About Draper Cycles

I am Duane and I do everything at Draper Cycles.

I’ve been obsessed with two‑wheeled machines for as long as I can remember. My first “real” bike was a modified Schwinn scrambler I bought for fifty dollars in 1976 — heavy spokes, wide bars, short cranks, and more freedom than a ten‑year‑old knew what to do with. A year later, a friend let me take a couple laps around the neighborhood on his dialed‑in Redline BMX race bike, and that short ride changed everything. It was the first time I felt what a truly responsive bike could be.

I spent the next few years earning money any (legal) way I could — paper routes, mowing lawns and finally a job sweeping up at the local bike shop — until I could buy a proper racing BMX. I started racing at eleven, eventually turned pro for a brief moment until I realized I was going to starve racing bikes for a living. I decided to go to college, but bikes never left the picture.

Through college and after, I worked in bike shops, assembling and repairing everything that rolled through the door. Test rides were the best education I could’ve asked for. I learned how different bikes behaved, what made one feel lively and another feel dull, and how geometry and tubing choices translated into real‑world ride quality. I raced on the road, track, crits, and cyclocross, managed a development squad, and rode thousands of miles on bikes from every major brand and every material.

Across all those years and all those bikes, one idea kept resurfacing: some bikes simply feel fast. Not fast in the stopwatch sense — fast in the way they respond, the way they move under you, the way they make you want to ride even when you’re tired. I chased that ‘snappy’ feeling for decades. I measured frames as a teenager, studied geometry charts long before they were easy to find online, and tried to understand why some bikes snapped to attention while others felt sluggish.

That pursuit eventually led me to framebuilding.

I build with steel because it consistently delivers the qualities I value most. Steel is predictable, repairable, durable, and capable of producing a ride that feels intuitive and responsive. My favorite bike of all time is a Reynolds 753 road frame that’s been crashed, straightened, repainted, and still feels alive under power. I’ve ridden carbon, titanium, aluminum, and exotic blends — some excellent, some forgettable — but steel remains the material that best captures the “fast” I’m after.

With Draper Cycles, my goal is simple: build bikes that feel fast, fit well, and make you want to ride – whether that’s sprinting for the city limit sign or carrying groceries back from the farmer’s market. I make bikes that bring a spark of joy every time you stand on the pedals.

If that sounds like the kind of bike you’re looking for, you’re in the right place. Subscribe and follow along for the ride.