Located in a garage in the northern outskirts of Portland, Breadwinner Cycles is the brain child of two of the best custom bicycle designers and builders in the industry – Ira Ryan (pictured) and Tony Pereira. Both have created Best in Class winning bikes at NAHBS, but teamed up together to bring their unique sensibility in small batches to the hand built market.
During a recent trip through micro-brew heaven, I had the opportunity to stop by their small workplace and see where the magic happens. Take a closer look at the #ShopVibes after the break…
BreadWinner produces eight different models, which can be customized for each customer’s specific needs.
Their product line encompasses everything from road to mountain, and offers both classic and race inspired geometries and styling.
Everything is custom made to order, but built in small batches, so delivery time is usually between 8-12 weeks.
All of the frames are Tig Welded, and are usually finished with head tubes and BB shells from Paragon Machine Works.
With nearly twenty years of experience between them, Tony and Ira often use a variety of different tubing to get their desired ride characteristics. For the most part though, they use Columbus, because it is available in the widest range of options.
When they started BreadWinner, both builders thought they would still have time to continue building Ira and Pereira custom frames, but the new venture has kept them exceedingly busy.
That doesn’t mean they don’t find time to do rad side projects, like this vintage front derailleur that Tony recreated.
Ira is also an avid racer and race plates and other memorabilia line the walls of the shared workspace.
As a gear head though, my favorite toy was Tony’s fully restored Yamaha.
Tony created these clip ons using old bar stock.
The bikes aren’t bad either.
In addition to frames, Breadwinner also offers complete bike builds. Most are finished with U.S. sourced parts from brands like Thomson, Chris King, Velocity and ENVE.
Tony’s personal bike is a tasteful mix of mountain bike components, and – hold the phone! – are those Cook Brothers Cranks?
If you’re interested in calling one of these beauties your own, head over to the Breadwinner Cycles website to learn more about their product offerings.
Special thanks to Tony and Ira for taking some time out of their busy day to show me their digs and talk kitesurfing.
