Jordan Hufnagel

Interview by Kevin Sparrow
Photographs by Wilie Yli-Luoma

It seems like every week a new frame builder is born in Portland, Oregon. Being the bike capitol of the US, it’s probably an appropriate business to get into. Home to more than a dozen builders and endless bike lanes, America’s Amsterdam has made a name for itself in the bicycle industry. At the NAHBS (North American Handmade Bicycle Show) last February, one builder in particular seemed to have a niche for sexy track bikes. Jordan Hufnagel.
Just over the Hawthorne Bridge from downtown, I caught up with Jordan at his shop in Southeast Portland. I pulled up on my bike with two iced espressos. I was greeted with a kind handshake and a familiar Mid-Western welcome. Little did I know Jordan doesn’t drink caffeine, alcohol, eat meat or dairy.
The 27-year-old Indianapolis native began with a dream of making affordable handmade bicycle frames for kids that wanted to ride something special. This idea sprouted after several years of being really involved in BMX road trips around the country. By selling self-designed t-shirts, sweatshirts and hats Jordan was able to make money and sustain himself wherever he wanted to go. After traveling and then living in Austin for a little while he bought a one-way ticket to Portland. With a constructive drive and some tools Jordan began making bike frames.

How did you learn how to build bikes?
I built my first couple of frames at UBI (United Bicycle Institute) a little over a year and a half ago. I did a tig welded frame and a brazed frame down there (in Ashland, OR). I’ve been in this shop building by myself for just over a year. I originally wanted to make handmade frames with stock geometry for around $700. This idea went away quick because I fell in love with making unique one-of-a-kind bikes for individuals. Maybe down the road I will do something like that. Right now I like the way things are going.

What were you doing before frame building?
Mostly all bike shops. I worked a few weird jobs here and there. I grew up in Indiana and moved to Austin Texas. I was just riding BMX a ton down there. Worked for 3 different shops. I moved up here and I was over working in bike shops. By then it was like 10 years of wrenching. It was really time for me to move on, which lead me into this.

How many bikes do you usually build a month?
Like around five or so. I work pretty much non-stop. My wait list is around six months right now. This has definitely given me a cushion, you know. I feel like I haven’t gotten over the point where I have to not work all the time because I have these people waiting for me. I feel like I am getting there… Eventually I will be able to relax and go down to the river a little more.

So you are working five days a week at your shop?
Seven. Every two weeks I like to take a solid week off or something.

Are you just a one-man operation here?
I do all the building, but my friend Ryan Barret does all the mechanic work. Once the bikes come back from paint he builds them up and saves me a ton of time.

You’re fairly new to the industry but i feel you made a huge impression at the NAHBS...
I’ve been only building for less than two years but, I feel I’ve packed in the hours of three years of frame building in this last year. It’s the best. I love coming up with new ideas and meeting great people. It keeps me interested in what I am doing. The business aspect has taken longer to develop for me. I think I am a pretty good business person, but I am not the most strict on things sometimes. I feel like I am pretty organized though. It has been a serious work in progress. This last month has been a huge change with my sister being here. She’s an interior designer and so she kind of made it her mission to make my shop a lot better. Just a lot more functional. Not a lot has changed, but enough where I feel a real difference on how things flow around the shop.
  There was a point where I was not sure if I was going to stay in the space because I had a group of friends that wanted to go in on another space. There was also a point where I wanted to start my own paint shop too. But that idea totally went out the door when I talked with Richard Schwinn at the Handmade Show. He threw all these huge numbers at me and spoiled that idea. I have my hands full here anyways.

You do a lot of contrast color head tube paint schemes and use a lot of Japanese bottom bracket shells. Why is that?
I feel my paint scheme works well with my head tube badge. The badge is cast pewter and frames out nicely to bring attention to it. I get the bottom bracket shells from Ron at UBI. That’s where I get most of my materials. They are from Japan. It’s the same shell that Nagasawa and Kalavinka use. I love using them. They have really tight angles between the down tube and the seat tube, and a little bit looser in the chain stays, which is better for the track bikes I build.
  The seat stay caps I also get from Ron. I want to get into longer more elegant caps. The shorter ones look really blunt, which are good on touring bikes. For track bikes I like to sleek it out a little.

Do you build mostly track bikes?
I have been up until now…Out of the next 15 or 16 bikes in line I have one track bike. Which is awesome. I have a really eclectic blend of bikes to build over the next few months. Lots of cyclocross bikes, lots of touring bikes. I am really excited. I do love track bikes though. There is something to say about the clean aesthetics and simplicity. Having a BMX background I see the whole new street track bike scene as something that has caught interest in people that normally wouldn’t be riding bikes as often. Just like BMX I see an uprising in popularity. I love going fast, bombing hills, poppin’ wheelies and all the flatland stuff that I have been seeing. It’s hard not to get on a bike and try some of that stuff and have some fun. The whole track bikes and skate parks, grinding ledges is not generally my thing but I can definitely respect it being someone else’s. It’s just fun on a bike and that’s all any of us are here for.

Have you seen MASH or any of the fixed movies that are coming out?
Yeah, definitely. All the Macaframa guys are really good friends of mine. I was actually in one of their first promos. They are tons of fun and really awesome to watch.

How do you feel about a track bike with a derailleur hanger?
I think it’s the worst idea ever!
  I’ve had a few people request it and I was able to talk every single person out of it. Do you really think you are ever going to strip all your derailleurs and cables and all that stuff to set it up for single speed and then a week later want to go for a long ride just to build it up again. Then you have all these braze-ons all over the place making the bike way not sexy. I am a firm advocate of the separation of geared and non-geared frames.

Tell us about the bike you are working on right now.
This is a track bike with stainless everything. The head tube is stainless along with the drop out faces, fork crown and my script logo. It has a tight-angled Japanese bb shell. It’s going to be black with a really subtle sparkle. The guy who is getting it is colorblind. He was talking about what colors he wanted but then he was like “Whatever color I choose it’s going to look different to me than they look to anyone else.” The bike he has now is black so he was a little hesitant. But it will make the stainless on this bike pop so much! It’s gonna look sooo good.

Any plans for the future?
Plans for the future eh?
  Right now i’m really looking foward to riding cyclocross and taking some machining courses so i can do more with my mill and add some other machinery to the shop. I have a really diverse queue of bikes to build right now ranging from track bikes to fully loaded touring bikes and coaster brake cruisers, and that is something i would like to continue. I love building a different style of bike every week, it keeps it interesting and engaging. Also I’m excited about putting together a small race team over this next year and helping out some rad people. Simply put I’m just looking foward to the progression of Hufnagel Cycles and having a lot of fun with it.

Hufnagel Cycles