Mitchell Robinson of Gainesville, Florida says he is resisting pressure from area developers to sell the business space he has occupied for thirty-five years. He likes the location of BikeSpeed Repairs, he says, and is proud that he has been at the same location since he opened the shop in 1979.

He spends most of every day in the rear of the shop, in a dimly lit workshop. He wears a shop apron and is surrounded by bike tools. The air smells vaguely of banana – the scent of bike lubricant.

Mitchell Robinson of Gainesville, Florida insists there is nowhere else he would rather be.

There are numerous work orders hung from a peg in the wall. He takes a new order, adjusts the pair of reading glasses on his nose, and looks it over. An observer can see the wheels beginning to turn in his head. He sets the work order down, removes his glasses, and finds the bike that corresponds to the order.
Let the repairs begin.

That is an ordinary day in the life of Mitchell Robinson of Gainesville, Florida. Unless he is building one of his custom-order frames bike frames, frames that are in demand by discerning (and well-heeled) cyclists the world over.

"Bike frames are the most important part of any bike," says Mitchell Robinson. "They are its backbone. And they are the one component you can't fix on the road, if something goes wrong it."

Before he builds one of his custom frames, Mitchell Robinson of Gainesville, Florida asks his customer a series of questions. He wants to know about riding style and the rider's weight, and how long the rider expects to keep the bike. And then they talk bout materials, which is going to be a factor in the frame's pricetag.

The most common frame material is steel, he says, but adds he doesn't make many steel frames anymore. He prefers making titanium frames, which are as strong as steel but lighter. It's also more expensive. It flexes well, says Mitchell Robinson of Gainesville, Florida, but still maintains its shape. He welds the tubes together using the TIG method, which is fairly inexpensive and results in a good, solid weld.

The purpose of a well-built frame, he says, is to offer strength with a minimum of weight. And that is accomplished by a variety of factors; what the frame is actually made of is only one part of the equation.