Seller of the Week: Jeff Frane

Welcome back to another edition of Seller of the Week: the blog series where we ask our favorite sellers five easy questions!

This week’s seller of the week is Jeff Frane, AKA BikeJerks. Jeff is a legend in the Minnesota bike scene and famously founded All-City Cycles. Today his main focus is divided between his BikeJerks brand and his newly launched Wilde Bikes. You can see Wilde Earth Ship #1 for sale on our site now! We love everything Jeff does and are stoked to see him on BikeList!

How did you get into bikes?

I started as a kid exploring the neighborhood and I never stopped. I started racing mountain bikes in Junior High and in High School I never got my drivers license because I was too afraid of the responsibility of maybe killing somebody. So I never stopped riding my bike as transportation. I graduated with a Liberal Arts degree and so was in fine prospect to be hired at a bike shop when I moved to Minneapolis after completing my secondary education and having livied in a 1992 Dodge Caravan for a year. In Minneapolis, all we do is ride bikes. Fact: all new citizens are issued a u-lock and chamois cream at the county line. It's in the constitution. Mind you it's industrial stuff, strictly the bare minimum quality.

What bike do you ride the most?

My daily driver is a BMX handlebar'd Surly 1x1 single speed or an eight speed Fat Chance Yo Eddy! with a front rack. I also ride a ton on my gravel bikes, mtb's and various vintage bikes. Because I am a person who easily falls in love with "things," I have many bikes so none of those gets significantly more attention in terms of hours of use than the rest. The honest answer to this question would be my fat bike, a Salsa Beargrease. For four months of the year it is the only bike I use for sport or pleasure.

Campy or Shimano?

This old chestnut again? Is it 1997? That's a lazy question whom only folks on the cusp of aging out of their Paramounts likely give a fig regarding. Everybody knows the Nuovo and Super Record groups were innovative and iconic. That Shimano crushed the 80's mtb game as off-road technology emerged. That Suntour was always innovating, had that WTB collaboration period and that their Bar Cons are some of greatest parts ever made for function and durability. And that Grip Shift sucked, but that SRAM AXS is the biggest innovation of the last ten years.

But I will say that Campagnolo C-Record is the most beautiful groupset in the history of ever by a margin. So yeah. Campy.

Any big plans for the next year?

My dance card is full. In addition to all of the Wilde commitments, I'm looking at expanding the events I run with two more big ride/tour extravaganzas in addition to the Hodag Country Ramble. If y'all want to experience some deep Midwest stuff, show the heck up. We party.

Photo credit Stevil Kinevil