I grew up with them. there father paul started a bike shop in san Leandro ca.
in the 60s then they move to santa cruz ca.
There he opened Branciforte bike shop.
Paul fell ill and Alex his son took over
at i believe 12 years old. That's where I first met them. Anthony the youngest of seven
was my age. We where in 3rd grade at that time. we hung out / work in that shop thru
high school. we competed in the first BMX race. we build some of the the first mountain bikes. road them down the santa cruz mountains. modify stingrays and 26" cantilever frames. you can only imagine all the poop that whent on with a bunch of wild ass kids running a bike shop. Then Alex buys Fabers for around $3,200 an old schwinn dealership ship full of nos stock i believe at that point Fabers had been in business for 65 years. A two story building with a hand dug basement. it had an old black smith shop out back, a two story barn, and a two car garage all full. Alex ran the business for another 35 years.
i was there when it finally closed. it was a shocked to see so many people so bummed out. grown men crying , people telling stories of their childhood. The landmark bike shop that ran for 100 year was over. Had the city and the local people done more to save this historic place other then just talk a bout how cool the place was and its historically significance to the community.
it would still be open today.
A SAD DAY FOR SAN JOSE
