Framebuilder and innovator Bruce Gordon was decades ahead of his time. He arguably invented the 29er wheel category in 1988 – eleven years before WTB introduced the 2.1″ Nanoraptor in 1999 – and was making true-to-form gravel bikes decades before anyone else. The Rock ‘n Road 40 and 43 mm tire platform sprang from his desire to have larger 700c tires. But once he had the tires, he had to make a bike to fit them. John recently snagged the first Rock ‘n Road frame from a collector, and he’s elated to tell you all about it below!
Rock ‘n Road Rubber
In the mid-1980s, framebuilder Bruce Gordon had a been there, done that moment building himself a mountain bike to take to the 1985 Pearl Pass Tour. While mountain biking was the new hot thing in the States at the time, he didn’t want to abandon the 700c road bike platform but acknowledged its shortcomings. The klunkers, cruisers, and mountain bikes of the 1970s and into the 80s were commonly ridden on dirt roads, not primarily singletrack like today’s bikes, and Bruce was still convinced drop bar bikes were just as capable. There just weren’t high-volume tires for the riding he and others liked to do on them.
Original Joe Murray drawing to CST provided by Sean Walling (left) and original prototype RnR tires still on this 1988 bike (right)
Chicken or Egg?
Bruce was an innovator. He thought not outside the box, but miles ahead of it. Knowing he wanted bigger rubber, he began developing the Rock ‘n Road tire. But there wasn’t a frame on the market available to clear big 700c rubber. So, in a chicken or egg scenario, rather than asking which should come first, he developed both simultaneously.
In the mid-80s, Gary Helfrich of Merlin fame came across the Hakkapeliitta tire from Finland at Cupertino Bike Shop in California. These snow tires were heavy, tipping 2 pounds each. Gary, thinking the high-volume rubber would be great on a 700c bike, brought them to Bruce Gordon’s shop, where they began building prototype rear triangles that could fit the tires.
The two builders bent, shaped, and crimped various chainstay designs, all in an attempt to make a road bike fit these fat tires. For this frame, Bruce ended up modifying a lugged bottom bracket shell by scalloping the outer chainstay lugs, allowing them to be mounted as far outboard as possible. He then crimped the interior to maximize tire clearance.
Once they had a prototype rear end, the two innovators partnered with Joe Murray to develop the Hakkapeliitta in a lighter-weight 700c casing size. The prototypes in 1988 were made by Cheng Shin Tire (which later became CST and makes Maxxis tires) and were offered in two widths: 700 x 43 mm and 40 mm. Many years later, Bruce would unveil the 48 mm size as well, which were made by Panaracer.
First 29er?
29er pioneer Wes Williams would denounce the Rock ‘n Road as a 29er tire, stating, “A 700 x 47 mm wheel measures 28” in diameter, hence the term ’28 incher’…” However, this seems rather pedantic, as Bruce’s intention wasn’t to make a 29er tire, but to adopt the 700c wheel platform, which later became known as a 29er wheel, regardless of tire diameter.
But to clear that beefy of a tire, you needed a custom bicycle. Luckily, Bruce was really good at that, too.
Rock ‘n Road Steel
What you’re looking at here is the first Rock ‘n Road frame. A bicycle designed with 700c by 48 mm tire clearance. In 1988! This RnR frameset features a Shimano XT Deore drivetrain, MTB tubing, and is lugged. Bruce made two lugged RnR frames for himself — this one and another for NAHBS, or the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, in 2014. The rest of the Rock ‘n Road bikes were tig-welded. Our copy editor and contributor Nicholas has a stunning tig-welded Rock ‘n Road.
Speaking of Nicholas, he pulled together this informative video about the evolution of the Rock ‘n Road brand!
It’s nice to hear Bruce’s voice again. Thanks for making this video, Nick!
The genius behind the frame lies in its tubing spec. Bruce hand-selected tubing profiles from various manufacturers for a specific feel. Knowing this bike would be ridden less like a traditional road racing bike, he wanted the tubing to be more robust, without sacrificing the plush ride quality he was known for.
Selecting beefier tubes where extra strength was needed since this would be ridden on dirt roads and thinner tubes where he wanted flex allowed him to “tune” the ride of the bike. For instance, there is a Columbus SP, an MTB tube, a seat tube, a 1.25″ down tube, and a thinner 1.125″ Columbus SL, a road tube, and a top tube.
He used chain stays that tapered to 1 cm, as well as Tange Prestige fork blades and seat stays. The lugs were stamped steel lugs from Japan for early production lugged mountain bikes. At the time, Japanese companies like Toyo made lugged mountain bikes for a variety of brands. Back then, Taiwan wasn’t the production powerhouse that it is today.
Geometry and Finishing
This 1988 Rock ‘n Road features a 72º head angle and a 73º seat angle, 58 cm top tube, 43 cm chain stays, 7 cm of bottom bracket drop, and 5 cm of fork rake. The frame was powdercoated by Sean Walling, who later went on to open his brand, Soulcraft, and now works for the Petaluma-based White Industries. Sean was 19 at the time and noted, “[It was] kind of a shame though to cover up his lug work with powder coat! ” This outstanding display of frame finishing was, as noted by Bruce in 2015, “The only four-color powder job I’ve ever done at the shop.”
Bruce noted in a blog post ten years ago: “I copied the Salsa stem, and made the stem to go with it. Probably because I was sharing a shop with Salsa Cycles at that time.” Even though he “copied” it, he still added his own scalloping at the stem clamp, tying the detail back to the scalloped bottom bracket shell, making it a uniquely Bruce product.
A Bike From the Past’s Future
Bruce’s innovations didn’t stop with the Rock ‘n Road platform. You like that RockShox Rudy? Well, he did it with a Mag 21 over thirty years ago! In 1993, he modified a RockShox Mag 21 fork and mounted it to a titanium Rock ‘n’ Road frame.
With front and rear lightweight steel racks, also made by Bruce, the ’88 Rock ‘n Road could easily fall into the brand catalog of any steel bike manufacturer today. Is it a Crust Bike? An early Rivendell? A rim brake Kona Sutra? Or perhaps a boutique offering from one of the many framebuilder showcases we cover so thoroughly over here at The Radavist?
As the retro aesthetic seems to be rising to the surface, displacing carbon-forked, disc-brake gravel bikes, at least within our circles, it’s nice to see what very well could be the genesis of the movement in such pristine condition.
Don’t worry, it’ll get ridden, but those tires belong in a museum!
Future Build Plans
My intention with this bike is to ride it as much as possible on our gravel rides here in the Southern Rockies. There’s even talk of a Bruce Gordon tour happening next year in the Bay Area with some friends.
The only notable changes I’ll make to the bike are to swap out the hand-bent Nitto drops for some wider 52 cm Crust Shaka bars. Riding almost 40-year-old heat-treated aluminum bars that were bent (crookedly) in a bench vise seems a little too sketchy for my tastes. I’ll swap out the wheels for a new set. Going with tubeless rims and White Industries hubset, as a nod to Sean Walling’s time with Bruce. I’ll keep all the original components to preserve the bike’s history.
I feel that these changes will keep the spirit of the bike alive, which is the most distilled-down and honest spirit of gravel, I might add!
Bruce Gordon was a true gem of the NorCal framebuilding scene. His innovations from the 1980s remain relevant to this day. This 1988 Rock ‘n Road embodies his forward-thinking approach to building bicycles that he wanted to ride. As a result, he spurred an entire movement to help bring drop bar bikes off-road.
For more on Bruce, check out my Monster Cross post, too!
The 43 mm and 48 mm Rock ‘n Road tires are still being made today and in tubeless applications. You can buy them from Bruce Gordon Cycles direct.
What about you? Do you think this bike is still relevant today? Would you ride it?
Thanks to Mark Janike, Sean Walling, and Nicholas Haig-Arack for their help with this story!
Miguel and I will be making a Race Metal / Beautiful Builds mashup video as well, so stay tuned!