BOSTON, MA (BRAIN)—What do three guys who had worked at Independent Fabrication for almost 30 years combined do upon learning the company is moving to New Hampshire in May?
They launch a new handmade venture called Firefly Bicycles in Boston, of course.
“We have lives here in Boston,” said Tyler Evans, the lead founder of the company. “We have houses. We have friends. We have families. We decided it was time to make our own way. We’ve been building frames for a long time, and it’s sort of our passion in life. What else are we going to do really?”
Evans and Jamie Medeiros each worked for Independent Fabrication for 13 years, while Kevin Wolfson put in almost three years.
Firefly has launched with two custom, TIG welded, hand-built bike options to start with—the Firefly Road and Firefly Cross—in either Columbus XCr stainless steel or 3/2.5 titanium tubing. “We’re hoping to have our mountain bike in production in May,” Evans said.
“We’re taking everything that was great about where we came from, where we’ve been, our history together, our deep roots in the international cycling community, our collective skills, and we’re using that as a starting point,” said Jamie Medeiros, who will handle Firefly’s R&D. “The fundamentals of making great bike frames haven’t changed dramatically, but there is so much room for improvement in attention to detail, dialing in ride quality, finish quality, customer service and making bikes that are truly unique to each rider.”
Evans said his goal is to keep the operation small and customer-centric. “We want to make it a real, comfortable intimate experience for the customer,” Evans said. “We’ll be working with a few dealers around the world as well as mostly direct to the customer.”
Evans said he and Medeiros will attend the North American Handmade Bicycle Show in Austin, Texas, which starts Friday, but that Firefly won’t be showing product. “We’ll be meeting with a lot of people, and catching up with friends,” Evans added.
(FROM LEFT TO RIGHT) Jamie Medeiros, Kevin Wolfson and Tyler Evans of Firefly Bicycles.
—Jason Norman
jnorman@bicycleretailer.com
