Brooklyn Machine Works has been making specialized bicycles in a small shop in Williamsburg since the mid-1990s. The company has a following among downhill and BMX racers, and its five employees produce about 400 frames a year.
At top, a frame is being welded; above, it is the crank design for one of the company’s downhill racing bikes. The bikes are intended for professional riders and serious enthusiasts. According to Joe Avedisian, the founder of the company, a frame costs $600 to $2,800.
“As a born and raised New Yorker,” Mr. Avedisian said, “there is an unbreakable attachment to this city. This attachment is created by the creative people who live and work here to test and/or break the molds or their own past and to make something new.”
“My father always said to me, ‘If it’s not for sale in New York, it’s not for sale,’ ” he said. “So I figured I could take that one step further and manufacture it here as well. New York has a long history of manufacturing, and you know what the song says: if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.
“And with the name Brooklyn Machine Works, how could I move, even if I wanted to?”
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