#44: Frank Wadleton, aka Frank the Welder

The Paceline Cycling Podcast · Jul 17, 2019 · 1h 13m

My guest this week is frame builder Frank Wadleton, better known in the industry as Frank the Welder. Wadleton, or FTW as he was often referred to, was a household name to mountain bike action readers back in the late 1980s and into the 1990s. Wadleton made his name initially with Yeti where he helped design an ultra-light aluminum frame, the ARC, that’s A R C, that was ridden to a number of stars and stripes jerseys. Wadleton was and is known for being great at prototyping frames and in the late ‘80s made one of the early elevated chainstay bikes. Wadleton left the West Coast for Vermont…