Wizard by Brian Baylis & Mike Howard

Wizard Bicycles is considered by some to represent the height of custom steel bicycle frame building in America. The partnership between the inventive and creative Brian Baylis, and the meticulous craftsmanship of Mike Howard produced approximately 80 frames. 
 
Brian Baylis (d. 2016) and Mike Howard (d. 2025) were among the first American employees hired by Roland Sahm to build Masi bicycles in California. The pair worked under Mario Confente starting in early 1974. They would leave later that year to form Wizard Bicycles in Huntington Beach, California.
 
Baylis and Howard produced approximately 80 bikes. The time they spent crafting each one ultimately made it impossible to suceed as a viable business. The two builders returned to Masi in 1977 and shortly after that Baylis would strike out on his own, while Howard to build under the Medici marquee.
 
This Wizard was repainted by Jack Trumbull at Franklin Frames in Newark, Ohio to address surface rust issues at the top tube cable guides. Notorious for rust, the Confente designed cable guides were refurbished instead of being replaced. The color is  dark blood orange, as near the original as possible. 
 
This bike was purchased from California. The owner's father bought it from "one of the guys who started Wizard". In conversations with Mike Howard, he stated this was a bike made off the books for his father, one of a handful without a serial number.
 
This bicycle measures 57cm x 57cm center-to-center.