I consider Erik Noren of Peacock Groove a friend. While we differ in our tastes in media, our aesthetic in bike design, height, weight, dress, etc., we both share a love for bikes, and we both have a bit of geek in us, and that’s enough. Erik’s gone out of his way to help me a few times, and I’ve got his back if he needs anything.

Over the years, usually right after NAHBS, when his bikes are getting some coverage in the press, I’ve seen Erik belittled over his choices in design, and his “gimmick” bikes. And when that line didn’t get any traction, I heard crap being spewed about his timelines and communication (something every framebuilder is guilty of to some degree or another). And it’s usually from the same subset of haters.

Erik, in a lot of ways, is like a lot of other framebuilders — he’s a little weird, a little obsessive, very opinionated, and he loves bicycles. But he’s also loud, outspoken, and has been described as “the Liberace of framebuilding.” I think Peacock Groove puts off a lot of builders because he’s not afraid to break with tradition, think outside the box, and do stuff that he thinks is cool (regardless of what other people think), rather than to toe the line and build a bunch of forgettable bikes.

He may be unpopular with a subset of the framebuilding community, but locally, he’s pretty well-known. Ask any cyclist in the Twin Cities to name a local framebuilder, and if they can, “Peacock Groove” will probably be one of the first names that comes out of their mouth. That’s because he builds bikes that appeal to him and to the rider, not to other framebuilders. (Also, importantly, he engages with the local cycling community more than any other builder I’ve encountered.)

Additionally, his willingness to push the boundaries is something a lot of framebuilders (myself included) should learn from. Unless we are willing to try new things, to test the limits of our engineering, fabrication, and creative skills, we are doomed to irrelevance.

So, say what you want about Erik Noren, deride his style, deride his attitude, deride his “gimmicky” bikes. There are times when he drives me a little crazy, but I can’t talk to the guy without wanting to smile — the passion and knowledge of his craft are infectious, and both as a rider and a framebuilder, I’m inspired by every conversation I have with the dude.