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| landshark:start [2024/11/18 21:23] – mtbtimeline | landshark:start [2024/11/19 07:22] (current) – mtbtimeline |
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| John Slawta skipped art school to pursue his back yard hobby of making bicycles and applying his artistic talents on painting smoothly fillet brazed steel frames. | John Slawta skipped art school to pursue his back yard hobby of making bicycles and applying his artistic talents on painting smoothly fillet brazed steel frames. |
| Land Shark's greatest moment came when [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Hampsten|Andy Hampsten]] won the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988_Giro_d%27Italia|1988 Giro d'Italia]] riding a John Slawta frame painted in [[huffy:start|Huffy]] livery, cementing Land Shark's reputation as a premier road cycling builder. He has also made bikes for Harrison Ford, Woody Harrelson, and the entire 7-11 team. His wife has won four National Titles on Land Sharks. | Land Shark's greatest moment came when [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Hampsten|Andy Hampsten]] won the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988_Giro_d%27Italia|1988 Giro d'Italia]] riding a John Slawta frame painted in [[huffy:start|Huffy]] livery, cementing Land Shark's reputation as a premier road cycling builder. He has also made bikes for Harrison Ford, Woody Harrelson, and the entire 7-11 team. His wife has won four National Titles on Land Sharks. |
| Land Shark Bicycles was named after a SNL skit [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_Shark_(Saturday_Night_Live)|Land Shark]] from season one in 1975. | Land Shark Bicycles was named after a 1975 [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_Shark_(Saturday_Night_Live)|SNL skit]]. |
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| Land Shark is a one man business and John Slawta has built over 7,000 bikes himself, welding, painting, assembling and shipping, usually making 225 bikes/year. He can produce a custom painted frame in a day but typically takes 6 weeks to produce an order. His record is nine fillet brazed frames in a day ((That day was followed by a night ride)) and twenty-nine painted bikes delivered in a month. It is possible that he is the most prolific bicycle builder alive. | Land Shark is a one man business and John Slawta has built over 7,000 bikes himself, doing all welding, painting, assembling and shipping, usually making 225 bikes/year. He can produce a custom painted frame in a day but typically takes 6 weeks to produce an order. His record is nine fillet brazed bare frames in a day ((That day was followed by a night ride)) and twenty-nine painted bikes delivered in a month. It is possible that he is the most prolific fillet brazing bicycle builder alive. |
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| Resources: | Resources: |
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| ===== 1983 ===== | ===== 1983 ===== |
| Frame #5. Updated components, fillet brazed frame and stem, biplane forks, internal cables for the stem and top tube, brazed on shoulder straps ((One of the earliest example of brazed on straps for a MTB. There was perhaps only a single maker in 1982 who had these: [[mantis:start#s1982|mantis]].)), pirate motif stickers with at least five skulls and cross bones, rack mount bolts on top of the fork, two bottle cages on the down tube, bottle cage on the stem, brazed on front derailleur, integrated seatpost bolt. | Frame #5. Updated components, fillet brazed frame and stem, biplane forks, internal cables for the stem and top tube, brazed on shoulder straps ((One of the earliest example of brazed on straps for a MTB. There was perhaps only a single maker in 1982 who had these: [[mantis:start#s1982|mantis]].)), pirate motif stickers with at least five skulls and cross bones, rack mount bolts on top of the fork, two bottle cages on the down tube, bottle cage on the stem, brazed on front derailleur, integrated seatpost bolt. Paint scheme inspired by Pink Floyds [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meddle|Meddle album]]. |
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| Paint scheme inspired by Pink Floyds [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meddle|Meddle album]]. | |
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| {{meddle.jpg?200|1983 }} | {{meddle.jpg?200|1983 }} |
