Pereira Cycles

[pereiracycles]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3213/...1a1ca37406.jpg

Is that an Atlas lathe?

Eric,
It's a Montgomery Ward labeled Logan. Got it for $300!

[e-RICHIE]

Steve,
<cut> but with so many new guys coming into "the craft" we are now becoming the vets--at least that's how I'm thought of here in Portland.

hot seat time atmo -
you and i had a nice chat at NAHBS.
so, from your perspective both in years and in locale, talk about it.
is all real, or perceived, or some other dimension?

[pdxharth]

Hey Tony,
Good to read your full story. We've only just met briefly, but I have certainly followed your work and make a point of spending time at your booth when you do a show - love it. As a mountain biker first, it is awesome to me that builders like you have re-energized the steel mtb, kind of breathing new life into the genre (are bikes a genre?). Yet at the same time, your take on road/randonneur/city frames always seems to be a hit and you always incorporate your own wonderful little touches that add something special. I am totally happy with my mtb but if (when) it breaks, you would be on the top of a very short list.

As for beer, I just finished a keg of Countryboy and been trying to get Amnesia to sell me a keg of Copacetic for some time, to no avail. But I did jut tap a keg of Hair of Dog Blue Dot, and that ain't nothing to sneeze at! So take this as an official invite to Wabi World Headquarters for a pint or two!

Go TEAM BEER!

Cheers,
Harth
Wabi Woolens - Quality Wool Cycling Jerseys

[pereiracycles]

hot seat time atmo -
you and i had a nice chat at NAHBS.
so, from your perspective both in years and in locale, talk about it.
is all real, or perceived, or some other dimension?

Thanks for bringing this up. This goes to the point of my long-winded intro story. Building a pretty nice looking bike isn't really all that hard. If you're lucky it will ride well too. Running a business building bikes for hundreds (thousands!?) of other people is a whole different story. There's a whole lot more to it than just building bikes. I've always been pretty open about the fact that I'm not great at the business side of things. I'm great at talking to people and understanding what they want and need. I'm great at solving problems. My retail ski shop and bike shop experience taught me a lot. You have to be good a lot of different, often incongruous, things in order to successfully run a bike making business. You can't just make great bikes and be successful.

I do believe that there is a real boom in the world of handcrafted bikes. However, it is not as big as it looks from the outside. The Portland scene is a good example. Whenever you hear someone talk about Portland having a big framebuilder scene they will usually say there are "about 30" framebuilders here. Take a look at the sidebar on bikeportland.org. Under Bike Builders there are 36 companies. Of those I can confidently tell you that maybe 10 of them make their entire living from building bike frames. Many of them do it part time, some not really at all. There is a little smoke and mirrors, but the 10 that do it full time, really do it. They make a real living building beautiful bikes. Some of the most refined, beautiful bikes that have ever been made. 10 years ago there were probably two. Maybe four. 6 years ago when I got started here there was Vanilla, Strawberry and Ahearne. There were maybe 6 more that were getting started. Among them myself, Ira Ryan and Natalie Ramsland (SweetPea). And while there are 30 that are still around there are at least 30 more that haven't made it.

As the big bike companies bet bigger and the world gets smaller (thanks to the internet) specialists like us can thrive. There are still challenges, but I see a long term future for us. I'm confident that I'll be doing this for as long as I still want to.

[edoz]

On the business side, do you have any help, or do you handle the books and everything as well?
Also, do you have a favorite type of bike to build and please share your favorite build and toughest lesson with the home viewers.
Thanks.

[pereiracycles]

Harth,
I'd love to come check out Wabi and get some of that Hair o'. I haven't tried Blue Dot, but all the other HOTD beers I've tried have been fantastic.

Steel is the best material for building custom one-off bicycles on a small scale. There are hundreds of tubes to choose from and it can be formed and bent to suit. There is no other material that offers as many possibilities. Carbon is ultimately more versatile, but is cost prohibitive for one-offs. Long live steel!

[anthonymaietta]

Tony,

The last two years at NAHBS you have recognized me and come up to talk and was always impressed (that you remembered who I was) with how you seem to really listen during a conversation. I never feel like I'm talking to a wall and I imagine your customers always have a great experience.

Following your Flickr/blog we all learned you made the transition from having an external shop to one in your house's garage. One of my all time top internal conflicts is the pros and cons of having my shop at home (when I can someday) or at a rented space. Now that you have settled into your new space can you talk a little bit about some of the pros and cons you have found working "at home".

Thanks,
The other Tony

[pereiracycles]

On the business side, do you have any help, or do you handle the books and everything as well?
Also, do you have a favorite type of bike to build and please share your favorite build and toughest lesson with the home viewers.
Thanks.

I use quickbooks to keep everything in order. At tax time I hand it over to a tax preparer.

Hard to pick a favorite bike to build. Sometimes I like building the simpler mountain bikes or road bikes and other times I love to sink into a fully decked out randonneur. I build a lot of different types of bikes because I love them all.

The tough lessons come when you are learning when to say know. My litmus test is pretty close to "would I ride it?", but even that can get you in trouble. A few years back when I was still scraping by a local guy asked me to build a longtail--basically a built-in extracycle. This was before the Big Dummy. I almost said no--in fact I think I did say no and then agreed to build it when I was low on cash. I spent and entire month working long hours to build it. There were something like 22 tubes and I mitered them all by hand since I didn't have a mill. I basically spent an entire day mitering and setting up each tube. I fixtured it on the fly. I made the dropouts from scratch. I charged the guy less than I charge now for a "normal" frame. The bike ultimately came out great, but the big lessons were:
You've got to charge for your time.
If you're going to make it again, then take the time to make proper fixtures.
Avoid the temptation to take on a project you don't want to do just because you need the money.

[e-RICHIE]

thanks for this atmo -

The tough lessons come when you are learning when to say no. My litmus test is pretty close to "would I ride it?", but even that can get you in trouble. A few years back when I was still scraping by a local guy asked me to build a longtail--basically a built-in extracycle. This was before the Big Dummy. I almost said no--in fact I think I did say no and then agreed to build it when I was low on cash. I spent and entire month working long hours to build it. There were something like 22 tubes and I mitered them all by hand since I didn't have a mill. I basically spent an entire day mitering and setting up each tube. I fixtured it on the fly. I made the dropouts from scratch. I charged the guy less than I charge now for a "normal" frame. The bike ultimately came out great, but the big lessons were:
You've got to charge for your time.
If you're going to make it again, then take the time to make proper fixtures.
Avoid the temptation to take on a project you don't want to do just because you need the money.

[pereiracycles]

Tony,

The last two years at NAHBS you have recognized me and come up to talk and was always impressed (that you remembered who I was) with how you seem to really listen during a conversation. I never feel like I'm talking to a wall and I imagine your customers always have a great experience.

<snip> Now that you have settled into your new space can you talk a little bit about some of the pros and cons you have found working "at home".

Tony,
Thanks for the kind words. I used to be terrified to talk to people. Nothing like a little retail sales therapy. I enjoy talking with you too, so that helps!

I love working at home. Lucy works from home too and now that we have the kid, we are stealing little bits of time to get our work done. I can pop out to the shop and get some work done when she has a little down time. We try to stick to a schedule, but it's nice to have the extra flexibility. When I only have an hour I can use the whole hour.
Even before Oscar came along I was taking advantage of the same easy transition from home to work. I can see the shop being a distraction if you are always tempted to work, but I don't have too much trouble shutting it down when I need to do other things (like have a life!) It's also great to have the shop at home when I'm heading out for a ride and need to do a little wrenching. I haven't used a floor pump for a long time! I replaced the muffler on our car recently and dragged to torch over to weld it up all pro-like.

[pereiracycles]

I am still waiting for my picture of Oscar wearing his Engin onesie.

Drew, when you sent us this it seemed so huge. It's now in rotation! Thanks man. Love it.

[EnginCycles]

Drew, when you sent us this it seemed so huge. It's now in rotation! Thanks man. Love it.

Too cute (not the onesie). Tell me when he out grows it and then it will be hooded sweat shirt time.

I would also like to add to your comment on stranger things you have brazed. This is without a doubt the oddest ( and very cool practice lesson):


-Drew

[pereiracycles]

I would also like to add to your comment on stranger things you have brazed. This is without a doubt the oddest ( and very cool practice lesson):

-Drew

That bell is so loud I don't even use it anymore.

[littlepackage]

Hi Tony. What did you think of the first bike geeks you met in Portland? ;)

[Thylacine Cycles]

I don't really have anything to add except to say Tony that I'm a fan and really like what you're doing. You've got great individual style and that's worth it's weight.

[pereiracycles]

Hi Tony. What did you think of the first bike geeks you met in Portland? ;)

lp,
I couldn't have been luckier to land next door to such fine folks. :)
To keep this on the framebuilding tip: I was so relieved to be welcomed by other framebuilders when I arrived in Portland. I met Andy Newlands, Sacha White and Ira Ryan within weeks of arriving. I thought I might be thought of as an interloper or something. Had no idea if there was a "locals only" thing going on. Turns out that Andy is the only person in Portland that was actually born here--and that was like a hundred years ago. Almost every builder I've ever met has been generous with their knowledge and I try to do the same.

P.S. to all y'all: If you need great handmade cycling caps you can't do better than littlepackage. Little Package Cycling Caps

[EnginCycles]

T,
Finally thought of a good question (although I might benefit more than the readers from the answer). You and I have a similar issue with over working. Over the past 3 years I have noticed you make a transition from this and spending more time on your bike or away from the bench (a good thing). What was the pivoting point and how have you managed your inner person that has the desire to work more?

Cheers,
Drew

[pereiracycles]

Drew,
That's a good question, but I'm not sure the answer is that simple. I was really gung-ho when I started and couldn't wait to get in the shop everyday. I would work 80 hours a week and not take days off for two and three weeks at a time. This led to unhappiness in my relationship and inside my own head--I was getting burnt out. I finally decided to ride more and relax a little more and try to find the right balance. Now that we have the baby I can't work (or ride!) nearly as much as I'd like to, but that will balance out as he gets a little more self sufficient. As you know, it's all a big juggling act, especially with both Lucy and I being self employed. Honestly though, I'm completely over working those super long "startup" hours. I'd much rather have a hobby or two than work all the time. I really want to make some knives and work on my motorcycle. Someday I want to buy and old 911.

[lex]

Hey Tony,

I moved my shop to my house too.

My wife Robin is slated to give birth to our third child in a couple of weeks. Trying to keep up with the first two while going to the shop every day was rough. Robin and I didn't relay have enough time for one another and you know the deal. Long story short my lease was coming up and we decided that sacrificing the garage and side yard for my shop was the rite thing to do. I moved every thing to my house later that month.
It took me a little while to get used to the stop and start of it (that part wasnt easy for me) but I couldnt be happier with the set up now. Having the flexibility to go in and out helps with my girls school schedule and other interests that require a drop off and pick up.

I was wondering if you have had to or elected to change your process any since you have been working from home?
For instance, I started to use files alot more to reduce the noise level for my neighbors among other things.
Thanks man!

BTW, Congrats to you and your wife on the new addition.

Cheers,
Lex-

[hahn_rossman]

Tony-
Congrats on being even more in the limelight than usual! Any trip down to Portland without a stop at your place seems like a failure. I'd like to publicly second all the accolades people are making about you as a builder, and add to that the fact that you understand how to have fun on the bike as well. (Tony is an integral part of the Rapha Continental project).
I'm delighted that you are getting a chance to teach at UBI, both for your own development and also to demonstrate how to just figure it out already! I can't imagine how many foreheads have been smacked after looking at your Flickr account, and realizing that you make most of your tooling by hand. Chapeau!
Hahn Rossman