Chris Blandford has picked up the torch he hopes will reignite Portland’s vaunted reputation as the epicenter of American bicycle building. His Firsthand Framebuilding business is set to expand into a framebuilding school and shared shop space scheduled to open next summer.
I recently met Blandford as his current space in northwest industrial to learn more about his exciting project.
Tucked away in a corner of the vast, 70,000 square-foot Chris King Precision Components factory where some of the world’s most sought-after bicycle parts are made, Blandford and I talked about his plans and why he was inspired to “take the plunge” on this new business venture.
Blandford, 40, grew up in what he called, “car-centric Phoenix” and then lived in Durango, Colorado, which is where he caught the cycling bug. In 2016, he came to Portland to take framebuilding classes from (the now closed) United Bicycle Institute (UBI). He and his wife were living in Chicago at the time. “We experienced Portland, kind of fell in love with it, and we moved out here,” Blandford shared. “And I’ve been trying to poke my way into the bike industry ever since.”
As he made custom bikes for himself and a few clients, he saw UBI close their Portland location in 2019. “That kind of planted the seed in the back of my head that there might be room for a new version of a framebuilding school,” Blandford reflected. He continued building and teamed up with Oscar Camarena and Simple Bicycle Company (a business that made bikes for other labels) in 2021. Then, late last year he seized an opportunity to take over the North American distribution of Reynolds bicycle tubing. He now sells high-end steel and titanium tubes for bicycle frames, handlebars, and seatposts — as well as a full selection of framebuilding supplies and tools — from his e-commerce site Firsthand.bike.
As a framebuilder himself who loves the process and craft that goes into each bike, and understands the financial side of the business, Blandford can appreciate the struggle of young builders trying to scratch out a living doing what they love. And sharing resources can mean the difference between building and breaking the bank. Blandford understands that the vast majority of the cost of making bikes is spent on buying and storing tools that are only used 10% of the time. He’s found that many builders, especially younger ones, are interested in sharing these resources.
That’s part of why Blandford taking the plunge with his new concept of a framebuilding school, community hub and shop space which he calls Firsthand Bike.
“In order to learn something, you have to do it firsthand,” he shared when I asked where the name came from. “You can watch YouTube videos or read a book, but the benefit of seeing this stuff done firsthand is huge and there’s currently no public place you can see it.” Blandford also said the name pushes back on today’s all-digital world. “So many things are on screens these days that to have an actual, firsthand experience with something is hugely valuable.”
Firsthand will be a 5,000 square foot, multi-level space in the Johns Landing neighborhood. As he flipped through pages of architectural renderings, Blandford described his new space: a frame shop, a classroom, an upstairs event space, a patio, a small retail showroom, a courtyard, even an on-site apartment for visiting instructors. He also hopes to host events like small bike shows and swap meets. “I’m really hoping it evolves into sort of a community hub that’s centered around metal fabrication and bicycle building,” he shared. “I would love to see this thing become the place for builders to come, hang out, share knowledge, and figure out what’s next in framebuilding.”
Blandford wasn’t willing to share who the first batch of in-house builders will be, but he’s currently testing the shared space concept at his current location. The builders working under one roof include B Vivit of HotSalad Bicycles, Bradford Smith of After Hours Framebuilding, and Tom LaMarche of LaMarche Bike Co.
15 years ago Portland was the center of the American framebuilding scene as it played host to the largest handmade bike show in 2008 and then cultivated its own brand of show with the Oregon Manifest, which was held five times between 2009 and 2014.
But as the cost of living in Portland skyrocketed and our cycling culture shifted into a new era, the framebuilding scene ebbed. Blandford thinks the tide is ready to come back in. “In the last couple of years, especially with the MADE show that Billy’s [Sinkford] is putting on, I felt like there’s a renewed enthusiasm. And so I thought, if someone was going to do it, now might be the right time and I thought I’d just take the plunge.”
“I’m going to build something really cool,” he added. Judging from what I saw and heard on Tuesday, I could not agree more.
Blandford will make an official announcement about his plans at the MADE Bicycle Show, coming to Portland August 22-24th. Renovation of his space will take about six months and he said he plans to move in this coming spring and be open to the public by next summer. Watch this space for updates.
Hear from Chris and see his current shop in the video below:
Thanks for reading.
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Amazing !!
Thanks Chris Blandford !!!
Sounds cool but there always seem to be complainers about how much these bikes cost. Unless you’re just doing it for yourself I guess.
Unfortunately, all things must come to a pass in the fast and furious world of bicycle trends and fads. The Portland frame building scene, fixie freestyle, ironic mustaches, and 7800 rear derailleurs have all come and gone. I feel like this is groundhogs day.
“We landed on the moon!!!!” — Lloyd Christmas
I’m excited by the idea of building by own bike from the frame up. I imagine there might be a modest constituency for a workshop that provides that experience in Portland, even if the market for custom Portland built frames is no longer viable.
United Bicycle Institute tried this from 2009 to 2019 then consolidated back to their Ashland campus. We’ll have to see if there is enough enthusiasm to sustain it.
What is the price range for one of these custom bikes?
They vary a lot, but generally you should expect to pay $3,500 and up.
What a very exciting venture. I definitely want more information. I am wishing you the very best in the coming months.
Wish him the best, but I kind of feel the era of custom & hand made metal frames is slowly petering out. There will always be a niche, but I doubt there will ever be a boom like there was previously. Cycling is simply getting more dangerous and more expensive.
I say this as a guy with several custom steel and Ti bikes who loves the idea of a vibrant hand built scene, but it just seems to be wistful romanticism.
Certainly not exactly apples to apples, but a Breadwinner B-Road starts at $6,000 a Surly Midnight Trucker with comparable components is $2,500. Maybe more insane, a top of the line Santa Cruz Stigmata is $6,500, while an Argonaut Supernaut GR3 starts at $18,000. The custom stuff is just marginal gains for dentists and collectors, of which there aren’t many.
I realize you are probably talking about custom designed and welded bike frames, but the “custom market” really applies to just about all of us in some form or another. At the most basic level, where we live and what we eat tends to be the most custom – staying at a motel and eating a McDonald’s burger without adding your own choice of condiments is as close to a manufactured life as we can usually get – instead we buy or rent accommodations we think we can afford and eat based partly on nutrition and affordability, but also on taste and emotion. People buy custom things because the general market doesn’t entirely cater to their tastes.
Up until I moved to Greensboro NC about ten years ago, I thought I totally knew what I wanted in my bicycles, the geometry, the parts, and so on. When I moved here, I soon started hanging out with the local “bike kitchen” types, those who collect used bikes, fix them up, and give them to other folks in need. Every community has such a group, it’s a huge scene in Portland, but here in Greensboro NC it’s about 30-40 people working in different groups, the police, churches, nonprofits, theft-rings, and chop-shops. Most of these operations encourage people to try different bikes, parts, experiment with sizing and frames, add stem and pedal extenders, try different-sized wheels, and so on.
Within a few years of experimenting, I realized my personal choice of bike was all-wrong, that I was going about it the wrong way, that what I needed was a hard-tail frame that had a very long top tube, a very short head tube, a semi-integrated headset, a dampening fork, a rear 700c/29er/622mm rear wheel and a 26″/559mm front wheel, disc brakes, low standing height, preferably in cro-moly steel, dropper seatpost compatible, and so on and so forth. So far I can fulfill most things with a cheap aluminum mountain bike frame, but I’m still looking for an old Soma 29er, preferably very cheap.
Everyone has their own specifications. Which is why there will always be a custom bike market. The deluxe custom bike is custom constructed, but often with a standard mix of parts. But a custom bike could also be a standard frame with a custom mix of parts. Or both.
The name Chris Blandford sounded familiar. I finally remembered where from: This article about the beautiful bike he built for his daughter in 2020: https://www.thespoken.cc/the-good-work-mathildas-giraffe-by-the-bland-bicycle
Best of luck to Chris!
It is amazing to see negative people complaining about custom bicycles.
How much will a class/course be to build your own frame?
POV: Portland is way too expensive, too many taxes, too much bike crime for anyone but the very privileged or very bike obsessed to afford and opt for custom made local bike frames.
Hi. Looks like this is your first time commenting on this site. I can see that by your first three comments, you are making the same point about how Portland is terrible and you are using the same stereotypes about various groups of people. Just so you know, I moderate these comments and if you make the same type of comment under each story to push a (often unrelated) narrative, I will not hesitate to put you on a list so none of your comments come through. So, if you’d like to be a part of this comment section, please consider this feedback. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks.
Yes, Portland is horribly expensive.
Yes, custom bikes made-to-suit by crafstpeople are expensive.
And yes, focusing on the exclusivity of it all is certainly one way to look at it.
Here’s another:
Every person who buys a bicycle, and spends more time riding it than driving a single-occupancy motor vehicle is making a choice, even the folks who are shelling out thousands for a custom bicycle. I say, the more bicycles and riders, the merrier.
Happy riding.