The way Purely Custom came into being is a pretty interesting journey.  It starts with a foundation in manufacturing and continues with a company that appears, “meant to be.”  To tell this story properly, we need to rewind a bit and go way back to 1928 when Wensil Seastrom, a washing machine repairman in Los Angeles, started manufacturing parts in a neighbor’s garage.

It was the start of Seastrom Manufacturing and over the years that small little company grew while serving aerospace and military programs, as well as 15,000 manufacturers in numerous industries.

Seastrom’s capabilities continued to change and their high-end designing and stamping capabilities were soon being utilized by companies like Boeing, General Motors, and General Electric.

The Third Generation

As we fast forward several years we get to Bob Seastrom, the third generation and CEO of Seastrom Manufacturing that brought the company from Glendale, California in 1995 to a state of the art facility in Twin Falls, Idaho.  A few years later, in 1997 the company added CNC machines and Seastrom Manufacturing took on a project that included making components for fly-fishing reels.

After looking at the reels, someone had the idea that with a little more design, we could be making a great looking yo-yo, and soon the Reel Yo-Yo was a branded product.

It was soon followed by the Aero Wheel, Disc Brake, the Mag Wheel Yo-Yo and several prototypes.  Still not officially known as Purely Custom, the company pretty much grew organically with each new possibility.

Add More Capabilities

Business was starting to expand with the addition of these CNC capabilities and the CNC machines were kept busy creating custom car parts like intake manifolds,  parts for snowmobiles, ATV’s and motorcycle parts like brake reservoir covers, silencers and spark arrestors.

Actually, ideas were getting a little crazy as they were able to engineer and manufacture just about anything.  A subsidiary of the company would need to be established to better serve all these new products and the name Purely Custom, made official in 2003, pretty much summed up the endless possibilities.

Anything with Wheels

I’ve been told by his family that Bob loves anything with wheels and it’s not surprising his passion for cycling has been a focus for Purely Custom.  Some of the first bicycle accessories included headset caps, spacers and valve stem caps and as Purely Custom arrived at their first Interbike show, they were displaying something that nobody was making at the time.  The ideas for bicycle accessories started to produce new products every other month offering just about every possible way for someone to accessorize their bicycle, from spinners to bash guards and many items that offered custom engraving.

You Dream It… We Make It

Purely Custom was able to serve a little different customer than Seastrom Manufacturing appealing to an audience that loved motorsports, cycling and creating nearly any customized product.  The slogan “You Dream it…We Make it” continues to be appropriate.

The brochures over the years are reflective of the customers being served at the time, it’s interesting to look back at the wild colorful designs splashed with bright colors to the modern style of the current brochures that embrace our passion for cycling and bike fitting.  The logo even made some changes over the years evolving from trailing colorful swirls to a more sophisticated look.

Bike Fitting

As Purely Custom entered further into the cycling community, they were soon engineering bike fitting tools like the X/Y Tool, sizing cranks, and a sizing stem.  Bob Seastrom is an engineer at heart and knew he could build a better fit bike and improve upon what was on the market at the time.  Working with input from the bike fit community Purely Custom turned out their first Fit Bike in 2010.  They tell me that they finished the bike on a Monday and unveiled it that week at Interbike.  Through strategic partnerships, and constantly striving to improve bike fitting, Purely Custom was able to become a leader in the bike fitting industry.

The line of Fit bikes now includes three different styles with the flagship model being the Fit Bike Pro 1.

The Pure Logic software was conceived to allow the Fit Bike Pro 1 to harness immense technical analysis and control the resistance technology.  The Pure Position software allows a bike fitter to select a bike solution almost instantly and new tools are still being invented like the Naviculometer and the versatile Wheel Riser.

Awards and Trophies

Purely Custom has created numerous awards for cycling events like LOTOJA, Sea Otter Classic,  el Tour de Tucson, and NICA (National Interscholastic Cycling Association.)  We’ve made customized medals on ribbons and Sprockets that hold headset cap awards that note each year’s accomplishments.  We’ve worked with customer ideas to create completely unique trophies and even made dog tags and jewelry completely customized.

Napkin Drawings

Today Purely Custom is still able to engineer and create just about anything.  Napkin drawings are still turning into real products.  As a leader in the bike fitting industry, Purely Custom continues to develop new tools to reach the highest results for cyclists and to help independent bike dealers become more successful in offering services to their clientele.  Checkout our many products listed on our website at www.purelycustom.com  and if you have an idea, give us a call, they don’t call us Purely Custom for nothing!