Scott and Adam both had Waltworks frames, they had great things to say about the process, and the manufacturing quality looked premium. Walt had built a ton of rigid forks and came highly recommended by other folks I internetted with, and as I recall it he was unfazed by what I planned to do with it. I paid a deposit and I waited. I confirmed the spec and I waited. I paid the balance and I waited. 

Then one day a fork-sized box was sitting outside the door to my apartment. I picked it up, took it inside, and, well, I waited again. There was no holding back the idea now. I had already had a friend lace up my new Race Face ARC 40 rim. I had mounted up a 3″ Bontrager SE4 tire tubeless. I had booked time with Toxik Harald to paint it. All I had to do was pull it out of a box, bundle my tiny Claire into the car, and my 29+ mullet hardtail would be ready to ride in no time. 

It’s bizarre to think back to that earlier experience. No WTB Vigilante 2.8″ High Grip tires, no CushCore Plus, and no certainty about the rigid-Plus journey I was about to embark on. I opened the box and there it was. Harald talked me out of a clear-over-raw-tint finish I was aching for in favour of a more durable paint job. The Clairebarian picked out a pink/purple fade. Harald painted the fork. I picked it up. Boom. Happy. 

It’s a process that was echoed for my V1 frameset and Nina’s frame, and even V2 and my WZRD bar, though they both arrived painted with that fresh Cosmic Lilac powder coat finish. The box comes, and I just stare at it for a while. It’s like Schrödinger’s f*ck up. The contents are both awful and awesome in use until I pop the box. 

And that’s not to say I have any doubt about the craftsmanship contained within, but the act of opening the package is also the final ownership of the idea. There’s really no escaping it now. Is it too big, too small, too steep, or too slack, does it ride like my dreams or my doubts?

The idea didn’t get lost in shipping, eaten by steel termites, accidentally shipped to some other customer on the other side of the world who decided to keep it, and so now it’s mine. The process of the reception lasts from the moment I open the box to the very first moment that I use the bike, fork, bar, or bag. 

I didn’t make the thing, hell I didn’t even design the thing. All I did was transfer treasure, communicate a desire as accurately as I could, and open a box. And now, for better or worse, the thing is mine. Time to assemble a bicycle, maybe take some photos, or have a little party? And then, on to the ride.