Mikkelsen Bicycle Frame Repairs Painting & Brazons

I came here after my steel bicycle frame’s rear fork was bent in a car accident. It wasn’t in terrible shape but I was afraid that it may not have been repairable. Bernie assured me that he would be able to get my frame back to new and offered me a very fair price. I’m not going to lie, I was a little skeptical in the beginning of the process. 30−45mins later, with the help of Melody and I, he had my bicycle frame back to perfect shape again! I highly recommend their service.

This was one of the most enjoyable and interesting bike experiences I’ve ever had. Everything got done fine, but there was nothing regular about it. If you find you don’t like Bernie or Melody Mikklesen right away, go somewhere else. Bernie loves bike frames, and is an technology artist. Melody does the business end of the operation. He knows his stuff when it comes to steel frames. Eddy Merckx famously observed, «Don’t buy upgrades, ride up grades.» Bernie might have made a similar observation, but meant he can fix anything bike frame related. It all happens in a bike-​smith garage of a shop. If you take your bike there, you essentially need to go with the flow otherwise you’re doomed to frustration and maybe disappointment. But they can make wonderful things happen.

Bernie is a really great craftsman. He’s been building frames longer than I’ve been riding (about 40 years). I was a bike messenger for 12 years. Every time I broke a frame, Bernie would fix it better than new. None of his repairs ever failed. And the three frames I got from him never failed either. He also has a sizzling hot assistant, thats very easy on the eyes.

Bernie and Melonie built a frame for me and I love it! They recommended a shop close to my office to finish it and that was just as great as finally meeting Bernie.
I’m 6’5 and weigh 275 and with my new bike my neck doesn’t bother me as much it had on my previous bikes — an original team Stumpjumper with street tires and a Jamis road bike. I liked Bernie’s method to fit me on his adjustable stationary bike and it seemed like he knew my geometry before I ever sat on the bike.
I laugh about the paint — if I chose his choice the paint was discounted and I love it! Bernie’s wit, love of the bicycle and nature made me wish I had met him 15 years ago when I bought the Jamis. I called him before I bought the bike and decided on a great deal instead.
Thank you Bernie and Melonie! I love my ride and will recommend you to anyone and everyone who’s looking for a new bike.

After finding a paint crack in the bottom bracket shell while cleaning a bicycle, I consulted Bernie Mikkelsen via email about the repair. Bernie’s wife, Melody, responded immediately by phone and we set up a Saturday afternoon appointment.
Bernie and Melody are a team, especially when it comes to repairs. Bernie holds the torch, sees the right color of the torch and metal, determines how long and where to hold the flame, and listens to the crackle of the flux. He also directs Melody where to place the brass to complete the braze.
The CSI frame from the now defunct Serotta had previously been sent in to Serotta in 2002 for a replacement of the downtube after it had an accident on the top of a car rack. Upon removing the paint at the bottom bracket, Bernie immediately pointed out that there was a lack of brass in the seat tube junction of the bottom bracket lug. Most likely caused by the original repair which sucked the brass down towards the heat of the down tube junction of the BB. Bernie essentially re-​brazed the whole bottom bracket and made sure that the brass covered the necessary parts of the lug.
While I was there, I took advantage of his skills and had an annoying top tube ding expertly filled and sanded for a bargain price.
During the whole process, Bernie asked me questions about how I would do it and always surprised me with his variations on the theme that made the work much easier.
He clearly has a love of both bicycles and engineering. His self-​designed multi-​adjustable stationary and real-​time rideable fit cycles are a testament to that.
After reading reviews, I purposely chose a Saturday afternoon to make my visit, as I did not want anyone to be in a rush.
I recommend Bernie and Melody to anyone who wishes for both a steel frame repair as well as a history lesson on hand made bicycle frames.

My hobby is vintage, Italian, steel frame restoration. Been at it for nearly 20 years. Bernie has repaired many of my frames, extended steer tubes, aligned and cold-​set more frames than I can recall. What’s especially amazing is his willingness to immediately jump on some work I bring in. Most places will have you waiting many days or weeks. His prices are more than fair, especially considering the skills and experience he brings to serving customers.
We have many custom steel frame builders in the Bay Area. Choose to Bernie the next time you need a custom frame or nearly any kind of repair to a steel frame.

Melody and Bernie are great people and are the go-​to shop for custom bikes, frame repair, custom, bike-​related welding and brazing and also powder coating here in the Bay Area. There isn’t another shop in the area committed to repairing your steel bike and their bag of tricks is deep. A great team! Highly recommended.

I came in with a 25 year old road fork (steel, of course) that was BADLY mis-​aligned. To my surprise they started working on it immediately on that Friday afternoon, and I was on my way in an hour or so.
While I was expecting a fiery furnace or blowtorch to be involved, Bernie & Melody simply used vises, mallets, a Model T axle (I was told…), and brawn, in addition to a self-​modified dropout tool that provides more leverage for adjustments than the average LBS has. I was quietly skeptical that the original alignment could be restored, but sure enough, Bernie thoughtfully lined it up all the while saying that «steel remembers». Indeed, it does, and he understands that. Thank you Melody & Bernie.
Now, first, if you have repairs and have components other than steel, then perhaps you belong elsewhere. Secondly, they disclosed that there was a chance that the contortion necessary could buckle my fork, so talk over the repair up front and come to terms either way with the associated risk. I either had to hope it could be repaired for $ 35 or replace it entirely. Thirdly, you may want to get an estimate of time if they start working immediately on a repair. I was flexible, but YOU may not be. Lastly, I’ll give it to some of you that Bernie and Melody are a quirky couple, but what truly great artists aren’t?

A great experience dealing with this bicycle institution. A mom and pop shop that did fantastic work at a fair price. I got my top-​tube on my frame replaced there. Bay Area Bikes said that this was the place to go. Location is a bit out of the way but they were great and had me on my way in a day. They built my bike back up for a bit extra and I would give them 5 stars but the front deraulier needs a bit more adjusting. Your frame is in good hands with them.

I should preface this review with the caveat that my bike, Rhonda, is VERY important to me. We’ve crossed the country alone together and I’ve ridden somewhere in the neighborhood of 40,000 miles on her in the last 10 years. She’s more than a bike to me, and she’s the kind of bike that if I don’t bike somewhere, people ask me, where’s Rhonda? So it’s possible that I reacted more negatively than other people would. Then again, if someone ruins your bike frame and then blames it on you, I think it’s pretty reasonable to get upset. Regardless, onward.
I went to Mikkelsen to get a cable guide replaced and my bike painted. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get my seat post out before I came, so I brought my frame in to Mikkelsen with the seat post stuck in it. I told them I couldn’t get it out and Melody and Bernie said it was okay, they could remove it.
They tried for a while (maybe 5 minutes) to remove it by clamping it in a vise and twisting. It wouldn’t budge, so Melody suggested burning it out. I was skeptical, because it sounded like an extreme tactic.
«Is there any chance it will damage my frame?» I asked.
«No chance.» said Bernie.
They proceeded to fire a blowtorch at the part of my frame the seatpost was stuck in, followed by water soaked cloths and wiggling. As a side note, further research from talking to five (5) frame builders and scouring the internets has made clear that since aluminum (my seatpost) expands faster when heated than steel (my seat tube), heat is actually not an effective method for removing stuck seatposts.
After doing this for a few minutes, Melody noticed there was a bulge in my frame.
a BULGE? I turn to Bernie and say, «What’s this? What’s going on?» and he says it’s fine, not to worry. We then proceed to have a ridiculous conversation in which Melody gets extremely agitated and say that —
1, I have forced them into working to remove my seatpost without paying
2, It is not their fault that my frame is bulging.
ummmmmmmmmm…
Everything that happened after that got worse and worse. I ended up leaving my frame with them because they swore they could get the seat post out without damaging my frame further. They called me today to say that they weren’t going to try anymore, for which I thank my lucky stars.
Other frame builders I talked to had mixed opinions about how bad it was that my frame had a bulge, but they all agreed that it was a pretty bad mistake to cause damage to a steel frame when trying to remove a seat post.
In the world of normalcy, if you are a businessperson/​artisan/​craftsperson and you cause damage to the thing that someone has brought you to fix, you apologize to the person who owns the thing and ask what you can do to make it up to them.
In Bernie and Melody’s crazypants world, you deny that the bulge is your fault, accuse the customer of trying to con you into doing work without paying, and refuse to touch the bicycle again.
It’s unclear how much of a hassle it’s going to be to get my frame fixed, but the lowest estimate I got was $ 50, the highest was $ 350. There’s no way I’m going to see a red cent of that money from Bernie and Melody, but I strongly urge you not to give them any of your money.
In all fairness, Bernie did replace the cable guide, and that work looks adequate. I did not pay for it because they screamed «this was your fault! stop trying to blame it on us!» at me until I left the shop.

Bernie, Melody and Eric are great. They brazed both of my seat stays for $ 60, when I originally only came in for one to be repaired they found a crack in the other one too). They built real quality frames and will are totally fair and great people to hang around.

Mikkelsen is the best in my book. Welded a broken drop on my beloved Peugeot same-​day while I waited. He takes real pride in his work. I wish all bike shops/​builders were this good!

I ordered a custom cyclocross bike. Bernie fit me and had the thing built in what seemed like 3 weeks. The frame is awesome with custom sized tubing, a great powder coat, and is something no one on the trails will have! It is also going to have disc brakes! Thanks Bernie!!!

One day this vintage bare steel bike falls into my lap. So pretty. So mysterious. So much potential! But I was in need of a ding repair and fresh powdercoat. After a few chats at shops here in the City, Mikkelsen’s kept coming up. So, I hopped on over to Alameda and I’m very glad I did.
Bernie had a stroke recently, but his passion for his craft, experience, and expertise are utterly irrepressible. Bernie, Melody, and staff took the time to explain the repair ahead of time, give me a quote, and to help me pick out the perfect color. But the best part was the conversation: «Wow! It’s beautiful! Look at those welds. What is this?» «Interestingly unmarked.» «Those dropouts. Japanese?» «Yes, the fork, too.» «Hmmm, but the lugs look Italian.» And on, and on. Bernie even got out some boxes of lugs and we tried to find a match.
This is priceless, joyous stuff and my frame turned out beautifully. If you’re in need of frame repairs or if you’re at all interested in the mechanics/​artistry of frame building — this is your place.
Thanks, Bernie and Melody!

Bernie and Mel’ are great. Bernie is a legend in frame building, and a great character. He’s got decades of good reviews under his belt that you’re not seeing here because Unilocal is still young.
Thanks Bernie and Mel!

I bought an old bike and was looking to restore it. After searching for a bike shop that powder coats I stumbled upon Mikkelsen’s on Unilocal.Even though there were only a few reviews, they were positive, so I decided to give it a shot. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
The whole process from the beginning to end was horrendous As a customer, I have never been treated so poorly in my entire life.
— The shop is in horrible condition on the Alameda Navy Base. Everything is covered in dust and disorganized.
— They were clueless on the color availability. They provided old booklets and told me I needed to have 5 or 6 color options. They said they would call me with availability. They didn’t. The color of my bike was not one of the colors I selected. They are only a middleman! They outsource ALL work, including the paint job!!!
— Bernie was inspecting my bike and telling me «it needed more copper». My bike knowledge is very minimal and I did not understand why copper needs to be on a bike. He started shouting, grabbing my bike and demanding I look underneath. I still did not understand since he did not explain WHY a bike needs copper. He continue to shout and yell at me, and at this point I was scared. He started to be aggressive and yank my bike around. Thank god my boyfriend was with me. My boyfriend took my bike and kindly told them that we do not appreciate being yelled at and will take out business elsewhere.
— We walked out, Bernie’s wife chased after us begging us for our business. She was very apologetic and explained that Bernie had a stroke recently and has a difficult time communicating. I thought about it a long time and started to feel bad for both of them. I decided to go back in and continue with the transaction.
— My bike took two weeks to be completed. A week longer than she originally communicated. Annoying, but I can deal with it.
— My bike was missing MANY parts, and some were even super glued back on. SEE REVIEW on the bike shop — Pleasant Hill Cyclery.
— She overcharged me for the assembly/​disassembly demanding a profit for dropping it off at the bike shop. She originally told me that she would ONLY charge me what the bike shop charged her.
— My bike was painted a different color that the options I picked out.
Horrible experience and I would never recommend. If you are looking for a powder coating shop for your bike check out West Coast Powder Coating in San Francisco.

A few years back, 2001 I think, I was returning from a California AIDS Ride 8 training ride heading out of Sausalito toward the GG bridge when inexplicably I hit a guard rail at a whopping 7 MPH. My bike, a vintage 1991 Bridgestone RB1 had a bent top tube and fork, as well as smashed handlebars. Me, I had a busted lip and a really weird lack of recall about what happened. My riding buddy, Christina couldn’t understand how it happened either. I had to cab it back to SF where my car was parked and contemplate repairs.
Somehow, I came upon Bernie Mikkelsen and his shop in Alameda. I stopped in one day and brought the bike in. He examined it and gave me a lesson on metals and bike frames which was quite fascinating but way over my head. He is clearly very passionate about his work and a lot of fun to talk to. I was sold so I took the bike home, stripped off all of the parts and brought the frame back to him for repair. He did a beautiful job repairing the tubing, basically everything north of the seat tube. As well as building me a new fork. He originally suggested I buy a carbon fork but I wanted to have a steel fork built. The resulting bike has survived many miles on the road, CAR8 and ALC 3,4 and 5 among them and the «Mikkelstone» still going strong.
I write this now, because I was thinking about him and Melody recently. I’ve always enjoyed my visits with them or running into them in one of the local coffee shops. They’re good people with great skills.

I had a favorite old Trek 720 touring frame from 1985 that needed some work to get up to modern times. They took care of all the work, did a beautiful job, and I went ahead and got a powder coating since some brazing work had been done. It was a beautiful job done. Nicer than the original, in my opinion. I will be returning them for more work and a custom road frame.
They are a tiny shop and often only go by appointment, and are a bit eccentric– all things I love about a business like this. Looking around the shop there are relics of decades of work, letters from famous clients, and everything else that’s cool about a 30 year old bicycle frame shop.
Based on a complaint I read here about the shop: if you want perfect customer service, go to Nordstrom or Starbucks. If you want beautiful custom work done on your frame, or would like to get a perfectly-​sized custom steel frame by someone who lives for building and working on bicycle frames, go with Mikkelsen.

The email below, which I sent to this business this afternoon, is pretty self-​explanatory.
This guy may be God’s gift to frame building, but their business and general human interaction «skills» leave much to be desired.
«Dear Mr. and Mrs. Mikkelsen:
When the female caller (perhaps Mrs. Mikkelsen) called and said it was what sounded to me like „Nicholson Framing“ calling, I didn’t connect the dots since it had been so long since I left my initial message and frankly wasn’t expecting the call.
Based upon our telephone interaction this afternoon (which was curtailed when the woman who called me hung up the phone on me in mid-​sentence) I have a couple of suggestions for you:
If you are running a business and go on vacation, that’s great. More power to you. But if you do, it would likely be a good idea to put an outgoing voicemail message on your business phone that informs callers that you will be away, and that you will call them back after (date) when you return.
It’s also probably not a good business practice to hang up the phone on potential customers. Not only that, it’s unacceptable behavior for anyone, let alone anyone over the age of five.
Contrary to your childish speculation, I wasn’t in a bad mood when you called. (I’m retired, so I’m never in a bad mood.)
You frankly sound a bit nuts to me. But I guess maybe you are just sensitive frame artists with more business than you can handle, and are independently wealthy so that you can afford to be unbusinesslike and rude to potential customers. It must be grand to be so special.
I guess your vacation didn’t go very well, or you’re just pissed off to be back at work.
Luckily for me, you are not the only welders in town, and I can and will take my business elsewhere and advise anyone who asks me to do the same.
Good luck in all of your future endeavors.»

Had an old guerciotti that met its demise on the roof of my car about 15 years ago. I decided I was going to restore it and the first thing that needed doing was to get the frame rebuilt. The top tube and the bottom tube were tweeked and needed to be replaced. Dropped it off with Bernie and his wife Melody. Repair was done quickly and it looks great. I was hoping that he would be able to restore the lugs but he was not able to save them as they were pretty mangled.
Reasonable and quick. It’s great that there are still local craftsman like Bernie around!
JN