When I followed Kenny through the doorway of his 40 year-old garage last December, the aroma of
freshly cut hardwood welcomed me. Expecting a foot-propping coffee table or lathe-turned laminated
salad bowl, I was introduced instead to the most unusual HPV I'd ever laid eyes on. Carefully
clamped upright by it's rubberless rims on two paint-splattered saw horses, sat someone's ultimate
fantasy bike… or peddle powered wet dream – Take your pick. I stared, not realizing that I hadn't
uttered a word for the better part of five minutes.
At slightly over five feet between axles, and a crank tucked behind the front wheel, it's reasonable
to assume that this was a LWB machine. And although the typical 559/406 Aeroheats hung from both
ends of this creature, it was the artistic maze between them that overwhelmed me. Not a straight
piece of tubing anywhere.
Resembling a curvaceous but squished Schwinn Phantom frame, the top and bottom tubes were less than
six inches apart at the bottom bracket and appeared to be whittled of Brazilian Rosewood. A gentle
finger-thumping proved otherwise. At the front, four and a half inches of engraved and highly
polished titanium (or anodized aluminum?) connected the members in typical Rivendell head tube
fashion. The scrolling is staggering. Three feet or so behind the bottom bracket, the wooden members
gently touched and disappeared into an equally impressive titanium enclosure. It gets better. Both
rear chain stays appeared to be generously carved (and engraved) from one solid piece of two-by-two,
quarter wall aluminum tubing that hinged to the titanium enclosure two inches or so in front of the
rear rim. No coils springs or shocks can be seen anywhere. The front fork is obviously carbon fiber.
On a tool cluttered bench near the north wall rest what looks like a contoured high back black
composite seat shell. It too was clearly different than anything I'd ever seen. Instead of being
solid, the entire back-rest and butt areas were louvered and strips of (what Kenny referred to as,
"memory foam"😉 was horizontally bonded all surfaces between the louvers. Kenny was quick to
point-out that this bent will be his daily rider, and was not intended as a "don't touch" lifeless
statue. And if anybody is picture eager, then several can be viewed at his web site currently being
assembled (by one of his daughters). I'll pass along a URL when I get it.