A great thing about steel is that the more you beat it into submission, the better it looks. Joe Stevenson’s Terrible One is not only capable of brute strength, it’s also refined and articulate.
Joe has been riding BMX for 25 years and was in the process of acquiring a Terrible One Barcode. If you have any appreciation of BMX bicycles you should have a read of the history behind that frame, then you’ll understand why they’re so highly sought after. Joe ended up with this particular frame, which happens to have the front end of the Hickerson frame and the rear end wishbone design of the Ruben frame. It was originally intended for a team rider called Paul Buchanan, and never went into production, so it’s the only one in existence. Most of the nuts and bolts are titanium — Joe applied his own effect to the stem (two hours of hammering and mirror polishing), and it’s bolted onto the forks with titanium as well. The Profile cranks are connected via a ti axle, and Joe has a jeweler mate who polished the straddle hanger and inlaid it with other of pearl.
Big thanks to Joe Stevenson for the photos.
