool though that a disabled person goes against the grain and fights his condition to come out on top.

So anyway, last sunday I go to sell the bike to him finally, and since I started working at EMS I have noticed that there were cracks in certain frames due to an anomaly in the assembly process at the factory. So as he is signing the papers for the bike I say "well the bike is brand new but I have had problems with some frames in this particular model in the past" pointing to the problem area "look out for cra..................SHIT!, I can't sell you this bike man, theres a crack in the fucking frame" So, he seemed oddly understanding, I explained to him the process that was about to take place in order to get a replacement frame and get him out on the road, but it was going to take a bit of time. Time I knew he didn't really have. So here I am, busting my ass getting Scott to send me this frame ASAP. I called my friend Kevin at the Warranty Department at 10 am every day, to check on the process, shipping time, and if I was missing anything for the warranty process to take place. Well, I called on Friday, and Kevin says the frame won't reach my end until Monday according to FEDEX. Monday rolls around, no frame......so I look up the shipping, Tuesday. I call up Frankie, and he says its cool, I'll still stop by and see how you are doing. So he stopped by and while he was there he said he wanted to show me a new bike that he bought... So here I am, lost all hope that I was gonna hook him up with his bike, and he turns around and says....I'll be back tomorrow to test ride that bike...I still want it.

So, here I am absolutely floored that he is planning on buying 3 bikes in total. So, the frame comes in mid day after I deal with a cranky customer and everything blows up in my face for about an hour, and Frankie walks in.

Frankie: "how ya doin?"
Me: "well, I could really use a gun"
Frankie: "I can help you with that, need a full clip too?"
Me: "Nah, just one bullet would suffice"

So its obvious I was having a bad day and had just started working on the frame. Instead of getting angry, the guy laughs at me and asks if I want him to pick up some food or something to calm me down. By far the best customer experience I have ever had. Now to cut this short, I finished the bike, he bought it, and I now hope I have more customers like while working at EMS...probably won't happen, but one can hope.


Anyhoo, this is a shout out to 'Frankie', enjoy your bike and ride safe and if anyone ever screws with your bike, I am willing to hunt them down and retrieve it, and that is a promise.