MTB CULTURE
BUILDING FOR THE BUILDERS
Who makes all of those pieces that make a bike more than a pile of tubes? We meet the people who make the bits for the people who make the bikes.
WORDS HANNAH & FAHZURE FREERIDE
PHOTOGRAPHY HANNAH
Many of us never give much thought to the idea of owning a handmade bike, probably dismissing the idea as too expensive. The reality is that a handmade bike is often cheaper than we might think and unlike most off-the-shelf experiences, a handmade bike purchase will almost certainly involve more insight, customisation and support. Let’s say you do think about handmade bikes from time to time. Maybe you go to a show like Bespoked and admire some, talk to the builders. You look at the neat welds, the artful bends in the tubes, the way the angles balance out just so. Maybe you’re impressed by a neat, practical little feature or a functionless flourish of beauty. You probably give the paint job a second (or third) glance.
But have you ever stopped to look at the head tube, or the bottom bracket shell, or the cable stops? Did you ever wonder where the brake mounts were made? Unless you’ve ever made a frame yourself, probably not. If you’ve ever got as far as wondering where you might buy a bottom bracket shell, you’ve almost certainly heard of Paragon Machine Works.
Factory farming
Based in Richmond, California, an industrial city with a very diverse population that’s just across a bridge from San Francisco, Paragon Machine Works is the framebuilder’s builder. Approaching the small industrial unit, we turn through streets that appear solidly working class. Many gardens (or yards, as they’re called here) contain a car that doesn’t look like it’s moved in a while, plus another that doesn’t look like it’ll be moving for much longer. But it doesn’t feel deprived or dangerous in the way that other neighbourhoods in California can. There’s no threat behind the broken windows and peeling paint, just a lack of time and money to fix things between all the other demands of life.
Turning into what ought to be the factory yard, we find ourselves in a garden. A huge pergola construction festooned with wisteria, jasmine and trumpet flowers casts shade over carefully planted flower beds that are interspersed with ceramic sculptures and containers. The sweet scent of the climbing plants mingles with the roses and herbs, so that the usual factory smell of hot metal and cutting oil is nearly absent.