Nate Meschke was a bike mechanic with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting. Ditto his co-worker Matt Cardinal. They formed a friendship, built a frame together, and ultimately formed Signal Cycles together. This year they share the North American Handmade Bike Show (NAHBS) award for Best City Bike.
Nate spoke with Josh about his motivation to build custom bikes, in spite of the often solitary life of a custom craftsman.
Running a small business like this is hard. And you talk to anyone here; they’re not in it for the money. It’s because they all love the bicycle and don’t want to sit at a desk. And so they’re fine with just being a craftsman and trying to get a small business going. "¦ The benefit is that you are proud of your work. "¦ We’re all in our shops just laboring away. It’s good to show what we do to everyone.