Retrotec Sponsors SSWC 2006 Winners
August 9th, 2006
Napa, California
Retrotec will be the frame sponsor of the 2006 Single Speed World Championship in Stockholm, Sweden. The winner of both the men's and women's races will each receive a Retrotec frame along with their new tattoo. When asked how he became the frame sponsor for the race, Curtis Inglis, builder for Retrotec and Inglis Cycles replied, "I know one of the promoters, Dane Thomas of American Flyers, and we thought it would be really cool to offer the winners of the race custom frames this year from a small builder. Single speeding became popular through small builders making single speed specific frames when no one else was pumping out production models, like you see today. You just couldn't get a single speed production frame when this kind of riding started taking off."
Curtis Inglis along with three teammates will be traveling to Stockholm Sweden in August 2006 to race at the SSWC. Says Inglis, "It's not that Retrotec has a team or anything, it's just me and some of my friends, who happen to ride Retrotecs, decided to make the trip. It's gonna be a blast."
San Francisco bay area companies Clif Bar, White Industries, WTB, Camelbak, Formula Brakes and Chrome Bags along with Thompson Components of Georgia and Oregon's Chris King generously helped to equip the team. Napa Valley's Eagles Cycling Club helped with travel expenses. "The companies that wanted to help us out are run by good people who I've known for years. I was stoked they all wanted to be a part of this," Inglis commented.
The SSWC take place on August 19th with an international group of racers and spectators descending on Stockholm for the festivities. The race venue location changes each year and race winners are tattooed or branded at the finish line, whatever the current race organizers choose. "I raced last year at Penn State and a few years ago at Downieville, but hadn't tried to make it to the European locations until now. Racers aren't even given the course details until the day of the race this year. You have to love that kind of thinking," comments Curtis when asked about why he is drawn to the SSWC.
Curtis Inglis is a custom bicycle frame builder based in Napa, California. He is the builder of Retrotec and Inglis Cycles with over thirteen years of custom steel frame building experience.