a midway bikelog

Rivendell lower head lug, sitting on my desk at work.

While riding along the Greenway trail last week, i passed by an guy riding a fixed gear bike with a frame with the name Domínguez on it. I said hi, but didn’t really chat because i was on my way to a meeting. The web being the web, and it being a small world and all, when i saw the name Domínguez on the Mpls Bike Love forum the next day, i decided to follow-up, found a website, and as it turns out, i’d passed Vincent Domínguez himself, local framebuilder and nice guy to boot.

I’m periodically reminded what a fantastic cycling hub the Twin Cities really are when this sort of thing happens. I’ve met a couple of other local builders, and they’re both really nice too, aside from doing amazing metal work. There are a lot of great bike shops in town, and a lot of cool people riding bikes, but probably not that many people realize what great talent this area has in bicycle framebuilders. I’ve known of a few for a while, but it seems like i’m constantly hearing on new ones in the last couple of years. It’s exacting work; part metallurgy, part craft, part art, and when done well the result is a beautiful and useful machine.

To keep track of them, I have started a page listing local framebuilders, at least as many as i can find (10 so far), always linked on this site. I’m hoping someday to throw some business their way for my own custom frame, but i also hope to build my own frame someday. Let me know in comments if i’ve missed any and i’ll gladly update the list.